“DETROIT - General Motors Corp. (GM), which issued a shock profit warning last week and has been losing market share, may phase out one of its weaker car brands if sales fail to meet projections, company Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Wednesday.”

The two weaker brands mentioned in the press release were Pontiac and Buick.

GM decided a while back to begin phasing the Oldsmobile out gradually. Now, it appears that the automaker, recently criticized for maintaining too many brands, may cut production to another line of autos soon.

What are the ramifications?

[Continue reading GM To Drop Another Brand?]

General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM  http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata…)), also known as GM, is a United States-based automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Vauxhall.

Chevrolet and GMC divisions produce trucks, as well as passenger vehicles. Other brands include ACDelco, Allison Transmission, and General Motors Electro-Motive Division that produces diesel-electric locomotives. GM also has stakes in Isuzu, Subaru, and Suzuki in Japan and a joint venture with AutoVAZ (Lada) in Russia. In December 2003, it acquired Delta in South Africa, in which it had taken a 45 percent stake in 1997, and which is now a fully-owned subsidiary, General Motors South Africa. [Encyclopedia Lockergnome]