"Greater Value", and the firm still had almost 60 good years ahead

General Motors advertisement in The American Weekly (Week of October 10, 1948)

Old advertisements can tell some rather interesting stories. Back in the late 1940s, General Motors (GM) was an umbrella of seven marques. Some of these; Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC are still in production, while others; Body by Fisher, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac, have fallen by the wayside.

Was GM's story really about value? And what was the difference between the various marques? In the mid-20th century the difference was huge. Oldsmobile was home of the Rocket and Cadillac was the epitome of luxury in North American automobiles.

I think that you can make a case that GM did offer distinct value. The marques all produced very different vehicles with their own unique looks and features.

But in the late 1970s and early 1980s GM made a few cost-saving moves that stripped the marques of their unique personalities. Oldsmobile cars were equipped with Chevrolet engines, and in the early 1980s Cadillac launched the Cimarron, a vehicle based on  a platform shared with the Chevrolet Cavalier, but at almost twice the Cavalier price.

Some say that GM's 2009 bankruptcy was at least partially the result of the firm losing its way and homogenizing its product offerings. Sounds reasonable to me.