I don't know how someone can consistently find parking big enough for a Hummer in an American car centric city. Having one anywhere near a European city is the most inconvenient thing I can think of
@@davidmhh9977 as an American, I can confidently say these things were jokes even when new- and everyone knew it. They were laughably bloated and with Fuel mileage in the single digits, it was a car that was sized for a person's ego. I don't think the flex was "I could afford one" so much as it was "I could afford to run one"
They managed to sell some in Russia. Even had assembly line in Kaliningrad. And those ones assembled in Kaliningrad could be driven on standard license because of some weight reduction measures, they were able to get it under 3500kg
@@1antisupercat At least Holden were permitted to design and build left-hand-drive cars (even if the export volumes of these cars were stymied for various reasons), Ford Australia were never given that luxury by Ford HQ. 😟 A left-hand-drive Falcon and left-hand-drive Territory... What could have been? -- In any case, say Chevy and Ford did not have the Impala and Taurus in North America, would Americans really have bought American-made versions of the Australian-designed Commodore and Falcon instead? Or would they be considered too small compared to B-Bodies and Panthers?
@@TassieLorenzo that’s a really good question. In modern times with few sedans made by gm and ford, probably not. But maybe 15 years ago I’m sure they would sell.
Pontiac G8:was a Holden Engineered gem. All other Pontiac made models at that time stunk. Shared platforms with Buick , the Buick models were known for reliability. Pontiac equivalents were lemons.
I think it says a lot about GM that a company run by accountants rather than ‘car guys’ couldn’t make a profit out of its European division, yet 12 months later it’s in profit 😂
@@ILoveTinfoilHats Looks like it, considering how much non-essential tech is put into the cars to the point that you cannot run a car because it's doing a software update, or you have a fucktonne of sensors for fuck knows what and when one breaks (and they always do), your repair bill is well into the 4 digits. Yes, I'm talking here about the G*rmans
engineer in echonomics and not in car manufacturing... tell me this, why would a car guy enginner choose a T hose made of platic instead of metal? no other argument than economics because that part will have to be replaced after warranty and yet instead of replacing just the T you have to replace the whole hose assembly wich costs you more money@@ILoveTinfoilHats
I wasn't a buyer back in those years so I can't relate to trends at the time, but all of the designs appear..boring or too similar to trusted brands? Why would anyone be interested in buying those models.
I remember when Daewoo was rebadged Chevrolet. I thought: Okay, this is suicide. They managed to damage BOTH brands in one move at the same time. I know NOBODY who did not say "What? WHAT?"
It's interesting how GM manages to make enemies out of former allies - after the failed partnership with Fiat in the first half of the 2000s (which Fiat made really good use of and even got money out of it when GM pulled out, with which they could effectively buy out Chrysler after the 2008 recession killed it), FCA and PSA ended up becoming Stellantis, a whole group of brands that GM wronged over the years.
@@JK061996 Marchionne was such a Master mind. Not only they squeezed out money from GM in the mid 2000s. They paid zero money for Chrysler back in 2009
@@matmcd that's correct. FCA could've lived on Jeep and Ram alone. Fiat is only immensely popular in Italy and Brazil. In other countries they're a medium sized player at best including most of Europe. That's why I give even more credit to Marchionne, he played out his cards very well despite technically having not enough money to buy Chrysler
I remember I was studying Management in the early 2000s. I was baffled by the messy GM policies on rebadging daewoo as chevrolet so I asked my Marketing Professor for his take about it: he was as baffled as I
Maybe GM thought Chevrolet had no brand image in Europe, since the cars had never sold well here. But of course Chevy had an image: big, American, outrageous. Not small, Korean, everydayish.
So bizarre. They should have waited til they actually had some new models rather than rebadging the dreadful Daewoo models, especially as some were only recently launched.
I have a suggestion for the next episode: "The History of Car Safety" Id love to see what car developers did to increase their cars safety over the years, from the 5mph Bumpers to automatic lane-keep assist and the evolution of airbags
Well smarty....the real Volvo GAVE every car maker 3 point seatbelts ...free! Didn't patent them so only they could use them . GM builds crap.....with few exceptions. BTW ... I love my "Chevy" Daewoo Aveo. 😊
I'd love to hear about safety that doesn't do anything. Like I've heard designers raised the skirt line of cars because it makes drivers *feel* safer but doesn't actually translate to better crash tests.
I do remember reading from somewhere that GM used Opel's design facilities a lot since the 90's and essentially that chocked Opel's economy over the years until the eventual buyout by PSA. Because Opel's design facilities were state of the art, GM saw this as opportunity to design cars that would be beneficial for the US part of GM's sales and would work in EU markets as well. What's interesting is that apparently, Opel had to lend those facilities for free for GM and they had to keep themselves afloat with their own car sales only.
Thats true.Opel developed and designed cars for the US market first and then had to redesign them to fit the european taste. Because of the uitlized R&D capacities for GM they had to rely on other capacities like the former Daewoo divison in Korea for the development of the Karl or the first Mokka.
@@Louis-dm2ct and now with their current offerings, nearly a third of the lineup of Chevrolet, and literally half of Buick’s lineup (a sad 4 vehicles) all comes out of GM Korea now!
@@Louis-dm2ct I kind of dig the sort of american-cues on Opels, especially with the RWD cars they made, made it more distinct from the rest of the german cars, even if they were cheaper feeling despite being well assembled. But what was kind of amazing was the fact that the GM's tactic was so devastating to Opel, despite them selling cars really well up till the 2000's, that they were still making huge losses.
They for sure did the same with Saab. They developed a lot of transmission komponents, 4WD, 6-speed gearbox (F40) a lot of turbocharged engines never even seen in a Saab. Safety structures and features for Epsilon platform and much more. I know because i know people that worked there for 20-30 years.
@@mervynstent1578Holden was already dead at the 80's using Opel's as there main chassis for most of the cars. And later just got rebadged Opels and Chevrolets.
Chevy probably had some fanbois in that dept. Their grandpappy drove a Chebby. Their daddy drove a Chebby. They drove a Chebby. Their kids all were forced to drive a Chebby. They brag at lunch that they got their neighbors to buy a Chebby. By God! Those uncivilized Europeans! They need to drive Chebbys!!! Remember that Daewoo you drive and really like? That's actually a Chebby, go buy a Chebby so we can all collectively stroke ourselves over the overrated Bel Air!
As a classic Saab owner, I'm always happy to hear shitting on GM. Saab the real Saab, the most intelligent cars ever built died when GM started badge jobbing them into nothing (NG 900, 93, 95, 92X, 97X & 94X)
Im in the UK In 2011 looking for a new car, I bought a Cadillac BLS Elegance diesel auto, Station wagon!! To my friends the Saabillac 😂 It was just 3 years old! Only 3700 miles and had lost 85% of its price!!! Brilliant Bargain lots of car for very little! Sold the car 2019 with 189,000 miles for the same price I bought it for 😂
@@jaimelane6999I had the same sort of experience with a Renault Val Satis. As ugly as a brick with skin grafts. Cost 39k new, brought one in 2006 which was 14 months old with 9k on the clock from my local Renault dealer as a approved used car.....£9995! Dealer had it stock since it was 9 months old and couldn't shift the thing. I snapped his hand off. Kept it for 10 years and put 175k on it, sold it to a Val Satis enthusiast in 2016 for £10k. Literally 10 years of motoring for bugger all money. It was the V6 Diesel too so it went like stink and pulled like a train. Fun times.
I live in Finland. My neighbour had a hummer h2 a decade ago. It was so enormous it was never really driven. Though the man who had it lived and breathed the Murican south, he lived in the states for a while before moving back to finland. He also had a Camaro.
I am an American, 28 years old....my last car was a 1996 Camaro Z28 6 speed manual convertible... loved that car but was a money pit. I now drive a 98 Nissan Sentra with 5 speed manual transmission because I am poorer now than I used to be since inflation 😂 I will be moving to Sweden eventually since my fiancé is Swedish.
It's a shame that Saab is gone. I've ridden in a few and was surprised at not only how fast they were but, just how well they rode. I remember renting a new Cadillac DeVille back in 1997 and a Saab Turbo raced me on the highway and beat me even though the Cadillac had the Northstar engine.
20:22 What I think is funny as well, is that with the introduction of the first PSA Opel models, the quality (in my opinion) dramatically increased as well. The cars look a lot better and the interiors aren't outdated in the showroom anymore.
The Astra K to Astra L jump was phenomenal. The french really did a good job on improving perceived quality in the last decade too, while Opel was beyond stagnant with their chinsy horrible interiors.
@Discofelsi also Opel/Chevrolet dealer here. Cant agree more on that. Not only are the cars unreliable. Also the dealer/diagnostic software for the PSA stuff are still crap, some parts of it are still only available in french.
@@phunkstar7347 couldnt agree more .. I also work at a opel dealer. the new cars are horrible to work on.... I still cant believe these things sell better than the old GM models.
Even in the Cadillac BLS papers it states „Saab 9-3“ and it was build in sweden. It was a typical GM-rebatch. They just changed the body and the badges.
Really? I have papers for all of my three Cadillac BLS and none of them say Saab 9-3. I am not saying that its not a saab.(It is, and yes I am insane for having three of these cars)
It's incredible how GM has fallen out of grace and (consequently) pulled out of many global markets in the last decade or so. -Europe: gone -India: gone -Australia: gone -Thailand and Vietnam: gone -Most of Africa: gone With its last bastions only being North America, China, South America and to a much lesser extent South Korea.
To be clear, Europe has a bunch of protectionist market policies that artificially kept American cars from selling, not just GM. If US cars were sold with the same taxes and prices as Euro brands, European brands like vw, alfa, seat, skoda, audi, bmw, renault, citroen, saab, peugeot, and etc would've lost 70% of their customers. There are many great examples of how terrified European brands are of having to compete with American brands on a level playing field, but my favorite examples are these 3. 1 - Chrysler ME 412 - Look up the history of the car and why Mercedes killed it off in 2004. I'll sum it up for you. Chrysler was owned by Mercedes at the time, and Mercedes was about to release the SLR McLaren. At the same time Chrysler used a Mercedes engine, and created a car under less time, for less money, which performed better than the SLR McLaren in every possible way, in power, 0 - 60, top speed, handling, etc. Shortly it would've absolutely humiliated Mercedes, and naturally it was killed off. 2 - SSC Ultimate Aero TT vs Bugatti Veyron - When the Veyron came out it was the fastest car in the world, then a few years later they released the Veyron SS which was a few mph faster than the original Veyron. Why? Because after the original Veyron came out, SSC released the Ultimate Aero TT, which was again, a better performing car than the Bugatti, and it had a higher top speed. Of course Bugatti couldn't handle the humiliation so they made the Veyron SS which was 50% more expensive than the original, but hey at least they reclaimed the top speed title. 3 - Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s - Europe has nothing that competes with the Chargers and 300s. A 4 door V8 sedan for around $40K. Europe, has, nothing. I already looked through competitors and the *closest* rival for Chargers is the C63 AMG, which starts at $65K, and the closest one in size that competes with it is the E63 AMG, which is even more expensive. If Chargers and 300s were officially sold in Europe, without any of the nonsense taxes and fees applied to them, no sane person would ever buy $65K+ Mercedes vehicles. Theres more examples too, like how 9 out of 10 pickup trucks in the Netherlands are the typical American trucks like the RAM 1500 and F150. I honestly hope the US starts treating European brands with the same policies, lets see how well Euro brands do in the US after that. And you heard this from a European who lives in the EU.
@@DesertStateInEU that's the same Japan and South Korea does to protect their market. GM was allowed in Korea because they bought Daewoo but Japan will tax the heck of every foreign brand trying to sell there
@@Skddjf Ford is not "thriving" in Europe, its being choked just like all other US brands. The fact that European models like the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Mondeo, and etc are present means nothing. Those are not real competitors for Mercedes, bmw, audi.
I think it's hard to have anything but a love-hate relationship with GM in the 21st century. They're like a much-beloved sports team that hasn't won a championship in 50+ years.
