Posted on 06/12/2009 7:35:16 PM PDT by traumer
ValuJet was reborn as AirTran. Philip Morris rechristened itself Altria. Blackwater became Xe.
Would a name change work for beleaguered General Motors?
It would mean casting aside a brand that stood for almost a century as a symbol of American industrial might, but some marketing experts say it might be just the thing to help the once-mighty automaker make a fresh start.
"If the goal is to try and put this company on a massive diet and just turn it into a smaller car manufacturing operation, I'm not sure there'd be that much harm in rebranding," said Jean-Pierre Dube, a University of Chicago marketing professor.
"The brand isn't in good shape," he said, "so they have little to lose."
With GM tarnished by its bankruptcy and its reputation for building cars no one wants, wiseacres have had no trouble coming up with new names.
There's Groveling Motors, after GM's appetite for federal bailouts. And General Moneypit. And, perhaps most popular, Government Motors -- after the taxpayers' major ownership stake.
With GM still righting itself, "it's just too soon" to think about a name change, company spokeswoman Susan Garontakos said. But she acknowledged the idea is part of discussions within the company.
"We know we want to reinvent the company and want to build it so that it's something that will show that GM is going to be the company of choice," she said.
In April, not long after taking the reins of GM from its ousted former leader, CEO Fritz Henderson was asked about the possibility and said it was "not something that's high on my list of things to do."
"Actually I haven't spent too much time worrying about the name of the company," he said. "We've only got so much time on our hands trying to get
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
This is the line that ticks me off the most. Like the taxpayers are ever going to see a return on their investment. Profits, if any ever occur, will be treated by our elected officials just like monies in the Social Security trust fund.
Good caption though!
American Motors.
What I want to know is, where the hell are Nader’s “Raiders” and their scurvy band of lawyers? This crap Detroit is now putting out and is about to put out, is UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED. Even when they’re are parked. Only a total moron would buy one of those new “Smart” cars and jump out on the highway with it. Those morons are insane!
Was this the same moron who advised Dick Ferris to rename United Airlines "ALEGIS"? That name bombed as did the company. It ain't the name buddy...it the product!
Marxmobile?...
The name isn’t the problem and their vehicles aren’t the problem, neither is their quality(get out of that 1977 mentality).The GOVERNMENT was is and will continues to be the problem, along with the union.The gov regs required them to build econo boxes to cafe standards, or suvs not regulated under cafe that had better profitibilty. They built some damn fine suvs and sold the crap out of them. Four dollar gasoline killed that.
GOBAMA MOTORS
GARNISHED MOTORS
GRAFT MOTORS
GONE MOTORS
GENERLIASMO MOTORS
Yep!
“Got Money!”
Respect My Authoritay Motors.
“When the government directs you to buy your next car, at that time we hope you'll choose... Just kidding. We're the only choice you have.”
those could be the names of cars within the GM..er OM industry...replace names like Chevy, Suburban,Trail Blazer..etc...
Or there could be the Malia Motors, Sasha Sedans,
No,,the difference between me and Allah is Allah does not have a belly button...
Growing Malaise?
Gone Moldy?
Gubmint Moolah?
Gimme More?
Gruesome Mess?
How could I have forgotten?
GANGSTA MOTORS!
I'll be fahrfromnbuying.
To me, it sounded like they were saying "Fart Fig Newtons" in the VW commercials.
How about “Obots, Inc.”?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.