marekatlanta71
19.05.04, 04:36
Za the car connection:
Overcapacity has been joined by another auto industry excess - the
overabundance of brands. There are 267 nameplates on the U.S. market
currently, according to an Automotive News study (May 17), setting a record
and indicating that more are on the way. AutoPacific, a West Coast marketing
agency, predicts 300 nameplates by 2010, a bulimic situation described by GM
vice-chairman Robert A. Lutz as "the fragmentation of the marketplace," with
"as many vehicle categories as we have vehicles."
Of the 267 nameplates, nearly 100 are SUVs, up from 33 in 1997. Toyota, for
example, had a single SUV in 1974, the venerable Land Cruiser, and offers four
more now - 4Runner, Highlander, RAV4, and Sequoia. A problem facing dealers
is stocking representative models of so many brands. Analyst Jim Hall, of
AutoPacific, Tustin, California, believes niche marketing of all the
nameplates will give way to "atomized" concentration that excludes large
national advertising buys for individual nameplates. Besides, where will they
find new and exciting names for all the new nameplates? -Mac Gordon