@@terminallygray good news, the Lions won their second playoff game in the history of the NFL and Superbowl a couple days ago… their first one was in 1991. They also won by a single point.
Hummer couldn't be driven in some European countries because it was considered a commercial truck. That was actually a selling point here in the US. Because of it's weight it was taxed differently as a business expense. It didn't matter that you ran a nail salon or internet cafe (Remember those?), because it was a "truck" almost the entire cost could be written off as a business expense over time. Salespeople were quick to point this out to small business owners and the self employed.
As a GM fan girl, I absolutely understand everything you said in the intro. It really is a love-hate relationship. Sometimes they piss me off, sometimes they don't.
I currently have a 2017 Chevy Bolt and a 2017 Cruze RS hatchback. Both cars are efficient and fun to drive. I have had good luck with GM, Mazda and Nissan vehicles.
I WAS a GM fanboy....until..... they took all that money from Uncle Sam, blew it on booze, blackjack and hookers. Then they sobered up, decided to make EVEN LOWER quality cars than the ones they were building before bankruptcy. They don't even sell the Chevy Volt anymore. The king is dead, long live the king.
American GM fan here. This is spot on. GM’s “variations of a theme” design, badging and marketing approach has always been maddening. Too many brands, too much cross pollination, too much dimwitted marketing. The bankruptcy sucked but it did force GM to whittle itself down to a manageable handful of brands, and focus on those. GM has always been capable of producing good cars and trucks (I love my ‘16 Caddy XTS4), as long as it focuses on design and quality first, instead of trying to conquer the world through dopey sales tactics and lazy rebadging. Cheers!
It wasn't too many divisions, the problem is they were all competing with each other instead of rival automaker's products. The compacts of the early 60s is a case in point. A compact Chevy was fine, but compact Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks, standard Chevrolet was still number one? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
the real problems began when the brands stopped having individuality and all became “GM” stuff. back in the day a Pontiac had a Pontiac engine, an Olds had an Olds engine and so on. the customer felt a connection to their brand. GM began it’s decline when this changed.
A lot of Americans also viewed Hummers as a middle finger to society and all that was holy. Problem was that was an attraction for some, though they were judged harshly by the rest of us.
In Germany there’s a saying that _"You've to own a petrol station (and a piece of land for parking) to be able to afford a🦞"_ ….besides that other assumption - that the size of your d*ck is inversely proportional to the size of your car. So… guess who bought that tank?
it wasn't only GM! I remember that in the same time as the BLS introduction there was european versions of Chrysler/Dodge models that were quite popular here (because they offered diesel engines) and also the failed rebadging of some models as Lancia
@@scrambler69-xk3kv , imho they shouldn't have been popular in europe either, they were more expensive, taxed heavier (especially when LEZ became a thing), the only reason people bought them was because diesel was slightly cheaper than petrol at the gas station, when that changed...diesels basically went the way of the dodo
@@scrambler69-xk3kv No, they just royally screw it up every time diesel is brought to cars. Diesel VWs aren't rare, even post dieselgate, but there was still dieselgate. Before that the crappy olds GM diesel motor (which were also pretty common).
Pontiac most surely was officially imported and sold as it's own brand in some European countries. My -89 Firebird is just one example. Also in Finland Pontiac was listed as the 21st most sold car model in -94 (partly because of the Trans Sport).
Ed-very interesting and a rather headache inducing story. Buick selling Opels goes back to the 1950’s (there was an import boom in the US from the mid to late ‘50s). Pontiac dealers use to sell Vauxhalls. There is a great 1965 Music Video of The Supremes prancing down the champs-élysées singing “Where did our love go”. The ladies encounter a couple cars from their hometown; a ‘57 Cadillac, a Corvair, and a ‘62 Buick Skylark. American car use to be chic in Europe at least until the 1970s.
I own a 1993 Europe version of a Pontiac Transsport! Normal On sale at Opel dealerships, all in Metric and german handbook, it was from 94 on a rebadged Oldsmobile Silhouette, still badged as a pontiac, And you forget the Euro Version of the 5th camaros on sale at your lokal opel dealer, they have bigger outside mirrors......... and the US Brands have success in Sweden. I remember the Buick Park Avenue and caddilac sts on sale
I live in Italy and I know someone that owns a 2nd gen SRX with the 3.6 V6, it must be very expensive to run. Also my grandpa has a 2nd gen Chevy Matiz. By the way Pontiac offered the Trans Sport minivan in Europe, funnily enough it was a rebadged Oldsmobile Silhouette rather than the actual Pontiac model.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Yes... the Pontiac Transport is the same as an Olds Silhouette. What you probably didn't know was that the Pontiac Transport came on sale here in the US in 1990 along with the Olds minivan. arrivederci
@@terminallygray I knew that they were closely related but the Trans Sport sold in Europe from 1994 was identical to the Silhouette, you can tell by the front bumper
I drive a Cadillac CT5 as daily driver, it isn't that expensive to run, getting parts isn't hard either. But mine isn't a V6 so taxes are somewhat cheap. I don't know how the taxes on a 3.6L are in Italy.
@Ed’sAutoReview. I am a Chevrolet tech technician at a Chevy dealer located in Indiana,USA. You are pretty much spot on. NO! They will never learn. Once they finally do get a good idea and manage to develop it into something worth a damn, they throw it away and do something completely different without proper testing and use the masses as test subjects….. in my opinion. 😅😂🤣
Yes and no, sure they made a lot of shitty decisions, but where Lincoln/Ford doesn't even make Sedans anymore GM decided to do what BMW, Audi and Mercedes were doing and made their own CTS/CT5 I've tested the E class, 5 Series and CT5 and I have to say Cadillac made one hell of a car. I'm the only Cadillac owner in my European town because of it...
I appreciate all your efforts to discuss the complicated story of GM in Europe. To me you got it quite right. Perhaps you could do an episode of North American 'captive imports', vehicles made by European divisions of Ford, GM, or joint ventures like of Mitsubishi with Chrysler in the 1970's-1990's. For sure you need to do an episodes on the American pick up truck, the car based pick up's (Chevy El Camino, Ford Ranchero). You also need to do an episode on American Motors with its interesting and quirky models (Gremlin, Pacer, Eagle).
With the final Holden sold in the U.S. as the Chevrolet SS, an impressive sports/sleeper sedan that everyone would mistake for a Chevrolet Impala@@jacqueslecouer5715
@@jacqueslecouer5715 The Ford Capri "The car you always promised yourself" was sold as a Mercury in the USA, It is mow 37 years since the last ones were made but I still don't think any manufacturer has ever had the same combination of desirability yet accessibility since, even if my mundane VW Golf has similar performance to a Capri 2.8i.
it is also worth mentioning about Saab 9-4x. very short lived history but related to cadillac platform. 2010- Buick /Opel line up was actually pretty good idea both ways
Fun fact: the Daewoo Lacetti was badged as a Buick Excelle in China and we got the whole suite of them rebadged Daewoo penalty boxes. My dad had an Excell hatchback for a few months back then and NGL I don't hate that thing as much as I'm supposed to do.
I remember my uncle had CTS i +-2010, if the car would fail or do regular maintenance at the dealer he had 2 service shops in entirety of Poland. One in Wreslau, one in zielona góra. Both were on the west part of country and this was quite inconvenient, especially when you lived on the opposite side of the country
Holy Crap! N-Body Malibu mentioned! These cars are never talked about, let alone in Europe! I am a big contributer to information about these cars in various forums and groups, and to my knowledge, there is only 1 N-Body Malibu in Europe, a light blue 1998 2.4L model in the Czech Republic. I've fiddled with renders on "what-if" scenarios on what if GM went full steam ahead with these cars, and if these cars *were* exported to Europe and possibly rebadged as Opel. This might have inspired me to finish them and post them. Also, I constantly have to explain to my family in Bulgaria that the Chevrolet that they know, and the Chevrolet that I know, are completely different. every single "Chevrolet" Europe got in the 2000's was absolutely awful, and wasn't even a real chevy. Do not know what GM was thinking, they would have actually gained a sizable market if they just sold the Cavalier and Malibu (5th and 6th gen) there, and brought over the entire Saturn line. By the time GM brought over the Malibu in the early 2010's to Europe, it was already too late. Why the fuck did GM think Europeans would want a literal, badge swapped, not badge engendered DAEWOO. My grandfather grew up in the 70's seeing the elite drive Impala and Caprice's. Not a fucking Lacetti. America had so much to offer Europe back then, and even more now with cars like the new Trax, trailblazer and Envista, spacious compacts with small displacements. Edit: I should mention that the Opel Mokka is actually based on the Chevrolet Trax of that generation, it got styling changes, and then Buick slapped their logo on it with some leather, and sent it back to the states. It was essentially the Chevrolet Trax, that was rebadged as the Opel Mokka, and then was rebadged as the Buick Encore. Kinda a Toyota Matrix to Pontiac Vibe to Toyota Voltz story.
I think GM management functions on the principle of a sucker born every minute. Their cynicism about their buyers, and their total disdain for the automobile, is unrivalled.
Ed: Excellent job! I always enjoy your humor and I love how you put these videos together. You covered it so well in great detail. You did an excellent job. I did want to add a few things. The Saturn Aura was American GM it was not based on any Opel. The Saturn L Series was based on Opel Vectra. Holdens were sold at Vauxhall. The Commodore and Monaro were sold at Vauxhall. Someone mentioned in the comments that the Oldsmobile Silhouette was sold as a Pontiac Trans sport in Europe. It had a Pontiac badge. They sold GM cars in the past there too. I have seen videos on You Tube of Oldsmobile Ninety Eights there with different taillamps, Buicks like the Park Avenue you mentioned. That car you showed had Pontiac Bonneville exterior mirrors. I knew about the "Chevrolet" Alero. I thank you for mentioning that too and Oldsmobile in the big picture. I liked your diagrams and explaining so much and all that different variations. You should do a part 2 and include Holden next time. Holden and Opel shared a lot too along with GM in the United States. Thank you Ed.
I actually really liked the Euro-Caddys' design, and would still consider buying one. And yes, I loved the Hummer, I even mailordered a brochure from them once (with actual handwritten letter). Chevy HHR was cool as well. But hell, I also loved the Chrysler products that made into Europe, Crossfire, PT Cruiser, 300M, 300C, Dodge Caliber and Nitro etc. They were a breath of fresh air for those eccentric ones who didn't want to fit into the endless grey sea of Suzuki Swifts and Opel Astras here... apparently, there aren't many of us... but I still thank for GM and Chrysler for trying anyway, and spicing up a little our boring streets.
Opel sales through U.S. Buick dealers actually started in the late 1950s with the Rekord P1. Around the same time, the F Series Vauxhall Victor was offered here through Pontiac dealers; that experiment ended in 1960 or so, making those Victors the first and last Vauxhall-badged cars sold in the U.S.
My favourite bit of GM's European strategy is Chevrolet Niva. At the time Lada created a fully working successor to it's legendary compact off-roader 2121 Niva, a five door 2123 Niva SUV (how original), but due to suffering from 1998 financial crisis they just didn't had the money to build it. So they formed a joint-venture with GM, but GM's part in this was pretty much just giving Lada money to produce the damn car, putting Chevy badges on it and getting full rights on Niva name in Russia, which created a very silly situation when Lada sold OG Niva as Niva in Europe but had to sell it as Lada 4x4 in Russia itself because Chevy had it's own Chevy Niva, that they produced until 2020, well after GM withdrew from most other European markets
At the same time they were producing the Chevrolet Tracker (rebadged Suzuki Vitara) and Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Frontera (rebadged Isuzu), which was also sold as Honda Passport 😅 They had a whole fleet of mismatched SUVs that shared nothing in common with each other.
You missed one small but interesting GM “investment” from that era: Alfa Romeo. They owned part of AR at the same time as Saab and these two share a lot of parts too, such as engines and gearboxes.
