International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), The Future, The Past & More

End of an era
The last Oldsmobile ever built rolled off a General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) assembly line on April 29, 2004, and a nameplate with 106 years of history drove off into the annals of history. Oldsmobile had claimed to be the first to mass-produce cars and the first to pioneer automatic transmissions, but ancient innovations couldn’t save the brand from an image of antiquity. It had been part of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) for 96 years, having first been absorbed in 1908, and for decades it represented a middle ground between luxury and economy in the diverse GM lineup.

Sales had suffered as GM increasingly shared parts and processes across various tiers of automobiles, reducing Oldsmobile to little more than a nameplate identified more with great-grandparents than with great motoring experiences. By the turn of the 21st century, Oldsmobile was on its last leg, and some auto industry analysts were sounding the death knell. GM simply failed to differentiate Oldsmobile in a crowded mid-level market, and with so many well-defined alternatives to choose from, car buyers simply gave Oldsmobile a pass. In the end, it doesn’t matter how old and historic a brand might be. It matters only that the brand means something in today’s market.

The article A Bridge to the Future and a Break With the Past originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM).

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