OK... I'll bite... Why wasn't Geo a "brand"?

Because there was no manufacturer named "Geo", and there was no single
company that was manufacturing automobiles under a dba "Geo". The cars and
SUVs sold (by GM dealers) as "Geo" were made by various car manufacturers
such as Suzuki and Isuzu and Toyota (that I know of), and maybe other
manufacturers as well. For example, just about everyone in the known
universe is aware that the Prism (labelled Geo, later labelled Chevy) was
actually a Toyota Corolla. Fewer people are aware that the much-maligned
Geo Metro was actually A re-badged Suzuki Swift. Suzuki and Isuzu both made
other vehicles which were labelled "Geo" and sold at GM dealers. But "Geo"
was just a label, NOT a brand. The brand of the Geo Prism was Toyota. The
brand of the Geo Metro was Suzuki. And so on.

In the same sense, "Kenmore" is just a label, it is NOT a brand. If you can
find a company called "Kenmore" which makes appliances sold by Sears, I will
eat my words. But no such company exists. There is no single company with
a dba of "Kenmore" that makes appliances for Sears, either. Therefore,
Kenmore is not a brand. It is a label.

The most you can say about Kenmore is that if you find something labelled
"Kenmore", it was purchased at Sears or K-Mart. If I purchased a pick-up
truck labelled "Craftsman", nobody would be stupid enough to think that my
pick-up truck was actually manufactured by Sears, or by a subdivision of
Sears called "Craftsman". Yet many people believe that "Kenmore" is a
division of Sears that manufactures appliances under the "Kenmore" brand.
It's idiotic in the extreme.

Even worse are various consumer groups that proudly proclaim that their
research indicates Kenmore is the best brand of blah blah blah . . .

(if anyone should KNOW better) Sheesh. -Dave