The only bridge I know between the two brands is the Saab 9000 and the Alfa Romeo 164 sharing the same body (also with a Fiat Chroma and a Lancia Thema)
There was a "strategic accord' for cost sharing and development. What happened was that the Holden-designed and built 3.2 litres V6 ended inside the 159/Brera ALFA models (with an ALFA designed head) where it was reviled as an unworthy successor to the ALFA Romeo Busso V6 (one of the best sounding V6 ever). The ALFA 159 chassis, too, was developed with GM owned SAAB - in theory for a D/E segment car - and had resulted about 150 kg (330 lbs) heavier than its direct competitors... So it, too, was a bit reviled by the few remaining ALFA petrol heads. Funny thing, if I remember well GM ended up paying 1 or 2 billion $ to close the collaboration with FIAT group. (Note: I suppose that, in a few years, we will know how the guys from Torino screwed over the PSA group in the creation of Stellantis... Because I cannot believe that the French managed to avoid the fate of all who got in bed with FIAT).
In fact the Alfa 939 cars (159/Brera/Spider) were based on a GM platform and had Holden gasoline engines (2.2 and 3.2). Also the new Fiat Croma was related to the BLS and 9-3, which were offered with the 1.9 Multijet turbodiesel engine.
@@JK061996 the Alfa-developped "TDI"-type engines were the best in the world, and still largely are. The Saab and other cars used this one. The GM deal effectively killed the classic "TS" 16v engines in Alfa and replaced it with what arguably is the world's first direct injection gasoline engine, the JTS. Sadly that engine lost all of the personality of the TS and the DI added a host of problems with carbon buildup. One of the gearboxes shared among most GM cars at that time was the M32 (with all of its problems).
I must admit that here in Germany ( I am in Munich) GM had quite success! The 1976 Seville made it until the production end of this body style.. Then the 1978 1979 years: An US Car invasion! Almost every GM car was available via the Opel GM Dealers! And the prices were unbeatable! In the Showrooms the glittering V8s found many many buyers! And i a Malibu Sport Coupe! 👍🏼😀🇺🇸 Even the compact downsized later were popular like the Citation or the Buick Skaylark! In the early 90‘s the Buick Park Avenue first dominated the Opel dealers showrooms here, I owned one! after it the new Cadillac Seville and Eldorado with European specs! I had a 1999 STS.. Indeed in the 2000‘s it became more quiet with GM until the Chevrolet Epica came: fully loaded 26000 DM a real price wonder! I got one 2009 and still drive it! Then GM left Opel and we only has one import Dealer left here.. Now Cadillac will bring the Lyriq: a little bit late but with the right price, positive tests and marketing it could be a success! At least it’s no Chinese car, that’s the best! But all the best, it’s a Cadillac! 🇺🇸💫
It's interesting that you say the price was 26K DM. I always thought that EU member countries got rid of old currency and adopted the Euro as a replacement.
@@terminallygray Euro currency didn't come into circulation tell the start of 2002. Before that it was only traded on markets etc, and would show up on menu's along side the home currency so people would get accustom to the pricing difference in euro's. So most of those GM's @rudiknaus4139 bought were still in DM's.
Very interesting video. I think the most successful "american" models where the ones they didn't try to adapt to the European market , like the Chevy Cruze (made in south Korea !...) or the Chrysler 300c. Do a video about Chrysler / Dodge in Europe should be fun as i am trying to buy a Sebring for 2000€ (talk about depreciation).
so the cruz...a korean build, opel engineered car...yeah the "" really fit there since in truth GM didn't really sell many "actual" american cars by that point, given most of the engineering was done by Opel and Saab, with GM ruining the endresult with their incessant cost-cutting
GM is fascinating for their remarkable ability to consistently snatch failure from the jaws of success. GM has good engineers, good designers, and can build good quality vehicles when they actually try. They just somehow shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly for no good reason... GM's worst enemy is GM.
GM makes great products when their leadership gets out of the way of its engineers. Then their leadership starts to get ideas and it all ends in tears.
@@MaticTheProtoI have to say, I'm not surprised that Hummers do well with the "guys who run self-defense dojos" demographic, regardless of the country.
Ed, you're an International Treasure. No matter how lousy a day I'm having, I can always count on a fun and exciting episode that always teaches me something. Thank you!
I live in a European country and american cars have been fairly popular here, i see a bunch of them daily. Obviously there are way more japanese and korean cars but i see a bunch of Escalades, Ford explorers and Jeep wranglers. American pick up trucks are also popular where i live with farmers and enjoy decent sales. I personally like seeing american cars here because i find them interesting.
The way that GM screwed up in China makes an interesting case study too. They were one of the earliest international companies that got into the market and at the time the local Chinese brands were pretty much crap, so they had really good sales and established considerable brand presence (with Buick being especially prominent). Then Japanese and European companies (notably Toyota and VW) got into the market and started selling cars that (a) were based on newer platforms (b) had better levels of standard equipment and (c) were actually designed to appeal to the Chinese market rather than being effectively just the same car that was being sold in the US market. The local management in Shanghai GM correctly identified this as a huge threat to their sales, but the global GM management decided that their (at the time very strong) brand would be enough. Of course, it wasn't - and now the Japanese and Germans both sell way more cars in China than the US automakers do.
Excellent episode. I'm glad that GM lost so much money during that time. It was literally as if they produced one car and then rebadged it across their entire lineup of makes. Serves them right.
Interesting video. Just as a sidenote, Pontiac Trans Sport vans were apparnently sold in Poland in early 1990s, since there were quite a few around, too much for an individual import. I think I've even seen Chevrolet Lumina APV...
The Pontiac Parisienne was sold in the UK in RHD form around 1966/7. Amazingly they seemed reasonably popular considering their price, size and fuel consumption; they occasionally pop up as Classic Cars even now.
The Parisienne was a Pontiac specific to the Canadian market as none were sold in the US. They were rebadged Chieftains which were manufactured till the 1958 model year
@@lindaeasley5606 All Canadian full-size Pontiacs up until 1968 or so were actually full-size Chevrolets wearing Pontiac sheetmetal (some of which was actually Canadian Pontiac specific in order to fit the slightly shorter Chevy architecture). Engines, transmissions, chassis, inner body structures and more were shared with Canadian-made Bel Airs, Impalas and such, thereby avoiding import tariffs. And the Parisienne eventually DID make it south of the border: Starting in 1983, one year after Pontiac USA dumped the B-body Catalina and Bonneville and stuck the Bonneville name on a facelifted G-body LeMans under the assumption that gas prices were going to stay high forever, the Parisienne sedan and wagon went on sale down here. Sedan sales continued through '86, while the wagon ran through '89.
Great review, however have to ask, why no mention of the brief GM stint with Alfa Romeo? This created the unique platform for mid-sized executive cars that Alfa actual took on and with GM money hired the head of BMW M division to manage its development as an attempted assault on the German triumvirate. It was meant to go to SAAB and other GM, but thanks to the 2008 crisis now only exists in the Alfa 159. It resulted estetically in arguably the best exterior/interior design of a mid-sized sedan/estate of in the 2000s. It is possibly the best looking estate of all time. Nonetheless it is also charactistically for an Alfa flawed by the focus on FWD and q4 drivetrains that didnt live up to the competitors offerings in the same segment. That has to be the most extreme extravagence of GMs forray into the EU.
Really interesting. I was born in the mid 1990s in the USA and I remember some of the various models talked about in the video. I recall a lot of people at the time complaining that most American cars looked like European cars by the end of the 2000s. Also, the fact that GM tried to foist the Hummer on Europe is an act that is approaching a war crime and I would like to sincerely apologize for that mess. I mean, everything else was mediocre at best, but that…that goes beyond horrid.
20:11 "...all the while that GM owned Opel, it lost money." So Opel has been losing money ever since General Motors took full control of Opel in 1931? I get your point, Opel wasn't doing well during the later years when GM seemed unable to do just about anything. Still, there was a very long time when Opel did pretty well under GM management, partly because GM was wise enough to know that the European market was different than the American market and let Opel's management make most of the product decisions. Then GM's upper management went to crap and Opel was, sadly taken along for the ride.
I drive an I6 2.5l Chevrolet Epica. Surprisingly reliable and economical car for its size. It has alot of equipment and maintenance is cheap except the Air Con its the only part not shared with any Euro GM car.
Great video, as always. There’s just something about everything about GM that always shouts “committee”. Just ponderous, bureaucratic, behind-the-curve, uninspired and uninspiring, risk averse in every way. We need to have some meetings to discuss this.
Bravo as always you have an amazing way to tell the history of the auto industry its a learning platform with a huge slice of its funny as hell 😂 please keep doing what you do lm always waiting for your next videos to show up to learn and most importantly to laugh my ass off james
Wow. I remember when my friends dad early 1990's had a Buick Park Avenue. Rare car here, but great looking, but it had engine malfunction and it needed a cheat part, but it took almost a year that car brand importer could get it from USA. My friends dad was so pissed that he bought a BMW 750. That was a great car.
Always remember that GM is one of the companies that run our country here in America through bribery of politicians. More regulations just means that they can charge more for the new stuff they are forced to put on their cars. But now this strategy has priced them out of most people's resch.
@@terminallygray Honda can't build trucks. Toyota makes a nice half-ton but it was designed for America and they still can't make 3/4 or full ton trucks.
I’ve driven Golfs and Octavias all my life and now have a Cadillac ATS coupe and I’m loving it. The Golf interior disintegrates after 2-3 years and while the Octavia is fantastic I feel the Cadillac is a BMW/Mercedes level drive
It sure was confusing. Back then I had a Chevy Lumina and I went to the local Chevy dealer to get something fixed on my Chevy, they said they don’t even have the instruction manuals for the mechanics to fix a Chevrolet. They only serviced the Korean Daewoo Chevrolets 😂. I’m a Chevy fan but the company is bonkers.
Probably the best automotive video I've ever seen. Thanks a lot. And just as context, Opel and Vauxhall designed the models that went into Buick/Pontiac/Saturn, got no dividends back and then had to pay GM to use the design, so they could sell the models *they* had designed. And you wonder why they "failed" financially? Go figure...
Never underestimate GM's ability to take careful aim at the competition and shoot itself squarely in the foot. Recall that in the 80's GM tried to rebadge the Chevy Cavalier as the Cadillac Cimmaron by adding a new front facia and a nicer interior and sent it forth as a "BMW fighter." One GM engineer was supposedly asked what was the actual difference betweeen a Cavalier and the Cimmaron. His answer was "About $5,000!"
It’s a shame that GM didn’t sell the Oldsmobile Aurora in Europe as that car was very European inspired, it was unlike anything else from GM in terms of style, technology, and build quality, I think it could’ve been a hit over there such a damn shame that GM didn’t know what to do with Oldsmobile.
I think if GM sold the Oldsmobile Aurora it would have failed spectacularly. Have you looked at it? It is hideous! It looks like a snail where a German luxury car ran over...twice! This design would never have caught on in Europe. Those tail lights look like they belong on a spaceship! Where would they have gotten their inspiration from? In the early 1990s, we didn't have such cars here in Europe. Yes, we did have the soapbox-styled Ford Sierra, but it took two to three years for us Europeans to actually give up and just buy the thing. We also had the Mondeo, but, just like the Sierra, that car initially also had some difficulties selling. No, the best European forward-looking designs were by companies like Opel. Or Peugeot. Or Saab.
GM sold the Alero here in Germany .. I had one, too, the design was ahead of its time but the 3,1 l V6 engine and the electronics were not reliable.. 😎
Great video, but i have to say i remember the Daewoo thing a bit differently. My relatives bought a brand new Daewoo at the time and were really mad/sad that by not waiting a few years, they were "cheated" out of having a shiny new Chevrolet. The whole Daewoo brand was kinda seen as poverty cars in my country while the newer Chevrolet cars aren't.
They had an European presence ….Opel and Vauxhall . Which , by the way, they managed to bleed dry to prop up US GM component exports, just as they done to Holden. All so the executives in Sterling Heights , MI could cash out on their bonuses and vested options on North America operations. GM claims that, for ten years , Opel run losses, hence their hurry to sell it to Citroen/Peugeot PSA . Well once the French bought Opel and Vauxhall , it took them just a year to operate Opel on the black. The bleed stopped. It gets worse , Opel was the source on nameplates engineering for Latin America. Which went to Daewoo , which folded, and now it is done by S.A.I.C. The brass at GM Headquarters is made of greedy self serving incompetents. They will drive the company bankrupt not soon enough.
