The Last Oldsmobile

[AWeb80]

GM spent too much time worrying about sales and not enough time building a product people want and building a fresh reputation.

 

Couldn't have said it better.

[musthavemuzk]

tis sad to see olds go, but business is business.

it prolly could have been prevented, but it was not.

with the import scene growing in leap in bounds olds did not fit into that market. of course they are not the only one that does not fit into that market, but others are trying.

look at mopar. i would bet just about anything they built the srt4 for that market. bringing back the hemi, even though i am not sure it is a true old school hemi. the r/t and sxt series of rides. they got on this wagon quicklike. look at how they made a full scale assault on NASCAR when they came back into NASCAR.

not a mopar man but they are making what the public is wanting.

thinking outside the box.

listening to the consumer and the market.

 

just one example

 

Monty

[93CutlassSupreme]

first plymouth, then oldsmobile, now i hope mercury goes out. how many mercuries do you see on the road? my point. plus, i think ford's are :fruity:

[MaroonRegal]

I never understood why GM would get rid of their oldest brand. :?

 

Remember, Sean, GM hasn't owned Olds for its entire existence...they probably owned Chevy before they owned Olds.

 

I wish Olds wasn't going away, but I'm still sticking to my theory that we'll see a return of the rocket in less than 10 years.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Wasn't BUICK the first GM brand, before Olds anyways.??

[godofthunder]

i guess.

 

Olds is the oldest in general though. They were an independet company before all the others.

 

IIRC Ransom Eli Olds did engine building, or made cariages, and knew someone else that did the other, and they got together to motorize the cariages.

 

Actually, learned some cool stuff bout thier history. After Olds got going, the Dodge brothers (that broke apart to make dodge), did all the engine work for Oldsmobile.

 

now, why you think thy will bring olds back? I can see the F-bodies...but couldnt ever see them re-open a whole chain (has that been done before)?

 

What would be nice is if Enthusiats bought the name, resurected it, and did their own stuff. Thats been done by Indian Motorcycles, at least, i think

[pblunt_]

For those of you saying you woun't ever buy a new GM vehicle just because Olds is no more, well I don't think thats a very good reason. The fact that GM is making boring cars such as the Aveo, Optra (in Canada), piles of boring SUVs, along with sedans that are no longer coupes and are becoming out dated...

 

I'm saying that because everything GM is coming out with looks :fruity: real gay like, I'm not a big truck guy I like sporty cars & muscle cars basicly shyt that goes fast, not some Hyuandi/Daewoo reject looking pos that makes you gay for driving it.

[sdwhite]

I think it boils down to an ignorance about what people really want. In 1986 Olds sold 1.2 million cars. Then, they debuted the front drive 88's and 98's. Sales dropped. Then, in 87 they brought out the FWD Cutlass and sales dropped. In 90 they sold thier last Rocket V-8 and sales dropped. They went to all bucket seats with floor shifters and sales dropped. By 1991 they were selling only 440,000 a year. Now, if yours sales drop by nearly 60% in 5 years you f*ck*d up BIG TIME. Then, they eliminated the Cutlass, the 88, the 98 (You know, all the established car lines) and sales dropped further. In '77, when Olds first sold more than 1 million in a model year, you had 7 models available in 30 different combinations of 2dr vs. 4dr vs. wagon, V-6 vs. V-8, base model vs. decked out. You had options. In the last couple years, we had 5 models available and only one you had the option of 2 or 4 doors. No wagons. Then, there were only so many trim levels. No bench seat available. No RWD. No convertible. No great performance models. What was there that people were to oogle over? If the lineup were *ALL* RWD, and we dropped a HIGH OUTPUT 4.0 A-8 in the INTRIGUE and offered it as a COUPE and a CONVERTIBLE, (perhaps with a 442 tag on the side?) we may have had something to talk about!

[DOHCRagtopguy]

sdwhite makes a very good point. Oldsmobile management and GM in general has lacked good imagination for many years. At least recently they have shown signs of rejuvenation. Maybe too little too late, however.

 

No wonder Toyota is now #3 seller in the US. Chrysler is bleeeding red ink like crazy, Daimler keeps dumping money into it but for how long?

[godofthunder]

seriously...if Olds didnt change their logo, and kept their cars names...they could have lasted longer I feel.

 

jon

[GnatGoSplat]

I don't know if they would have lasted longer. Changing the names of the cars and the logo was a desperation move because no one was buying their products.

 

They came out with the W-bodies because Taurus/Sable was kicking their ass. The W-bodies never sold even a fraction as well as the Taurus/Sable. One reason was probably because their sedans didn't offer any benefits over a Taurus/Sable and large coupes were already on the way out before W-bodies even came out.

 

Then they restructured the car names and logos because imports were kicking their ass.

 

It seems for many years GM was always playing "follow the leader", but coming up a day late and a dollar short. Rather than following the leader, they should have done something different and became a leader.

[supreme_style21]

seriously...if Olds didnt change their logo, and kept their cars names...they could have lasted longer I feel.

 

jon

 

I personally feel that helped them.. They just did it too late in the game. Their new lineup started to turn them in the right direction, but by then, the heart monitor had already flatlined. Just look at their lineup from '88 and on. It never really changed. Some small interior/exterior differences was about all they did. You honestly can't run with the same styles for TEN years straight and expect to survive. Sure they changed a FEW things over the years, but it really wasn't anything the average consumer noticed. When they introduced the Alero, Intrigue, and Aurora, it was a fresh face and a new start for Oldsmobile. People started to notice Oldsmobile again. They weren't 'your fathers car' anymore. I think they signed up for their own funeral in the mid-90's.

