ValuJet was reborn as AirTran. Philip Morris rechristened itself Altria. Blackwater became Xe.

Would a name change work for beleaguered General Motors?

It would mean casting aside a brand that stood for almost a century as a symbol of American industrial might, but some marketing experts say it might be just the thing to help the once-mighty automaker make a fresh start.

“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.

“The brand isn’t in good shape,” he said, “so they have little to lose.”

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.

With GM still righting itself, “it’s just too soon” to think about a name change, company spokeswoman Susan Garontakos said. But she acknowledged the idea is part of discussions within the company.

“We know we want to reinvent the company and want to build it so that it’s something that will show that GM is going to be the company of choice,” she said.