I enjoyed your recent comments about GM' s return to Europe. I was driving near my home in Sacramento, California when I saw a small Chevy I didn't recognize, but I had seen before. It was a rebadged kaliso
Nothing brightens my day more than a shiny new Ed's Auto Reviews video! And, Ed: this one's right up there with your classic "Malaise Era" videos! Man, I loved those! So, here we are with GM's various forays into the European market (including the stealthy fooling, I mean RE-badging), as they donned new sheep's clothing to hide their wolf underneath. Cadillac? In Europe? Gas prices in Europe are insanely higher than here in the USA, so... MPG is a major concern. The closest Cadillac got to a semi-decent MPG was that pig-wearing-lipstick, Cimarron. And it was complete trash! Really?!?!? And Hummer?!?!?!??? Why? With only 8 MPG, that plasiticised hunk of faux military excess was wildly incompatible with the European market. Who was the brains behind all this? Appears a lot to be a bunch of hooey dreamed up by some committee of flying monkeys who couldn't sit still long enough to form any complete thoughts, plans or strategies. Anyway: GREAT video, Ed!
Cimarron may not have been as distinctively Cadillac as it might have been, but it was in no way a "trash" vehicle. It was reliable and dependable. The BIG PROBLEM is you could have gotten the same reliability and dependability with the Pontiac J2000 or Chevy Cavalier versions for half the money.
GM did Holden dirty by basically closing their manufacturing plants in Australia, and then completely shutting down the brand entirely like they did to Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
Of all GM brands Holden/HSV sold well as performance cars/utes, HSV was rebadged Vauxhall, HSV/Holden should been GM performance global n customers get choose if they wanted rebrand Vauxhall or Pontiac.
@@jamieshields9521 we had both the Holden Monaro and the VE Commodore sold as Pontiacs and a Chevrolet and the VF Commodore sold as a Chevrolet in the US, but they didn’t sell enough (because they didn’t advertise the damn things!) in their eyes to justify the cost of shipping and manufacturing them in Australia. But all the ones that did sell have a cult following and are thoroughly enjoyed.
After owning two Cadillacs in Finland I can say it’s truly a love-hate relationship with GM. The main issue I had was resale value. Many dealers would also refuse to take a Cadillac in trade. Parts weren’t expensive. Taxes were similar to comparable European models. Fuel consumption was on the higher side and the main reason why I went for a European alternative. Cadillac was very recognizable based on my experience. People would even compliment the design of my old 2009 CTS. The truth is they look better than they are as cars. Cadillac isn’t alone though. Even many European brands struggle. Such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Jaguar. People just aren’t ready to spend as much or even more to own them over the German alternative.
Buick Verano = Opel Astra J sedan. Built in Germany but only sold in Ireland, South Africa (as Opel) and the USA (as Buick). Made a video about mine in 2020.
My uncle had one of the last Aleros here in Spain, originally with all Oldsmobile branding, later rebranded as Chevrolet, because someone stole the front logo. We used to go on holidays together and they had to stop to refuel twice as we needed, man that V6 was thirsty. That car really made me get into american brands, as it really stood out, rare one around here.
I've actually seen a 4 door Saturn Astra last year, most of the Astras sold in the US were 2 doors, so it's actually pretty rare, I think they only sold ~2,000 4drs in the 3 years they were available. I know to a European this sounds ludicrous because they're extremely common over there 😆
I was actually working at the time and I stopped what I was doing to go and take a pic of it 😆 it was only a few weeks after seeing the equally rare Saturn Relay, a rebadged Chevy Uplander minivan.
I grew up in Canada in the 70-80's and GM was KING. My family and friends wouldn't look at anything else, except the odd Ford or Chrysler, but certainly not an import. However, the last time I bought a new car (2016) Hyundai (god forbid) looked more exciting than anything GM offered...so I bought a new VW....to sit alongside my old Porsche. I will say, the new Corvette is VERY exciting, so there's something good to say about the General.
General Motors isn't run by car enthusiast anymore and its really sad. They simply ignore the concept of building vehicles that herd customers into their showrooms. GM is desperately out of touch.
The captiva was a Korean suv in Australia, I've not made it to the end, but Pontiac, Vauxhall and Holden would be linked too right? Australia never got anything other than rebadged daewoos and opels for holden. It sucks that we don't have the current ct5 to replace the Commodore. Cimmeron/camira became the vectra, then the insignia, so the last Commodore and Buick version were camiras basically...
Remembering what a POS the Camira was when new (my father had two of them, a JB and a JD, as company cars, and they were among the cars I learned to drive in), it is no wonder that Holden couldn't survive selling the ZB Commodore. Of course, GM forced a lot of questionable cars on Holden over the years. I can't think of any captive imports they received from the mid-80's onward that were actually good.
I have noticed in the Staes that almost every new car is either white, black or Gray. I know this is a trivial issue, but I wonder if it is the same in Europe. Back in the seventies and eighties there were so many great and awful colors. Now...fifty shades of gray
In Germany at least these days cars are mainly black or dark blue or dark grey. White is uncommon, but some are silver. If it does have a color it's usually something dark, such as brown.
@@daviduliana4447Here in the U.K. a white car is almost always the most basic version of the model - I’m really not quite sure why that is. There is also the social stereotype of “White Van Man” (again the base model) usually a self-employed tradesman (of dubious qualification) or jobbing delivery subcontractor - who may not be too scrupulous about quality control or filing his tax returns. So white vehicles don’t have a great image.
Ed I have been watching your videos for a while now, and your content is second to none. I loved the long slow walk through the history of American cars, as they have truly made some of the most incredibly beautiful and special vehicles to grace the car market. It is and has always been my dream for example, to own a classic Mustang. But I would also go for pretty much any big ol Yank muscle car, as they pretty much all have their own desirable qualities. Anyway onto this subject, and yes here in Ireland Daewoo landed back in the 90's sometime with their utterly poxy Matiz and Lanos. Deplorable cars. Devoid of any soul or quality, but priced cheaply so they sold fairly well. Then overnight, they became Chevrolets!!! Chevy keys suddenly started to appear on Irish pub tables. And I laughed in the faces of their owners, because, well, fuck off! It's not a Chevy, no matter how much to try to tell me it is. It's a cheap Asian made shitbox with a famous badge on it, no more. And thats not to disparage Asian made cars, hell I drive a Korean Hyundai, and it brilliant. It's just Daewoo made god awful cars. I do remember their advertisiing tagline though '5 year warranty (or some other selling point), That'll be the Daewoo!'
Ironic how most new EVs are as heavy as a Hummer H1 yet noone bats an eyelid. Sad how Vauxhall is now the bargain brand of Stellantis - their own Dacia if you will. Great and very interesting video Ed
There are concerns among architects that replacing all the gasoline cars with EVs will seriously stress the integrity of existing multilevel parking structures worldwide.
Sometimes I get the idea that GM themselves do not understand what Cadillac is supposed to be. Cadillac was not supposed to go up against BMW and Mercedes, Buick was supposed to do that Cadillac is supposed to cross daggers with Bentley and Rolls Royce; brands that I consider to be above the German Luxury cars
Originally, that was true, but by the later 50s, Cadillac prices rose more slowly than most other cars, so by the 70s, Cads were no longer so expensive that only the well-to-do could afford them.
The fact that they thought hummer would even have a chance of selling in Europe is laughable
As far as I know they didn't even sell all that well in the US
America is fail
I don't know how someone can consistently find parking big enough for a Hummer in an American car centric city. Having one anywhere near a European city is the most inconvenient thing I can think of
@@davidmhh9977 as an American, I can confidently say these things were jokes even when new- and everyone knew it. They were laughably bloated and with Fuel mileage in the single digits, it was a car that was sized for a person's ego. I don't think the flex was "I could afford one" so much as it was "I could afford to run one"
They managed to sell some in Russia. Even had assembly line in Kaliningrad. And those ones assembled in Kaliningrad could be driven on standard license because of some weight reduction measures, they were able to get it under 3500kg
GM driving their brands into their ground? What a surprise... [Australian here]
We apologize for what GM did to Holden. We too liked Holden and wanted the Ute to come to the US.
@@1antisupercat At least Holden were permitted to design and build left-hand-drive cars (even if the export volumes of these cars were stymied for various reasons), Ford Australia were never given that luxury by Ford HQ. 😟 A left-hand-drive Falcon and left-hand-drive Territory... What could have been? -- In any case, say Chevy and Ford did not have the Impala and Taurus in North America, would Americans really have bought American-made versions of the Australian-designed Commodore and Falcon instead? Or would they be considered too small compared to B-Bodies and Panthers?
@@TassieLorenzo that’s a really good question. In modern times with few sedans made by gm and ford, probably not. But maybe 15 years ago I’m sure they would sell.
@@1antisupercat Yeah, Utes are cool.
Pontiac G8:was a Holden Engineered gem. All other Pontiac made models at that time stunk. Shared platforms with Buick , the Buick models were known for reliability. Pontiac equivalents were lemons.
I think it says a lot about GM that a company run by accountants rather than ‘car guys’ couldn’t make a profit out of its European division, yet 12 months later it’s in profit 😂
Aren't they all tho?
@@daTribbleMakervarying degrees. GM likes to take those types of negatives to the max
@@daTribbleMakernot at all. More fortune 500 companies than ever are being run by engineers and PhDs now.
@@ILoveTinfoilHats Looks like it, considering how much non-essential tech is put into the cars to the point that you cannot run a car because it's doing a software update, or you have a fucktonne of sensors for fuck knows what and when one breaks (and they always do), your repair bill is well into the 4 digits.
Yes, I'm talking here about the G*rmans
engineer in echonomics and not in car manufacturing... tell me this, why would a car guy enginner choose a T hose made of platic instead of metal? no other argument than economics because that part will have to be replaced after warranty and yet instead of replacing just the T you have to replace the whole hose assembly wich costs you more money@@ILoveTinfoilHats
For the first time Ed has managed to make an episode that didn't have a single car I'd spend my own money on.
Not even the Corvette or CTS V ? 😭
I wasn't a buyer back in those years so I can't relate to trends at the time, but all of the designs appear..boring or too similar to trusted brands? Why would anyone be interested in buying those models.
What about the buick riviera!? Lol
I saw Mercs, Beamers and Audi's ;) Briefly a Citroën.
@@tybo103 I'd like a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gen Riviera, nothing after '73. But it would probably be a rust bucket or way out of my price range.
I remember when Daewoo was rebadged Chevrolet. I thought: Okay, this is suicide. They managed to damage BOTH brands in one move at the same time.
I know NOBODY who did not say "What? WHAT?"
It's interesting how GM manages to make enemies out of former allies - after the failed partnership with Fiat in the first half of the 2000s (which Fiat made really good use of and even got money out of it when GM pulled out, with which they could effectively buy out Chrysler after the 2008 recession killed it), FCA and PSA ended up becoming Stellantis, a whole group of brands that GM wronged over the years.
Yep, I believe Marchionne squeezed 2 billion dollars out of GM in the divorce
@@JK061996 Marchionne was such a Master mind. Not only they squeezed out money from GM in the mid 2000s. They paid zero money for Chrysler back in 2009
@@engineer_alvand now they are making millions out of then failed brands like Jeep and RAM
@@matmcdif only he lived long enough to oversee the resurrection of Lancia 😢
@@matmcd that's correct. FCA could've lived on Jeep and Ram alone.
Fiat is only immensely popular in Italy and Brazil. In other countries they're a medium sized player at best including most of Europe.
That's why I give even more credit to Marchionne, he played out his cards very well despite technically having not enough money to buy Chrysler
I remember I was studying Management in the early 2000s. I was baffled by the messy GM policies on rebadging daewoo as chevrolet so I asked my Marketing Professor for his take about it: he was as baffled as I
Its funny cause then GM rebadged Holdens in Korea as Daewoo. Shambles
Maybe GM thought Chevrolet had no brand image in Europe, since the cars had never sold well here. But of course Chevy had an image: big, American, outrageous. Not small, Korean, everydayish.
