So far, local businesses and residents are feeling no effect from General Motors' recent decision to retire the Oldsmobile over the next few years.

Car sales manager Mark Hall at Petro's GM Showplace, 2777 N. Detroit St., Warsaw, said effects of the discontinuation are "yet to be seen."

According to an Associated Press article, Oldsmobile is one of the oldest brand names in U.S. automotive history. Oldsmobile was started by Ransom E. Olds as the Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in Lansing in 1897. Worldwide, only the Daimler name - of Daimler, Mercedes-Benz and now DaimlerChrysler - is older.

The article also said GM announced production cutbacks and a series of moves that will eliminate 13,700 jobs in North America and Europe next year.

"GM is in contact with all their dealers and working out arrangements for the closure of the retail/franchise," Hall said. "That's all up in the air."

The local effect is "still left to be seen," he said. "The real loss is Oldsmobile itself."

The reasons behind the discontinuation of Oldsmobiles, "as explained to us over the satellite system," Hall said, is that Oldsmobile "attempted to gain market share by changing the focus of their customers."

He said they began focusing on the younger market and foreign car sales.

"They were attempting to gain (these) markets," Hall said.

But when the attempts didn't go as planned, Oldsmobile was faced with the possibility of discontinuation of the Oldsmobile line.

According to the AP and in 1977 became the first GM division outside Chevrolet to sell more than 1 million cars. In 1985, they built 1,168,982 vehicles.

But since then, Oldsmobile has slowly declined.

The article said buyers have moved from the midsize cars that Oldsmobile was known for to minivans and sport utility vehicles.

Oldsmobile tried to follow the trends by adding a minivan and an SUV to its product line. It also struggled to lose its image as a brand for older people, running an advertising campaign with the slogan 'This is not your father's Oldsmobile.'

The company also dropped popular but plain models like the Cutlass Ciera and the Eighty Eight in favor of sleeker, more luxurious cars like the Aurora and Intrigue, the article said.

But despite Oldsmobile's effort to stay with the times, their new models didn't catch on.

AP said Oldsmobile sales totaled 352,197 in 1999, and through last month, the company had sold 265,878 Oldsmobile vehicles - an 18.5 percent decline.

Despite the plummeting sales for the company, Hall said, "people like the Oldsmobile," and sales for this brand at Petro's are still high.

"Some of the better Oldsmobiles are the Aurora and the Silhouette - especially the Silhouette," Hall said. Many families are fans of the Silhouette van, he said.

Although Oldsmobile is on its way out, it's not gone yet.

"Oldsmobiles will be around for quite a while yet," Hall said. "They won't be going away right away and they certainly won't go away for those who own Oldsmobiles."

Hall said Petro's GM Showplace will still service Oldsmobile vehicles, they will still carry parts for the vehicles and they will still work on the vehicles.

And for fans of Oldsmobiles, Hall said, a brand new Bravada will be introduced in the next month.

This 2002 Bravada sport utility vehicle will be the last new Olds model.

Oldsmobile will "carry out producing the products until the end of their life cycle. Over the next few years they'll phase them out one at a time," Hall said. "Right now they plan on letting the cars run their normal life cycle."

According to AP, Oldsmobiles will be built and sold as long as GM can make money on them.

"There's a lot of individuals that are committed to Oldsmobiles that remember it when they were kids," Hall said. "It's a sad thing when (Oldsmobile) has to be retired. They've been a part of our culture for so long." [[In-content Ad]]