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Well as Scott alluded to in a previous thread, GM is in a bit of a dilemma with Buick, Pontiac, and GMC. Ideally, they'd love to combine all three into a single dealership entity so each brand could get something like 3 to 5 models. Each brand would be somewhat niche (Pontiac for the driving enthusiast, Buick for the style and comfort conscious, GMC for the premium truck and SUV market) but together all three would do pretty good volume with a full 9-15 models even though each brand only has 3-5.
Unfortunately, as Scott pointed out, not all dealerships are playing along and merging, and there is nothing GM can do about it. So until then, each brand needs a full line up, which leads to either bad overlap or big gaps.
The lineups as they stand currently aren't good enough for each brand to stand alone. GMC has a good lineup, but we all know how the truck market is going. Pontiac has a full lineup, but besides the G8 and Solstice it is aging and really doesn't go anywhere near the enthusiast market it is supposed to target. Buick is in complete shambles besides the Enclave. Luckily everything I've seen about the next Lacrosse looks pretty promising, and if they can follow the trend with the Lucerne, they'll be looking good. But 3 models, even if they are good and fit the target market, can't support a brand. So Buick will have either have to completely merge with Pontiac and GMC (hopefully in time but that certainly won't happen in the immediate future) or it will have to expand its lineup. Then it risks overlapping Pontiac and GMC even more. Does your head hurt yet? This is the precarious situation GM finds itself in and I don't envy them for it. If franchise laws weren't such a problem this would be a no brainer, but because they limit what GM can do they basically have to plan for two different scenarios. Good luck GM. I'd hate to lose any of these brands.
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