Some of those Daewoos made it to Canada as Chevys as well, but not to the US
So bizarre. They should have waited til they actually had some new models rather than rebadging the dreadful Daewoo models, especially as some were only recently launched.
@@GetBuckAUare ypu even heterosexual
I have a suggestion for the next episode: "The History of Car Safety" Id love to see what car developers did to increase their cars safety over the years, from the 5mph Bumpers to automatic lane-keep assist and the evolution of airbags
Well smarty....the real Volvo GAVE every car maker 3 point seatbelts ...free! Didn't patent them so only they could use them . GM builds crap.....with few exceptions. BTW ... I love my "Chevy" Daewoo Aveo. 😊
I'd love to hear about safety that doesn't do anything. Like I've heard designers raised the skirt line of cars because it makes drivers *feel* safer but doesn't actually translate to better crash tests.
Were 5mph bumpers in the US even for safety? Thought it just was insurance reasons. Less broken head lights, rear lights, indicators, etc.
That surely gave volvo alot of mention
Get a motorcycle
I do remember reading from somewhere that GM used Opel's design facilities a lot since the 90's and essentially that chocked Opel's economy over the years until the eventual buyout by PSA. Because Opel's design facilities were state of the art, GM saw this as opportunity to design cars that would be beneficial for the US part of GM's sales and would work in EU markets as well. What's interesting is that apparently, Opel had to lend those facilities for free for GM and they had to keep themselves afloat with their own car sales only.
Thats true.Opel developed and designed cars for the US market first and then had to redesign them to fit the european taste.
Because of the uitlized R&D capacities for GM they had to rely on other capacities like the former Daewoo divison in Korea for the development of the Karl or the first Mokka.
Predatory corporate practices... you don't see that anywhere.
@@Louis-dm2ct and now with their current offerings, nearly a third of the lineup of Chevrolet, and literally half of Buick’s lineup (a sad 4 vehicles) all comes out of GM Korea now!
@@Louis-dm2ct I kind of dig the sort of american-cues on Opels, especially with the RWD cars they made, made it more distinct from the rest of the german cars, even if they were cheaper feeling despite being well assembled. But what was kind of amazing was the fact that the GM's tactic was so devastating to Opel, despite them selling cars really well up till the 2000's, that they were still making huge losses.
They for sure did the same with Saab. They developed a lot of transmission komponents, 4WD, 6-speed gearbox (F40) a lot of turbocharged engines never even seen in a Saab.
Safety structures and features for Epsilon platform and much more. I know because i know people that worked there for 20-30 years.
I like how GM tried to sell almost all cars as Chevrolet instead of using their brands as they really are, including Daewoo.
Daewoo helped destroy Holden
@@mervynstent1578Holden was already dead at the 80's using Opel's as there main chassis for most of the cars. And later just got rebadged Opels and Chevrolets.
@@jgn593With exception of Commodore
Chevy probably had some fanbois in that dept.
Their grandpappy drove a Chebby.
Their daddy drove a Chebby.
They drove a Chebby.
Their kids all were forced to drive a Chebby.
They brag at lunch that they got their neighbors to buy a Chebby.
By God! Those uncivilized Europeans! They need to drive Chebbys!!!
Remember that Daewoo you drive and really like? That's actually a Chebby, go buy a Chebby so we can all collectively stroke ourselves over the overrated Bel Air!
buy Deawoo was even better than Chevrolet, they had really good cars
As a classic Saab owner, I'm always happy to hear shitting on GM. Saab the real Saab, the most intelligent cars ever built died when GM started badge jobbing them into nothing (NG 900, 93, 95, 92X, 97X & 94X)
The funny thing is, I'm a Cadillac owner (in Europe) and I feel a little bit offended when people assume it a rebadged Saab.
Yes, seemed like GM's philosophy with Saab was "change the shape of the headrest, that makes it a new model!"
Anything GM touching goes to 💩
The real reason I think why the 92X ever happened it's because GM owned half of Subaru's parent company at the time
Well yes, but GM also kept Saab afloat. They were already going bankrupt when GM bought them
Im in the UK In 2011 looking for a new car, I bought a Cadillac BLS Elegance diesel auto, Station wagon!! To my friends the Saabillac 😂 It was just 3 years old! Only 3700 miles and had lost 85% of its price!!! Brilliant Bargain lots of car for very little! Sold the car 2019 with 189,000 miles for the same price I bought it for 😂
That was the more ugly version of the six saab bls as a cadillac was a terrible idea
@kobra6660 but when it was a quarter of the price for a 9-3 in cadillac dress, economic always win
@@jaimelane6999I had the same sort of experience with a Renault Val Satis. As ugly as a brick with skin grafts. Cost 39k new, brought one in 2006 which was 14 months old with 9k on the clock from my local Renault dealer as a approved used car.....£9995! Dealer had it stock since it was 9 months old and couldn't shift the thing. I snapped his hand off. Kept it for 10 years and put 175k on it, sold it to a Val Satis enthusiast in 2016 for £10k. Literally 10 years of motoring for bugger all money. It was the V6 Diesel too so it went like stink and pulled like a train. Fun times.
Your use of emojis is infuriating
"GM" and "Failed attempt" go together quite nicely.
I live in Finland. My neighbour had a hummer h2 a decade ago. It was so enormous it was never really driven. Though the man who had it lived and breathed the Murican south, he lived in the states for a while before moving back to finland. He also had a Camaro.
I am an American, 28 years old....my last car was a 1996 Camaro Z28 6 speed manual convertible... loved that car but was a money pit. I now drive a 98 Nissan Sentra with 5 speed manual transmission because I am poorer now than I used to be since inflation 😂
I will be moving to Sweden eventually since my fiancé is Swedish.
It's a shame that Saab is gone. I've ridden in a few and was surprised at not only how fast they were but, just how well they rode. I remember renting a new Cadillac DeVille back in 1997 and a Saab Turbo raced me on the highway and beat me even though the Cadillac had the Northstar engine.
20:22 What I think is funny as well, is that with the introduction of the first PSA Opel models, the quality (in my opinion) dramatically increased as well. The cars look a lot better and the interiors aren't outdated in the showroom anymore.
The Astra K to Astra L jump was phenomenal. The french really did a good job on improving perceived quality in the last decade too, while Opel was beyond stagnant with their chinsy horrible interiors.
Come on, Opel is still unreliable...like everything from PSA.
All polished turds.
@Discofelsi also Opel/Chevrolet dealer here. Cant agree more on that. Not only are the cars unreliable. Also the dealer/diagnostic software for the PSA stuff are still crap, some parts of it are still only available in french.
@@phunkstar7347 couldnt agree more .. I also work at a opel dealer. the new cars are horrible to work on.... I still cant believe these things sell better than the old GM models.
Even in the Cadillac BLS papers it states „Saab 9-3“ and it was build in sweden. It was a typical GM-rebatch. They just changed the body and the badges.
Really? I have papers for all of my three Cadillac BLS and none of them say Saab 9-3. I am not saying that its not a saab.(It is, and yes I am insane for having three of these cars)
@pecashi1584 you're a mad man.
It's incredible how GM has fallen out of grace and (consequently) pulled out of many global markets in the last decade or so.
-Europe: gone
-India: gone
-Australia: gone
-Thailand and Vietnam: gone
-Most of Africa: gone
With its last bastions only being North America, China, South America and to a much lesser extent South Korea.
To be clear, Europe has a bunch of protectionist market policies that artificially kept American cars from selling, not just GM. If US cars were sold with the same taxes and prices as Euro brands, European brands like vw, alfa, seat, skoda, audi, bmw, renault, citroen, saab, peugeot, and etc would've lost 70% of their customers.
There are many great examples of how terrified European brands are of having to compete with American brands on a level playing field, but my favorite examples are these 3.
1 - Chrysler ME 412 - Look up the history of the car and why Mercedes killed it off in 2004. I'll sum it up for you. Chrysler was owned by Mercedes at the time, and Mercedes was about to release the SLR McLaren. At the same time Chrysler used a Mercedes engine, and created a car under less time, for less money, which performed better than the SLR McLaren in every possible way, in power, 0 - 60, top speed, handling, etc. Shortly it would've absolutely humiliated Mercedes, and naturally it was killed off.
2 - SSC Ultimate Aero TT vs Bugatti Veyron - When the Veyron came out it was the fastest car in the world, then a few years later they released the Veyron SS which was a few mph faster than the original Veyron. Why? Because after the original Veyron came out, SSC released the Ultimate Aero TT, which was again, a better performing car than the Bugatti, and it had a higher top speed. Of course Bugatti couldn't handle the humiliation so they made the Veyron SS which was 50% more expensive than the original, but hey at least they reclaimed the top speed title.
3 - Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s - Europe has nothing that competes with the Chargers and 300s. A 4 door V8 sedan for around $40K. Europe, has, nothing. I already looked through competitors and the *closest* rival for Chargers is the C63 AMG, which starts at $65K, and the closest one in size that competes with it is the E63 AMG, which is even more expensive. If Chargers and 300s were officially sold in Europe, without any of the nonsense taxes and fees applied to them, no sane person would ever buy $65K+ Mercedes vehicles.
Theres more examples too, like how 9 out of 10 pickup trucks in the Netherlands are the typical American trucks like the RAM 1500 and F150. I honestly hope the US starts treating European brands with the same policies, lets see how well Euro brands do in the US after that.
And you heard this from a European who lives in the EU.
@@DesertStateInEU that's the same Japan and South Korea does to protect their market. GM was allowed in Korea because they bought Daewoo but Japan will tax the heck of every foreign brand trying to sell there
@@DesertStateInEUWhy did FORD manage to thrive in Europe then?
@@Skddjf Ford is not "thriving" in Europe, its being choked just like all other US brands. The fact that European models like the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Mondeo, and etc are present means nothing. Those are not real competitors for Mercedes, bmw, audi.
GM is still really popular here in Kuwait, my dad recently got a 2021 Tahoe, you see them in every neighborhood it’s the quintessential family car.
I think it's hard to have anything but a love-hate relationship with GM in the 21st century. They're like a much-beloved sports team that hasn't won a championship in 50+ years.
Ask any Detroit Lions or Cleveland Brows fan. They Know......They know
that about sums it up.
The manchester united of car brands
@@terminallygray good news, the Lions won their second playoff game in the history of the NFL and Superbowl a couple days ago… their first one was in 1991. They also won by a single point.
Hummer couldn't be driven in some European countries because it was considered a commercial truck.
That was actually a selling point here in the US. Because of it's weight it was taxed differently as a business expense. It didn't matter that you ran a nail salon or internet cafe (Remember those?), because it was a "truck" almost the entire cost could be written off as a business expense over time.
Salespeople were quick to point this out to small business owners and the self employed.
As a GM fan girl, I absolutely understand everything you said in the intro. It really is a love-hate relationship. Sometimes they piss me off, sometimes they don't.
Fr, I own a couple gm cars and it really can be a love-hate relationship
I currently have a 2017 Chevy Bolt and a 2017 Cruze RS hatchback. Both cars are efficient and fun to drive. I have had good luck with GM, Mazda and Nissan vehicles.
I WAS a GM fanboy....until..... they took all that money from Uncle Sam, blew it on booze, blackjack and hookers. Then they sobered up, decided to make EVEN LOWER quality cars than the ones they were building before bankruptcy. They don't even sell the Chevy Volt anymore. The king is dead, long live the king.
Pretty sure they call that stockholm syndrome
@@mikewysko2268the cruse is a Opel Astra with a different body. That's why it's good. 😉
American GM fan here. This is spot on. GM’s “variations of a theme” design, badging and marketing approach has always been maddening. Too many brands, too much cross pollination, too much dimwitted marketing. The bankruptcy sucked but it did force GM to whittle itself down to a manageable handful of brands, and focus on those. GM has always been capable of producing good cars and trucks (I love my ‘16 Caddy XTS4), as long as it focuses on design and quality first, instead of trying to conquer the world through dopey sales tactics and lazy rebadging. Cheers!
