The eight brands in General Motor's portfolio often compete with each other--both for customers and a slice of GM's marketing budget. The automaker's strategy of populating many of its divisions
with vehicles that look alike largely for the sake of maintaining each brand's market share amounts to "robbing Peter to pay Paul," says the owner of both a GM and Saturn dealership.
For example, GM has four mass-market midsize sedans. The Chevy Malibu is backed by a ubiquitous ad campaign and is a top-seller. Meanwhile, the Buick LaCrosse, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura have
struggled to build the awareness and recognition needed to compete. Toyota has only the Camry to compete with those cars; last year it outsold GM's four models, 473,308 to 386,024.
A
year ago the Aura was named "Car of the Year" at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but with Malibu marketing in full swing, Saturn dealers are struggling to move it. Pontiac could
run into a similar problem this year when it introduces the G8. Although it is Pontiac's most important launch since 2004, GM marketing barely mentions the car.
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