The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - Educate me: Why does GM have both GMC and Chevrolet divisions making trucks?

skorpioskorpio · 04-17-2013, 02:55 PM

I really feel that GM has maintained the 2 brands to kind of fuel the Chevy/Ford rivalry. From a marketing standpoint GM has always pitted it's own brands against each other as a means of progressing customers through the ranks as they evolve in their lives. That said specific division loyalty used to be pretty established in the '60s and '70s especially between divisions like Pontiac and Chevrolet, and between Buick and Oldsmobile among their respective customers. They were not simply viewed as a more upscale version of the other. This is back in the "Body by Fisher" days and it was more looked upon as division adapted bodies supplied to independent manufactures within GM, is that what it really was? not really, but it was the perception that GM tried to evoke.

GMC has always been the truck division, Chevy trucks are there to round out the Chevrolet line so that the dealerships could offer a full lineup with a homogeneous mark like rival Ford did and to a lesser extent Dodge. Transit busses, and for the most part heavy trucks were the exclusive domain of GMC although I think Chevrolet did produce some heavy trucks.

I bought my Suburban new in 1991 from an exclusive GMC dealership and they were very different places then the typical car dealership. They were very oriented towards fleet purchases, almost non-existent showroom, presentation was more out of 3 ring binder spec sheet books as opposed to glossy consumer oriented brochures. It may be true that GMC was an optional carry for BOP dealerships in more rural areas but in urban areas GMC was more typically exclusive commercial truck dealerships oriented towards commercial customers and in that sense competed more against Mack, Freightliner and International Harvester than it did against brands like Ford and Dodge.

As is probably obvious from my signature I'm one of those guys that doesn't really see Chevy and GMC as interchangeable marks, even though I know they really are at the light/medium consumer level. I like the association that the GMC mark has with things more industrial, which is probably strangely ironic considering my current build is sort of de-industrializing a Jimmy, but to me that is what makes it more fun.

04-17-2013, 02:55 PM	#21
skorpioskorpio Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,018	Re: Educate me: Why does GM have both GMC and Chevrolet divisions making trucks? I really feel that GM has maintained the 2 brands to kind of fuel the Chevy/Ford rivalry. From a marketing standpoint GM has always pitted it's own brands against each other as a means of progressing customers through the ranks as they evolve in their lives. That said specific division loyalty used to be pretty established in the '60s and '70s especially between divisions like Pontiac and Chevrolet, and between Buick and Oldsmobile among their respective customers. They were not simply viewed as a more upscale version of the other. This is back in the "Body by Fisher" days and it was more looked upon as division adapted bodies supplied to independent manufactures within GM, is that what it really was? not really, but it was the perception that GM tried to evoke. GMC has always been the truck division, Chevy trucks are there to round out the Chevrolet line so that the dealerships could offer a full lineup with a homogeneous mark like rival Ford did and to a lesser extent Dodge. Transit busses, and for the most part heavy trucks were the exclusive domain of GMC although I think Chevrolet did produce some heavy trucks. I bought my Suburban new in 1991 from an exclusive GMC dealership and they were very different places then the typical car dealership. They were very oriented towards fleet purchases, almost non-existent showroom, presentation was more out of 3 ring binder spec sheet books as opposed to glossy consumer oriented brochures. It may be true that GMC was an optional carry for BOP dealerships in more rural areas but in urban areas GMC was more typically exclusive commercial truck dealerships oriented towards commercial customers and in that sense competed more against Mack, Freightliner and International Harvester than it did against brands like Ford and Dodge. As is probably obvious from my signature I'm one of those guys that doesn't really see Chevy and GMC as interchangeable marks, even though I know they really are at the light/medium consumer level. I like the association that the GMC mark has with things more industrial, which is probably strangely ironic considering my current build is sort of de-industrializing a Jimmy, but to me that is what makes it more fun.