Whose car is it anyway?

Yesterday, a fellow GM intern shared with me an insight from one of her college friends: "I hate the big three, so I bought a Hummer." Touche.

However, there is one glaring error in this sock-it-to-the-man stance against the likes of GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler - Hummer is a GM product.

(http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=60627)

It is interesting how many consumers are not able to associate GM and its eight brands as related entities. I wonder if this is a Gen-Y thing. From what I gather, in past generations there was a stronger sense of familiarity with / loyalty to American automakers.

Because I have trouble pondering without action, I sent the following text message to six of my lazy, praise-seeking peers:

"This is random, but I have two questions. A) Name two General Motors vehicle brands if you can (no looking!) and B) What kid of car do you drive? I apologize for sending out awkward text messages."

The responses...

1) Female/Jeep:

"Not a clue."

2) Male/VW:

"Oldsmobile? Not sure..." (Well, up until 2004)

3) Female/Honda Civic:

"Chevy and GMC." <--- Ding! Ding! Ding!

4) Male/Honda CRV (with a sad face in reference to said vehicle):

"GM and Ford." In response to this , I will also include a sad face...

5) Male/Also a Honda CRV:

"Dodge... Chevrolet?"

6) Male/"Used to drive grandparents old Honda Civic but that died last week"
"Chevy, Pontiac, GMC, Dodge." (3/4 ain't bad... my condolences about the car)

As my elaborate study reveals, four out of six of my "subjects" were at least vaguely informed. And even if they weren't, as long as vehicles are being sold and properly promoted... is it really a bad thing that GM as a corporation sometimes takes more of a backseat in the public eye? Any thoughts on this?