Just weeks after warning its ad agencies that they needed to "move the needle," General Motors Co.'s marketing chief Bob Lutz announced an increase in advertising budgets for the automaker's remaining brands.

Lutz sees a shift in spend from the loss of some of its brands like Hummer and Pontiac back to its core brands, which will be promoted over the main GM name. "No one can buy a GM, anyway. They can buy a Chevy."

It's too soon to tell if this will see GM return to its pre-Super Bowl spending levels of this past year, but it does send a signal to agencies on the account that they may not be in as much trouble as once thought.

(GM and several other brands had pulled out of advertising in this year's past Super Bowl, citing a declining economy and budgetary issues as the main reasons.)

With this announcement, Lutz also took the opportunity to reiterate the focus of GM, just as he had when he first came back to the ailing company.

He feels GM needs to better tell the story of its cars and play up the features of each vehicle relative to competitors Honda and Toyota.

In addition to those brands however, Kia and Hyundai also play up features in their advertising. The focus for them has been on value, or at least perceived value in the form of more cup holders and 100,000 mile protection.

GM will need more than its heritage as a car maker to compete. It might get some help from a rebounding U.S. auto market, which saw a steady drop in declining sales figures this past June.

(Currently, GM splits its advertising among a roster of agencies including but not limited to Leo Burnett Group and Campbell-Ewald.)