Would a name change help General Motors?

ValuJet was reborn as AirTran. Philip Morris rechristened itself Altria.

Would a name change work for beleaguered General Motors?

It would mean casting aside a brand that stood as a symbol of American might, but it could help.

“If the goal is to try and put this company on a massive diet and just turn it into a smaller car manufacturing operation, I’m not sure there’d be that much harm in rebranding,” said Jean-Pierre Dube, a University of Chicago marketing professor.

With GM tarnished by its bankruptcy and its reputation for building cars no one wants, wiseacres have had no trouble coming up with new names. There’s Groveling Motors, after GM’s appetite for federal bailouts. And General Moneypit. And, perhaps most popular, Government Motors — after the taxpayers’ major ownership stake.

The Associated Press