I wonder what would have happened if the Alero/Intrigue/Aurora was introduced just a few years earlier. Perhaps they could have pulled themselves out of the hole?

[SigEpCutlass]

yea somebody fucked up bad...but who?

 

RIP OLDS

[mihela816]

The early 90's w-body offered a performance and reliability advantage over the POS taurus/sable of the early 90's. A friend of mine bought a used one and he had it for a week and the wheel fell off. And my other friend has the infamous peeling clear coat and has gone through 2 PS pumps in a year. My grandma had the wagon and it rusted and had so many problems that she finally decided to get a Subaru.

[DiscoStudd]

Don't forget, too that they totally alienated their core group of buyers (Senior Citizens) when they changed their lineup/image. They should have at least thrown the old people a bone by keeping the 88 and 98 around. I suppose GM thought all those fogeys would switch over to Buicks (and most of them did) and it wouldn't hurt Olds' bottom line. How hard would have been for them to re-skin the 2000 LeSabre and sell it as an Eighty Eight? A lot easier than making a whole new Aurora which was unique to Olds. Makes you wonder if Buick's headed down the same path with the upcoming revamp of their lineup (and the axing of the LeSabre and Park Avenue.)

[93CutlassSupreme]

at one time, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was the best selling car in america, there was a waiting list to get Supremes, GM couldn't make them fast enough

 

i still say gm marketed Oldsmobile as their import fighter, i say this by looking at the styling of current oldsmobiles, and their gm stablemates. obviously this didn't work

[supreme_style21]

I think the Cutlass Supreme is still a semi-popular car on the used car market. As soon as one hits the lots in this area, its gone. And people KNOW what a Cutlass Supreme is. I've never heard someone call it anything else. Just for example, my Grand Prix has been called a Grand Am or a Bonneville more times than its actually been called a Grand Prix. The Cutlass Supreme still has it's niche cut out.

[WhiteOut]

Don't forget, too that they totally alienated their core group of buyers (Senior Citizens) when they changed their lineup/image. They should have at least thrown the old people a bone by keeping the 88 and 98 around. I suppose GM thought all those fogeys would switch over to Buicks (and most of them did) and it wouldn't hurt Olds' bottom line. How hard would have been for them to re-skin the 2000 LeSabre and sell it as an Eighty Eight? A lot easier than making a whole new Aurora which was unique to Olds. Makes you wonder if Buick's headed down the same path with the upcoming revamp of their lineup (and the axing of the LeSabre and Park Avenue.)

 

Actually what you know as the current Aurora was slated to be named the Antares and was the replacement for the 88 before it was decided thats Olds would be axed. In fact a new Aurora platform was still in development at the time. However when it was announced that Olds was to be axed the development of the new Aurora was halted (also leading to the demise of the Riviera, the Aurora's platform partner), and the Antares became the Aurora.

 

It really is too bad that Olds is gonna kick the bucket. But its not hard to see why, Olds hasn't been a flashy company since the early 70's. Its always just occupied the slot between Buick and Pontiac and walked a fine line with its none to daring styling. With no defining brand characteristic the company simply could not capture the attention of its demographic audience, and floundered. Olds suffered from a lack of innovative products and as a result suffered from an identity crisis that killed the company. Its too bad really, many of GM's new technologies were first available on Oldsmobiles, they just never recieved credit for them.

 

Personally I hate the fact that they're killing Olds, while I'm not wild about most of the 90's styling (with the exception of the Toronado and the Cutlass) I love the new cars and its a shame they're going to disapear.

[supreme_style21]

i still say gm marketed Oldsmobile as their import fighter, i say this by looking at the styling of current oldsmobiles, and their gm stablemates. obviously this didn't work

 

Good point. I also think Oldsmobile and Buick were too similar. It was only a matter of time before one disappeared. The 'image' most people had about Olds was that it was just that.. for 'Old' people. Buick is notorious for being an old person car. Although Oldsmobile never really was an 'old person car' it was perceived that way, and it clashed with Buick. Oldsmobile never really 'fit' in anywhere.. Buick was the affordable cushy luxury. Pontiac was the sensible 'excitement' division. Chevy was the no frills, hardworking family vehicle. Cadillac, obviously, expensive luxury, power/electronic everything. Oldsmobile was ... where?

[93CutlassSupreme]

i still say gm marketed Oldsmobile as their import fighter, i say this by looking at the styling of current oldsmobiles, and their gm stablemates. obviously this didn't work

 

Good point. I also think Oldsmobile and Buick were too similar. It was only a matter of time before one disappeared. The 'image' most people had about Olds was that it was just that.. for 'Old' people. Buick is notorious for being an old person car. Although Oldsmobile never really was an 'old person car' it was perceived that way, and it clashed with Buick. Oldsmobile never really 'fit' in anywhere.. Buick was the affordable cushy luxury. Pontiac was the sensible 'excitement' division. Chevy was the no frills, hardworking family vehicle. Cadillac, obviously, expensive luxury, power/electronic everything. Oldsmobile was ... where?

 

i also believe that, oldsmobile and buick were competing against each other. buick was pumping out tons of centuries, while oldsmobile was moving upmarket with the Aurora, and even the Intrigue, the Cutlass Supreme's replacement. (compare an Intrigue to a Supreme, you can tell within a couple of minutes the Intrigue was a much higher market car than the Supreme), someone had to give, and it was oldsmobile over buick

 

you're also right about Supremes being popular, the 80's Supremes are on the top 10 list of most stolen cars, at least the last time i checked

[cutlassdude96]

there still on the top 10 list

[93CutlassSupreme]

there still on the top 10 list

 

thought so