GM Considers Adding Models to Lineup

As GM continues to improve its position in its post-bankruptcy era, the company has told reporters that it is considering whether or not to begin expanding the number of product lines that it offers to drivers. Duncan Aldred, GMC’s vice-president for sales and marketing, said that the company intends to continue its efforts to be one of the world’s premium truck and SUV brands, and he also added that the company has no interest in expanding into car models. However, he did add that the firm will look at whether it should be producing more crossover SUV models.

Aldred also said that the company intends to continue to assert its presence as a high-ended designer of SUVs and pickup trucks. This approach is consistent with the brand’s current marketing push. Its new campaign, called “Precision,” highlights the level of craftsmanship and execution that goes into the creation of every vehicle that rolls off a GMC assembly line. GMC has said that its marketing wing also intends to continue to roll out ads as part of its existing “Professional Grade” campaign.

Rumors are rampant that GM wants to begin offering an off-road vehicle designed to compete head-to-head with the Jeep Wrangler that Chrysler offers. Aldred, however, declined to comment on such speculation.

There is also scuttlebutt that GM may be considering decoupling the relationship between some GMC and Chevrolet models in order to do a better job of accentuating the brand’s luxury reputation. Currently, all GMC models use a base package that’s built on top of technology and materials from Chevy, but the new lines would be expected to represent entirely new builds and designs. This would be a major departure from tradition among the American auto manufacturers, who frequently try to contain costs by aligning their development and production work across multiple makes.

According to Aldred, who was speaking at a roundtable hosted by GM at its Detroit headquarters, GM has nearly doubled the amount of capital that it extended to the GMC division in order to spur growth. He said that GM’s data shows that the company’s high-end offerings, especially the Denali, have shown significant upticks in popularity. The number of buyers who sprang for the top-end Denali package has increased 17-percent in recent years, and GM has raised its transaction price for the model nearly $3,000 in response to the change in preferences. Aldred said that the company hopes to push Denali sales to the point that they constitute around 25-percent of GMC’s revenue by the end of 2017. GMC sold more than 500,000 units in 2014, and it is currently GM’s second-best selling emblem, only trailing Chevrolet.