The General currently has eight car brands. Since some models are built off similar platforms a sedan from Saturn as we know may not be much different from one sold by Chevy. The problem is GM may not be taking sales away from arch nemesis Toyota. It may be actually taking sales from itself.

Last year, GM introduced three crossovers according to The Wall Street Journal, the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia, which are all but identical, and the more luxurious Buick Enclave. There are, of course, only a limited number of crossover buyers. Strong sales for the GMC crossover may hurt Buick.

GM thinks it can manage all of its brands but in a falling domestic car market there is little evidence to show that the company's plan will work.

It is time to kill some of GM's brands, save marketing money, and stop most of the competition among cars built by the same parent company. The firm's weakest brands by sales and falling units are Buick and Saturn. Most of their models are matched by cars in the Chevy, GMC, and Pontiac lines.

Shutting down brands is hard, an admission of defeat. But, it is time for GM to let some of its model lines go ala Chrysler.