It wasn't too many divisions, the problem is they were all competing with each other instead of rival automaker's products. The compacts of the early 60s is a case in point. A compact Chevy was fine, but compact Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks, standard Chevrolet was still number one? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
the real problems began when the brands stopped having individuality and all became “GM” stuff. back in the day a Pontiac had a Pontiac engine, an Olds had an Olds engine and so on. the customer felt a connection to their brand. GM began it’s decline when this changed.
A lot of Americans also viewed Hummers as a middle finger to society and all that was holy. Problem was that was an attraction for some, though they were judged harshly by the rest of us.
I think most people only like the hummer h1 military model.
In Germany there’s a saying that _"You've to own a petrol station (and a piece of land for parking) to be able to afford a🦞"_ ….besides that other assumption - that the size of your d*ck is inversely proportional to the size of your car. So… guess who bought that tank?
Even the new EV Hummer looks a typical douchebag mobile and have a lot of them unsold on GMC dealership lots.
I remember seeing large GM vehicles driving around German roads in the '90s. I always thought it hilarious. Good video.
There were many hummer h2, small Chevrolet daewoo rebrands and some cts on my area between 2002-2012.
I also wanted to buy an CTV back then.
@@m4rsianer I would actually still love a CTS-V sedan with the six-speed manual. That would be a fun car.
it wasn't only GM! I remember that in the same time as the BLS introduction there was european versions of Chrysler/Dodge models that were quite popular here (because they offered diesel engines) and also the failed rebadging of some models as Lancia
In the USA the added cost of diesel offsets the fuel economy of a diesel, so they are not so popular here.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv , imho they shouldn't have been popular in europe either, they were more expensive, taxed heavier (especially when LEZ became a thing), the only reason people bought them was because diesel was slightly cheaper than petrol at the gas station, when that changed...diesels basically went the way of the dodo
Lancia is a brand I haven't heard of in a couple of decades.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv No, they just royally screw it up every time diesel is brought to cars. Diesel VWs aren't rare, even post dieselgate, but there was still dieselgate. Before that the crappy olds GM diesel motor (which were also pretty common).
@@TheChill001 Why are they still around then? Electric fanboy?
Pontiac most surely was officially imported and sold as it's own brand in some European countries. My -89 Firebird is just one example. Also in Finland Pontiac was listed as the 21st most sold car model in -94 (partly because of the Trans Sport).
Ed-very interesting and a rather headache inducing story. Buick selling Opels goes back to the 1950’s (there was an import boom in the US from the mid to late ‘50s). Pontiac dealers use to sell Vauxhalls.
There is a great 1965 Music Video of The Supremes prancing down the champs-élysées singing “Where did our love go”. The ladies encounter a couple cars from their hometown; a ‘57 Cadillac, a Corvair, and a ‘62 Buick Skylark. American car use to be chic in Europe at least until the 1970s.
I own a 1993 Europe version of a Pontiac Transsport! Normal On sale at Opel dealerships, all in Metric and german handbook, it was from 94 on a rebadged Oldsmobile Silhouette, still badged as a pontiac,
And you forget the Euro Version of the 5th camaros on sale at your lokal opel dealer, they have bigger outside mirrors......... and the US Brands have success in Sweden.
I remember the Buick Park Avenue and caddilac sts on sale
I live in Italy and I know someone that owns a 2nd gen SRX with the 3.6 V6, it must be very expensive to run. Also my grandpa has a 2nd gen Chevy Matiz.
By the way Pontiac offered the Trans Sport minivan in Europe, funnily enough it was a rebadged Oldsmobile Silhouette rather than the actual Pontiac model.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Yes... the Pontiac Transport is the same as an Olds Silhouette. What you probably didn't know was that the Pontiac Transport came on sale here in the US in 1990 along with the Olds minivan.
arrivederci
@@terminallygray I knew that they were closely related but the Trans Sport sold in Europe from 1994 was identical to the Silhouette, you can tell by the front bumper
I drive a Cadillac CT5 as daily driver, it isn't that expensive to run, getting parts isn't hard either. But mine isn't a V6 so taxes are somewhat cheap. I don't know how the taxes on a 3.6L are in Italy.
And you could get that Trans Sport with a manual in Europe. Was automatic only in the states.
@@lab1042 A manual attached to a Quad4!
@Ed’sAutoReview. I am a Chevrolet tech technician at a Chevy dealer located in Indiana,USA. You are pretty much spot on. NO! They will never learn. Once they finally do get a good idea and manage to develop it into something worth a damn, they throw it away and do something completely different without proper testing and use the masses as test subjects….. in my opinion. 😅😂🤣
Agreed
GM runs away from success as if they were on fire 😅
Yes and no, sure they made a lot of shitty decisions, but where Lincoln/Ford doesn't even make Sedans anymore GM decided to do what BMW, Audi and Mercedes were doing and made their own CTS/CT5 I've tested the E class, 5 Series and CT5 and I have to say Cadillac made one hell of a car. I'm the only Cadillac owner in my European town because of it...
I appreciate all your efforts to discuss the complicated story of GM in Europe. To me you got it quite right. Perhaps you could do an episode of North American 'captive imports', vehicles made by European divisions of Ford, GM, or joint ventures like of Mitsubishi with Chrysler in the 1970's-1990's. For sure you need to do an episodes on the American pick up truck, the car based pick up's (Chevy El Camino, Ford Ranchero). You also need to do an episode on American Motors with its interesting and quirky models (Gremlin, Pacer, Eagle).
With the final Holden sold in the U.S. as the Chevrolet SS, an impressive sports/sleeper sedan that everyone would mistake for a Chevrolet Impala@@jacqueslecouer5715
@@jacqueslecouer5715 The Ford Capri "The car you always promised yourself" was sold as a Mercury in the USA, It is mow 37 years since the last ones were made but I still don't think any manufacturer has ever had the same combination of desirability yet accessibility since, even if my mundane VW Golf has similar performance to a Capri 2.8i.
it is also worth mentioning about Saab 9-4x. very short lived history but related to cadillac platform. 2010- Buick /Opel line up was actually pretty good idea both ways
Fun fact: the Daewoo Lacetti was badged as a Buick Excelle in China and we got the whole suite of them rebadged Daewoo penalty boxes. My dad had an Excell hatchback for a few months back then and NGL I don't hate that thing as much as I'm supposed to do.
I remember my uncle had CTS i +-2010, if the car would fail or do regular maintenance at the dealer he had 2 service shops in entirety of Poland. One in Wreslau, one in zielona góra. Both were on the west part of country and this was quite inconvenient, especially when you lived on the opposite side of the country
I own a never version, I service mine at a US car importer, the only Cadillac dealer is on the other side of the country as well.
Holy Crap! N-Body Malibu mentioned! These cars are never talked about, let alone in Europe! I am a big contributer to information about these cars in various forums and groups, and to my knowledge, there is only 1 N-Body Malibu in Europe, a light blue 1998 2.4L model in the Czech Republic.
I've fiddled with renders on "what-if" scenarios on what if GM went full steam ahead with these cars, and if these cars *were* exported to Europe and possibly rebadged as Opel. This might have inspired me to finish them and post them.
Also, I constantly have to explain to my family in Bulgaria that the Chevrolet that they know, and the Chevrolet that I know, are completely different. every single "Chevrolet" Europe got in the 2000's was absolutely awful, and wasn't even a real chevy. Do not know what GM was thinking, they would have actually gained a sizable market if they just sold the Cavalier and Malibu (5th and 6th gen) there, and brought over the entire Saturn line.
By the time GM brought over the Malibu in the early 2010's to Europe, it was already too late.
Why the fuck did GM think Europeans would want a literal, badge swapped, not badge engendered DAEWOO. My grandfather grew up in the 70's seeing the elite drive Impala and Caprice's. Not a fucking Lacetti. America had so much to offer Europe back then, and even more now with cars like the new Trax, trailblazer and Envista, spacious compacts with small displacements.
Edit: I should mention that the Opel Mokka is actually based on the Chevrolet Trax of that generation, it got styling changes, and then Buick slapped their logo on it with some leather, and sent it back to the states. It was essentially the Chevrolet Trax, that was rebadged as the Opel Mokka, and then was rebadged as the Buick Encore. Kinda a Toyota Matrix to Pontiac Vibe to Toyota Voltz story.
I think GM management functions on the principle of a sucker born every minute. Their cynicism about their buyers, and their total disdain for the automobile, is unrivalled.
John - you can take the mask off now. 👍🏻
@@vincedibona4687 Vince - we have LASIK and PRK these days, you can take off the glasses now. 👍
It;s an old photo. @@vincedibona4687
0:57 Edd always had the makings of a varsity car journalist
Ed: Excellent job! I always enjoy your humor and I love how you put these videos together. You covered it so well in great detail. You did an excellent job. I did want to add a few things. The Saturn Aura was American GM it was not based on any Opel. The Saturn L Series was based on Opel Vectra. Holdens were sold at Vauxhall. The Commodore and Monaro were sold at Vauxhall. Someone mentioned in the comments that the Oldsmobile Silhouette was sold as a Pontiac Trans sport in Europe. It had a Pontiac badge. They sold GM cars in the past there too. I have seen videos on You Tube of Oldsmobile Ninety Eights there with different taillamps, Buicks like the Park Avenue you mentioned. That car you showed had Pontiac Bonneville exterior mirrors. I knew about the "Chevrolet" Alero. I thank you for mentioning that too and Oldsmobile in the big picture. I liked your diagrams and explaining so much and all that different variations. You should do a part 2 and include Holden next time. Holden and Opel shared a lot too along with GM in the United States. Thank you Ed.
@@Jack_Russell_Brown Thank you for sharing and confirming what I said with more details as well. It is appreciated.
I actually really liked the Euro-Caddys' design, and would still consider buying one. And yes, I loved the Hummer, I even mailordered a brochure from them once (with actual handwritten letter). Chevy HHR was cool as well.
But hell, I also loved the Chrysler products that made into Europe, Crossfire, PT Cruiser, 300M, 300C, Dodge Caliber and Nitro etc.
They were a breath of fresh air for those eccentric ones who didn't want to fit into the endless grey sea of Suzuki Swifts and Opel Astras here... apparently, there aren't many of us... but I still thank for GM and Chrysler for trying anyway, and spicing up a little our boring streets.
I've seen a couple HHRs here in Denmark and even talked with the owner of one in a supermarket parking lot, I genuinely like that car's styling
Great video, as always. There was also an Isuzu-Opel connection. It's interesting that Buick still uses Opel design cues.
Two Opels were sold in the USA, the first for many years were German, then due to costs we were then sold the Japanese Isuzu sourced opels.
Opel sales through U.S. Buick dealers actually started in the late 1950s with the Rekord P1. Around the same time, the F Series Vauxhall Victor was offered here through Pontiac dealers; that experiment ended in 1960 or so, making those Victors the first and last Vauxhall-badged cars sold in the U.S.
My favourite bit of GM's European strategy is Chevrolet Niva. At the time Lada created a fully working successor to it's legendary compact off-roader 2121 Niva, a five door 2123 Niva SUV (how original), but due to suffering from 1998 financial crisis they just didn't had the money to build it. So they formed a joint-venture with GM, but GM's part in this was pretty much just giving Lada money to produce the damn car, putting Chevy badges on it and getting full rights on Niva name in Russia, which created a very silly situation when Lada sold OG Niva as Niva in Europe but had to sell it as Lada 4x4 in Russia itself because Chevy had it's own Chevy Niva, that they produced until 2020, well after GM withdrew from most other European markets
At the same time they were producing the Chevrolet Tracker (rebadged Suzuki Vitara) and Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Frontera (rebadged Isuzu), which was also sold as Honda Passport 😅
They had a whole fleet of mismatched SUVs that shared nothing in common with each other.
You missed one small but interesting GM “investment” from that era: Alfa Romeo. They owned part of AR at the same time as Saab and these two share a lot of parts too, such as engines and gearboxes.
