General Motors companion make program

rdf:langString General Motors companion make program

rdf:langString The four brands that were part of the companion make program

rdf:langString LaSalle survived until 1940, while Viking only lasted until 1931

rdf:langString Canmania Car show - Wimborne .jpg

rdf:langString LaSalle_1928_Phaaeton.jpg

rdf:langString U.S.

rdf:langString Launching new brands to supplement GM's current marques

rdf:langString Pontiac

rdf:langString

rdf:langString Viking

rdf:langString LaSalle

rdf:langString Marquette

rdf:langString General Motors

rdf:langString companion make program

rdf:langString In the late 1920s, American automotive company General Motors (GM) launched four companion makes to supplement its existing lineup of five-passenger car brands, or makes. The companion makes were LaSalle, introduced for the 1927 model year to supplement Cadillac; Marquette, introduced in 1929 for 1930 to supplement Buick; Pontiac, introduced for 1926 to supplement Oakland; and Viking, introduced for 1929 to supplement Oldsmobile. GM's fifth existing brand, Chevrolet, did not receive a companion make. With the exception of Viking, each of the companion makes were slotted below their "parent make" in GM's pricing hierarchy. GM had pioneered the idea of having a ladder of brands, arranged in order by price, to appeal to consumers with different incomes. This contributed to GM's rise to automotive dominance in the 1920s at the expense of Ford. By the late 1920s, GM felt that there were excessive gaps in this ladder. President Alfred P. Sloan devised the companion makes in order to fill those gaps. The companion makes were also intended to increase the sales of their respective divisions by selling cars that cost less to produce. The program is generally considered a failure. Sales of Vikings and Marquettes were low during the Great Depression and the brands were discontinued by 1931. LaSalle lasted longer, weathering the Depression until it too ceased production after 1940. Pontiac had a different fate; its popularity led to the discontinuation of Oakland after 1931. Pontiac was the only GM marque produced for a significant amount of time that was not an outside acquisition; it was discontinued in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession.