Which Auto Brands Should Go?

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brands into four retail channels, combining Buick-Pontiac-GMC and Cadillac-Hummer-Saab, while its strongest brands, Chevrolet and Saturn, stand alone. Cadillac is by far the anchor franchise of the luxury channel. But GMC, Pontiac, and Buick all have their individual problems.

Even though its U.S. sales are down, Buick is probably in the best shape of the three in global terms, because of strong sales in China. Buick sales in China were 332,115 units in 2007, up 9% from 2006. Buick's U.S. sales were 185,791 in 2007, down 23%, according to Autodata. In the U.S. market, Buick is a near-luxury brand at best, but in China, Buicks are big enough and prestigious enough to be driven by a chauffeur, which is popular with the country's wealthy new capitalists.

Across the auto industry, brands such as GMC, Hummer, Jeep, and Land Rover are scrambling to reposition themselves by developing more fuel-efficient models. Trucks were in the catbird seat before gas prices took off, but now those brands need more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Volvo: Fix, Don't Sell

In addition, Ford announced last month it was unloading the Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata Motors (TTM) for $2.3 billion. Ford is throwing in another $600 million, to cover legacy pensions at Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford sold the Aston Martin marque last year.

That leaves Volvo as the sole remaining brand in Ford's former Premier Automotive Group. Volvo is a valuable asset, with a strong global brand and the industry's highest reputation for safety. It also has a typically Swedish commitment to the environment that's a true selling point nowadays. Both Ford and Volvo reject the notion that Volvo is for sale.

But its cost structure is too high, even though Volvo already shares platforms with other Ford divisions. Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said in November that he wants to cut costs at Volvo and take the brand more upscale. In short, he said Ford will fix Volvo Cars instead of selling it. Reading between the lines, many analysts mentally added, "…for now."

In the meantime, the automakers have to accelerate cost-sharing schemes—such as GM's platform-sharing crossovers, the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook—without sacrificing brand differentiation. That's an old idea, albeit one with a renewed sense of urgency.

"The fear of death gets you to do things that were intelligent all along, but you still didn't want to do them," says David Cole, chairman of the Ann Arbor (Mich.)-based Center for Automotive Research.

Cast your vote to let us know which auto brands you think should go.

Check out the BusinessWeek.com slide show to see the auto brands that are in the most trouble.

Henry is a reporter covering the automotive industry and automotive trends in BusinessWeek's New York office.