The only bridge I know between the two brands is the Saab 9000 and the Alfa Romeo 164 sharing the same body (also with a Fiat Chroma and a Lancia Thema)
There was a "strategic accord' for cost sharing and development. What happened was that the Holden-designed and built 3.2 litres V6 ended inside the 159/Brera ALFA models (with an ALFA designed head) where it was reviled as an unworthy successor to the ALFA Romeo Busso V6 (one of the best sounding V6 ever).
The ALFA 159 chassis, too, was developed with GM owned SAAB - in theory for a D/E segment car - and had resulted about 150 kg (330 lbs) heavier than its direct competitors... So it, too, was a bit reviled by the few remaining ALFA petrol heads.
Funny thing, if I remember well GM ended up paying 1 or 2 billion $ to close the collaboration with FIAT group.
(Note: I suppose that, in a few years, we will know how the guys from Torino screwed over the PSA group in the creation of Stellantis... Because I cannot believe that the French managed to avoid the fate of all who got in bed with FIAT).
In fact the Alfa 939 cars (159/Brera/Spider) were based on a GM platform and had Holden gasoline engines (2.2 and 3.2).
Also the new Fiat Croma was related to the BLS and 9-3, which were offered with the 1.9 Multijet turbodiesel engine.
@@JK061996 the Alfa-developped "TDI"-type engines were the best in the world, and still largely are. The Saab and other cars used this one.
The GM deal effectively killed the classic "TS" 16v engines in Alfa and replaced it with what arguably is the world's first direct injection gasoline engine, the JTS. Sadly that engine lost all of the personality of the TS and the DI added a host of problems with carbon buildup.
One of the gearboxes shared among most GM cars at that time was the M32 (with all of its problems).
The Alfa 159 was due to get an equivalent Saab and Cadillac sibling.
I must admit that here in Germany ( I am in Munich) GM had quite success! The 1976 Seville
made it until the production end of this body style..
Then the 1978 1979 years:
An US Car invasion! Almost every GM car was available via the Opel GM Dealers!
And the prices were unbeatable!
In the Showrooms the glittering V8s found many many buyers! And i a Malibu Sport Coupe! 👍🏼😀🇺🇸
Even the compact downsized later were popular like the Citation or the Buick Skaylark!
In the early 90‘s the Buick Park Avenue first
dominated the Opel dealers showrooms here, I owned one! after it the new Cadillac Seville and Eldorado with European specs! I had a 1999 STS..
Indeed in the 2000‘s it became more quiet with GM until the Chevrolet Epica came: fully loaded 26000 DM a real price wonder! I got one 2009 and still drive it! Then GM left Opel and we only has one import Dealer left here..
Now Cadillac will bring the Lyriq: a little bit late but with the right price, positive tests and marketing it could be a success! At least it’s no Chinese car, that’s the best! But all the best, it’s a Cadillac! 🇺🇸💫
GM was strong in Switzerland too , I collect GM brochures from 80/90/00s, In Switzerland most of the US GM lineup was available in EU spec.
It's interesting that you say the price was 26K DM. I always thought that EU member countries got rid of old currency and adopted the Euro as a replacement.
@@terminallygray Euro currency didn't come into circulation tell the start of 2002. Before that it was only traded on markets etc, and would show up on menu's along side the home currency so people would get accustom to the pricing difference in euro's. So most of those GM's @rudiknaus4139 bought were still in DM's.
@@terminallygray you are right! The price was 26000 € 😎👍🏼
Nah. You are just a sad little fanboy. The new cadillacs don’t even have apple carplay
Very interesting video. I think the most successful "american" models where the ones they didn't try to adapt to the European market , like the Chevy Cruze (made in south Korea !...) or the Chrysler 300c. Do a video about Chrysler / Dodge in Europe should be fun as i am trying to buy a Sebring for 2000€ (talk about depreciation).
Earlier this week I saw a Chrysler Stratus, a pretty rare sight on European roads
Imagine the abomination a readapted 300c would be! An american turned E-class, re-europised.
so the cruz...a korean build, opel engineered car...yeah the "" really fit there since in truth GM didn't really sell many "actual" american cars by that point, given most of the engineering was done by Opel and Saab, with GM ruining the endresult with their incessant cost-cutting
The Chevy Cruze was made in the USA.
I feel like a king driving the only Cadillac in my Belgian town.
GM is fascinating for their remarkable ability to consistently snatch failure from the jaws of success. GM has good engineers, good designers, and can build good quality vehicles when they actually try. They just somehow shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly for no good reason... GM's worst enemy is GM.
I really wish that they'd give engineers more of a run of the place. I say this as I deeply miss Pontiac
GM makes great products when their leadership gets out of the way of its engineers. Then their leadership starts to get ideas and it all ends in tears.
The engineers know full well how to properly design a good car. It is the cost-cutters who destroy them.
Your description of the Hummer was perfect. You must have spent some time on that. Well done.
It‘s a common sentiment. We have a guy running a self defense dojo in our street who bought one. Everyone hates it. (Germany)
@@MaticTheProtoI have to say, I'm not surprised that Hummers do well with the "guys who run self-defense dojos" demographic, regardless of the country.
@@MrTJPAS yeah :(
Ed, you're an International Treasure. No matter how lousy a day I'm having, I can always count on a fun and exciting episode that always teaches me something. Thank you!
Never been this early for a car daddy video x
This is a fantastic series. I enjoy watching it.
I live in a European country and american cars have been fairly popular here, i see a bunch of them daily. Obviously there are way more japanese and korean cars but i see a bunch of Escalades, Ford explorers and Jeep wranglers. American pick up trucks are also popular where i live with farmers and enjoy decent sales. I personally like seeing american cars here because i find them interesting.
What how are they interesting 😂
The way that GM screwed up in China makes an interesting case study too. They were one of the earliest international companies that got into the market and at the time the local Chinese brands were pretty much crap, so they had really good sales and established considerable brand presence (with Buick being especially prominent). Then Japanese and European companies (notably Toyota and VW) got into the market and started selling cars that (a) were based on newer platforms (b) had better levels of standard equipment and (c) were actually designed to appeal to the Chinese market rather than being effectively just the same car that was being sold in the US market. The local management in Shanghai GM correctly identified this as a huge threat to their sales, but the global GM management decided that their (at the time very strong) brand would be enough. Of course, it wasn't - and now the Japanese and Germans both sell way more cars in China than the US automakers do.
Excellent episode. I'm glad that GM lost so much money during that time. It was literally as if they produced one car and then rebadged it across their entire lineup of makes. Serves them right.
I enjoy your automotive history series a great deal. Ed, you're very interesting and entertaining.
Interesting video. Just as a sidenote, Pontiac Trans Sport vans were apparnently sold in Poland in early 1990s, since there were quite a few around, too much for an individual import. I think I've even seen Chevrolet Lumina APV...
The Pontiac Parisienne was sold in the UK in RHD form around 1966/7. Amazingly they seemed reasonably popular considering their price, size and fuel consumption; they occasionally pop up as Classic Cars even now.
The Acadians and the Beaumonts were sold in some parts of Europe as well.
The Parisienne was a Pontiac specific to the Canadian market as none were sold in the US. They were rebadged Chieftains which were manufactured till the 1958 model year
@@lindaeasley5606 All Canadian full-size Pontiacs up until 1968 or so were actually full-size Chevrolets wearing Pontiac sheetmetal (some of which was actually Canadian Pontiac specific in order to fit the slightly shorter Chevy architecture). Engines, transmissions, chassis, inner body structures and more were shared with Canadian-made Bel Airs, Impalas and such, thereby avoiding import tariffs.
And the Parisienne eventually DID make it south of the border: Starting in 1983, one year after Pontiac USA dumped the B-body Catalina and Bonneville and stuck the Bonneville name on a facelifted G-body LeMans under the assumption that gas prices were going to stay high forever, the Parisienne sedan and wagon went on sale down here. Sedan sales continued through '86, while the wagon ran through '89.
@@lindaeasley5606 They rode on shorter Chevrolet chassis with Pontiac sheet metal and lacked the US "wide track".. ungainly looking..
@@MarinCipollina I have seen many, and they look OK to me. Not as good as a Wide-Track car, but still a nice stylish looking car.
Great review, however have to ask, why no mention of the brief GM stint with Alfa Romeo? This created the unique platform for mid-sized executive cars that Alfa actual took on and with GM money hired the head of BMW M division to manage its development as an attempted assault on the German triumvirate. It was meant to go to SAAB and other GM, but thanks to the 2008 crisis now only exists in the Alfa 159. It resulted estetically in arguably the best exterior/interior design of a mid-sized sedan/estate of in the 2000s. It is possibly the best looking estate of all time. Nonetheless it is also charactistically for an Alfa flawed by the focus on FWD and q4 drivetrains that didnt live up to the competitors offerings in the same segment. That has to be the most extreme extravagence of GMs forray into the EU.
Great history lesson as always. I enjoy your videos, keep up the good work
mid-2000's GM rebranding was something else
Especially the SAAB SUV that was a rebadged Trail Blazer with an inline 5cyl Isuzu engine.
Really interesting. I was born in the mid 1990s in the USA and I remember some of the various models talked about in the video. I recall a lot of people at the time complaining that most American cars looked like European cars by the end of the 2000s. Also, the fact that GM tried to foist the Hummer on Europe is an act that is approaching a war crime and I would like to sincerely apologize for that mess. I mean, everything else was mediocre at best, but that…that goes beyond horrid.
20:11 "...all the while that GM owned Opel, it lost money." So Opel has been losing money ever since General Motors took full control of Opel in 1931? I get your point, Opel wasn't doing well during the later years when GM seemed unable to do just about anything. Still, there was a very long time when Opel did pretty well under GM management, partly because GM was wise enough to know that the European market was different than the American market and let Opel's management make most of the product decisions. Then GM's upper management went to crap and Opel was, sadly taken along for the ride.
Please consider doing a dedicated Daewoo episode one day, I would absolutely love it!!! Such an underrated brand with an interesting story....
The BLS was often referred to as the "Bland Little Sedan" in our parts
Exceptionally well thought out. What a messy topic to handle, to sort out. You did a great job. Thanks for the video.
I drive an I6 2.5l Chevrolet Epica. Surprisingly reliable and economical car for its size. It has alot of equipment and maintenance is cheap except the Air Con its the only part not shared with any Euro GM car.
Great video, as always. There’s just something about everything about GM that always shouts “committee”. Just ponderous, bureaucratic, behind-the-curve, uninspired and uninspiring, risk averse in every way.
We need to have some meetings to discuss this.
Bravo as always you have an amazing way to tell the history of the auto industry its a learning platform with a huge slice of its funny as hell 😂 please keep doing what you do lm always waiting for your next videos to show up to learn and most importantly to laugh my ass off james
Wow. I remember when my friends dad early 1990's had a Buick Park Avenue. Rare car here, but great looking, but it had engine malfunction and it needed a cheat part, but it took almost a year that car brand importer could get it from USA. My friends dad was so pissed that he bought a BMW 750. That was a great car.
Always remember that GM is one of the companies that run our country here in America through bribery of politicians. More regulations just means that they can charge more for the new stuff they are forced to put on their cars. But now this strategy has priced them out of most people's resch.
It's been like that for over 4 decades. What is it that Toyota and Honda do that GM can't do, even on their best days.
@@terminallygray Honda can't build trucks. Toyota makes a nice half-ton but it was designed for America and they still can't make 3/4 or full ton trucks.
GM did the same thing in Australia with Holden
Government has enough of hands outs, GM pulls out and leaves nothing! 🤬
I’ve driven Golfs and Octavias all my life and now have a Cadillac ATS coupe and I’m loving it. The Golf interior disintegrates after 2-3 years and while the Octavia is fantastic I feel the Cadillac is a BMW/Mercedes level drive
It sure was confusing. Back then I had a Chevy Lumina and I went to the local Chevy dealer to get something fixed on my Chevy, they said they don’t even have the instruction manuals for the mechanics to fix a Chevrolet. They only serviced the Korean Daewoo Chevrolets 😂. I’m a Chevy fan but the company is bonkers.
Your videos are fantastic, surprised I'm only finding your channel now.
