Do You Care About Dead Brands?

Over the past year or so we've witnessed the demise of a number of American car brands.  Over at GM, they eliminated Pontiac and Saturn.  Just recently, Ford announced they were axing the long-suffering Mercury brand.  Although it's a little sad to see labels with some great history fade away, I have to ask: does it really matter at all?

It's a different story when an entire company goes under.  The last great American car maker to be broken up was AMC in the eighties.  No more Gremlins, AMXs, Matadors, or Eagles.  They're gone forever.  And for the AMC fans out there that's sad.

But what's been happening recently is the termination of badges and nothing more.  While I'm greatly saddened that I can't buy a Pontiac G8 anymore, the truth is that the rest of the Pontiac lineup was little more than rebadged Chevys.  Same goes for the dead Oldsmobile, the still living GMC, and the soon to be dead Mercury. 

So does it matter these badges are dying?  Not really.  If anything it's a good move to cut the dead weight.  Without having to prop up all these other makes, GM and Ford can focus on making their core products better while not having spend millions to advertise their doppelgangers.  The result is a leaner and stronger company.

[Photo: Flickr]