Celebrating failure?

So far, this millennium has been sad for an assortment of brands that had the misfortune of being tangled up with US domestic automakers.

GM axed Oldsmobile, Pontiac and short-lived Saturn (poor Geo didn’t make it out of the 90s)

Of course, the GM cancer extended to Isuzu back in the 90s and, very recently, to Hummer, Saab and Suzuki

Ford axed Mercury
Chrysler axed Plymouth
In most cases, by the time of the brand’s demise, the question wasn’t so much “why get rid of it”, but “why does it exist?” Strategically, it’s not clear that upper management really had a plan, and certainly not a consistent one that could build brand opinion, trust and loyalty, despite likely heroic efforts on the parts of working level strategists.

Olds was one of the earliest automakers, so that loss is particularly sad, although we’re hard pressed to think of anything interesting in since the 90s. The Aurora was an interesting effort, but didn’t blow anyone away.

What better way to put an historical brand to rest than to “celebrate” with a Last 500 special edition or a thoroughly mediocre car loved only for being much better looking than its Pontiac sister product and its giant tail lights? Yes, folks, this is possibly the last “new” Oldsmobile, a 2004 Alero GLS with 12 miles on it. It’s already up to $8000 plus at press time. How high will it go?

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Bonham, TX
$8,098 with 13 bids and reserve not met
08/14/2013 update: Ended at $11,501 with 19 bids and reserve not met. I other words, it FAILED to sell.
09/02/2013 update: Relisted and ended at $12,500 with 37 bids and reserve NOT met. Seller/dealer is out of line with the market…