As a German I can only say how sad it is what GM did with Opel
Probably the best automotive video I've ever seen. Thanks a lot. And just as context, Opel and Vauxhall designed the models that went into Buick/Pontiac/Saturn, got no dividends back and then had to pay GM to use the design, so they could sell the models *they* had designed. And you wonder why they "failed" financially? Go figure...
Never underestimate GM's ability to take careful aim at the competition and shoot itself squarely in the foot. Recall that in the 80's GM tried to rebadge the Chevy Cavalier as the Cadillac Cimmaron by adding a new front facia and a nicer interior and sent it forth as a "BMW fighter." One GM engineer was supposedly asked what was the actual difference betweeen a Cavalier and the Cimmaron. His answer was "About $5,000!"
GM, since the 70s, has been run by cost-cutters who know little about a car other than how to start the engine and aim the thing.
Great video. I thank gm, here in Canada for introducing me to Toyota Honda.
It’s a shame that GM didn’t sell the Oldsmobile Aurora in Europe as that car was very European inspired, it was unlike anything else from GM in terms of style, technology, and build quality, I think it could’ve been a hit over there such a damn shame that GM didn’t know what to do with Oldsmobile.
I think if GM sold the Oldsmobile Aurora it would have failed spectacularly. Have you looked at it? It is hideous! It looks like a snail where a German luxury car ran over...twice! This design would never have caught on in Europe. Those tail lights look like they belong on a spaceship! Where would they have gotten their inspiration from? In the early 1990s, we didn't have such cars here in Europe.
Yes, we did have the soapbox-styled Ford Sierra, but it took two to three years for us Europeans to actually give up and just buy the thing. We also had the Mondeo, but, just like the Sierra, that car initially also had some difficulties selling. No, the best European forward-looking designs were by companies like Opel. Or Peugeot. Or Saab.
Not everyone shares your opinions, ban. 👍🏻
Agreed the Aurora is fantastic
GM sold the Alero here in Germany .. I had one, too, the design was ahead of its time but the 3,1 l V6 engine and the electronics were not reliable.. 😎
Let's not forget the Aurora needing a truck tester to get it's crash test done properly.
I loved my Matiz. It was my very first car as a teen. So many memories with it
Ed, you forgot another rebadging case-the Chevrolet Niva (shniva, as we like to call it).
Great video, but i have to say i remember the Daewoo thing a bit differently. My relatives bought a brand new Daewoo at the time and were really mad/sad that by not waiting a few years, they were "cheated" out of having a shiny new Chevrolet. The whole Daewoo brand was kinda seen as poverty cars in my country while the newer Chevrolet cars aren't.
They had an European presence ….Opel and Vauxhall .
Which , by the way, they managed to bleed dry to prop up US GM component exports, just as they done to Holden. All so the executives in Sterling Heights , MI could cash out on their bonuses and vested options on North America operations.
GM claims that, for ten years , Opel run losses, hence their hurry to sell it to Citroen/Peugeot PSA . Well once the French bought Opel and Vauxhall , it took them just a year to operate Opel on the black. The bleed stopped.
It gets worse , Opel was the source on nameplates engineering for Latin America. Which went to Daewoo , which folded, and now it is done by S.A.I.C.
The brass at GM Headquarters is made of greedy self serving incompetents. They will drive the company bankrupt not soon enough.
had an Cadillac BLS 2.0T as my first car. It was an amzing car.
I have a love-love relationship with this channel.
I enjoyed your recent comments about GM'
s return to Europe. I was driving near my home in Sacramento, California when I saw a small Chevy I didn't recognize, but
I had seen before. It was a rebadged kaliso
Nothing brightens my day more than a shiny new Ed's Auto Reviews video! And, Ed: this one's right up there with your classic "Malaise Era" videos! Man, I loved those! So, here we are with GM's various forays into the European market (including the stealthy fooling, I mean RE-badging), as they donned new sheep's clothing to hide their wolf underneath. Cadillac? In Europe? Gas prices in Europe are insanely higher than here in the USA, so... MPG is a major concern. The closest Cadillac got to a semi-decent MPG was that pig-wearing-lipstick, Cimarron. And it was complete trash! Really?!?!? And Hummer?!?!?!??? Why? With only 8 MPG, that plasiticised hunk of faux military excess was wildly incompatible with the European market. Who was the brains behind all this? Appears a lot to be a bunch of hooey dreamed up by some committee of flying monkeys who couldn't sit still long enough to form any complete thoughts, plans or strategies.
Anyway: GREAT video, Ed!
Cimarron may not have been as distinctively Cadillac as it might have been, but it was in no way a "trash" vehicle. It was reliable and dependable. The BIG PROBLEM is you could have gotten the same reliability and dependability with the Pontiac J2000 or Chevy Cavalier versions for half the money.
@@MarinCipollina That was my point. AND Ed did a great review of that some time ago.
The Caddy Catera was nice and had got a decent fuel econoym. And the CTS was very similar, especailly with the LA3 and the larger LY7.
Brilliant video, Ed. Really enjoyed that!
Australia still holds the trophy for the most bonkers rebadging disasters in history. 🤒
GM did Holden dirty by basically closing their manufacturing plants in Australia, and then completely shutting down the brand entirely like they did to Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
Of all GM brands Holden/HSV sold well as performance cars/utes, HSV was rebadged Vauxhall, HSV/Holden should been GM performance global n customers get choose if they wanted rebrand Vauxhall or Pontiac.
@@jamieshields9521 we had both the Holden Monaro and the VE Commodore sold as Pontiacs and a Chevrolet and the VF Commodore sold as a Chevrolet in the US, but they didn’t sell enough (because they didn’t advertise the damn things!) in their eyes to justify the cost of shipping and manufacturing them in Australia. But all the ones that did sell have a cult following and are thoroughly enjoyed.
After owning two Cadillacs in Finland I can say it’s truly a love-hate relationship with GM. The main issue I had was resale value. Many dealers would also refuse to take a Cadillac in trade. Parts weren’t expensive. Taxes were similar to comparable European models. Fuel consumption was on the higher side and the main reason why I went for a European alternative. Cadillac was very recognizable based on my experience. People would even compliment the design of my old 2009 CTS. The truth is they look better than they are as cars.
Cadillac isn’t alone though. Even many European brands struggle. Such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Jaguar. People just aren’t ready to spend as much or even more to own them over the German alternative.
Buick Verano = Opel Astra J sedan. Built in Germany but only sold in Ireland, South Africa (as Opel) and the USA (as Buick). Made a video about mine in 2020.
My uncle had one of the last Aleros here in Spain, originally with all Oldsmobile branding, later rebranded as Chevrolet, because someone stole the front logo.
We used to go on holidays together and they had to stop to refuel twice as we needed, man that V6 was thirsty.
That car really made me get into american brands, as it really stood out, rare one around here.
I've actually seen a 4 door Saturn Astra last year, most of the Astras sold in the US were 2 doors, so it's actually pretty rare, I think they only sold ~2,000 4drs in the 3 years they were available.
I know to a European this sounds ludicrous because they're extremely common over there 😆
I was actually working at the time and I stopped what I was doing to go and take a pic of it 😆 it was only a few weeks after seeing the equally rare Saturn Relay, a rebadged Chevy Uplander minivan.
I recently drove a Buick Encore as a rental, in fact a rebadged Opel Mokka.
Chevrolet Astra in Mexico
The SAAB 9-7X based on the Chevy Trailblazer is usually called the *"Trollblazer"*.
I grew up in Canada in the 70-80's and GM was KING. My family and friends wouldn't look at anything else, except the odd Ford or Chrysler, but certainly not an import. However, the last time I bought a new car (2016) Hyundai (god forbid) looked more exciting than anything GM offered...so I bought a new VW....to sit alongside my old Porsche.
I will say, the new Corvette is VERY exciting, so there's something good to say about the General.
General Motors isn't run by car enthusiast anymore and its really sad. They simply ignore the concept of building vehicles that herd customers into their showrooms. GM is desperately out of touch.
@@garymotley8196Yeah, they are more out of touch than Ford and Mopar combined.
@@fortheloveofnoiseExactly... At least Ford and Mopar build some vehicles that actually bring some excitement to the table.
Every single one of your videos is a treat
The captiva was a Korean suv in Australia, I've not made it to the end, but Pontiac, Vauxhall and Holden would be linked too right?
Australia never got anything other than rebadged daewoos and opels for holden. It sucks that we don't have the current ct5 to replace the Commodore.
Cimmeron/camira became the vectra, then the insignia, so the last Commodore and Buick version were camiras basically...
It sucks because Australia sold its soul to China.
Remembering what a POS the Camira was when new (my father had two of them, a JB and a JD, as company cars, and they were among the cars I learned to drive in), it is no wonder that Holden couldn't survive selling the ZB Commodore.
Of course, GM forced a lot of questionable cars on Holden over the years. I can't think of any captive imports they received from the mid-80's onward that were actually good.
I’ve owned a few GM’s. I current have a Korean Chevy and I like it. I had an H3 and I really liked that little car.
I have noticed in the Staes that almost every new car is either white, black or Gray. I know this is a trivial issue, but I wonder if it is the same in Europe. Back in the seventies and eighties there were so many great and awful colors. Now...fifty shades of gray
Ain't it the truth. I saw a FI 1957 Bel Air on the road today, Turquoise w/white top. Still looks great after all these years.
In Germany at least these days cars are mainly black or dark blue or dark grey. White is uncommon, but some are silver. If it does have a color it's usually something dark, such as brown.
Thanks. Interesting why white is not so popular in Germany. Hmmmm @@Slazlo-Brovnik
@@daviduliana4447Here in the U.K. a white car is almost always the most basic version of the model - I’m really not quite sure why that is. There is also the social stereotype of “White Van Man” (again the base model) usually a self-employed tradesman (of dubious qualification) or jobbing delivery subcontractor - who may not be too scrupulous about quality control or filing his tax returns. So white vehicles don’t have a great image.
Oh. Interesting. @@davidpaterson2309
Ed I have been watching your videos for a while now, and your content is second to none. I loved the long slow walk through the history of American cars, as they have truly made some of the most incredibly beautiful and special vehicles to grace the car market. It is and has always been my dream for example, to own a classic Mustang. But I would also go for pretty much any big ol Yank muscle car, as they pretty much all have their own desirable qualities. Anyway onto this subject, and yes here in Ireland Daewoo landed back in the 90's sometime with their utterly poxy Matiz and Lanos. Deplorable cars. Devoid of any soul or quality, but priced cheaply so they sold fairly well. Then overnight, they became Chevrolets!!! Chevy keys suddenly started to appear on Irish pub tables. And I laughed in the faces of their owners, because, well, fuck off! It's not a Chevy, no matter how much to try to tell me it is. It's a cheap Asian made shitbox with a famous badge on it, no more. And thats not to disparage Asian made cars, hell I drive a Korean Hyundai, and it brilliant. It's just Daewoo made god awful cars. I do remember their advertisiing tagline though '5 year warranty (or some other selling point), That'll be the Daewoo!'
Some of those Daewoos made it to Canada as Canada-exclusive models! Chevy Optra and Epica for example
Ironic how most new EVs are as heavy as a Hummer H1 yet noone bats an eyelid. Sad how Vauxhall is now the bargain brand of Stellantis - their own Dacia if you will. Great and very interesting video Ed
There are concerns among architects that replacing all the gasoline cars with EVs will seriously stress the integrity of existing multilevel parking structures worldwide.
You say that, but the new Astra starts at almost the same price as a DS4, which is equivalent to an Audi a3.
@@billolsen4360 Interesting!
Brilliant video. Thank you.
Sometimes I get the idea that GM themselves do not understand what Cadillac is supposed to be.
Cadillac was not supposed to go up against BMW and Mercedes, Buick was supposed to do that
Cadillac is supposed to cross daggers with Bentley and Rolls Royce; brands that I consider to be above the German Luxury cars
Originally, that was true, but by the later 50s, Cadillac prices rose more slowly than most other cars, so by the 70s, Cads were no longer so expensive that only the well-to-do could afford them.