Normally we think of rebadging as a situation when a stronger automaker (profits, engineering prowess,  brand, etc) builds cars for a weaker one to sell under its own name, the idea is that the weaker automaker could benefit by getting one of its competitor's better products and the supplier of the cars can benefit via having another sales channel, an opportunity to save on costs, etc.  

But how about doing it the other way around?  

Part of the problem Detroit faces right now is that even if they start making world beating products their brands are so weak that it's very likely the customers they need to introduce these products too will never even try them, let alone give them any significant consideration. So what if Detroit put some money into building a couple of great products in collaboration with a foreign competitor, and then sold that product under the name of the stronger competitor?  

Just think about it: if Chevy were to build a Malibu that was superior to the Accord and Camry in every way, it would still have trouble denting the sales of either cars because Accord and Camry shoppers generally never consider Chevy in the first place. BUT, if Chevy were to make a deal with Honda where the cars were sold as Hondas or even under a new brand name all together, they would probably generate a lot more traction in the marketplace and do wonders for the GM brand.  

It's the harsh reality of having a weak brand: even if your product gets great reviews and appears stellar, customer perceptions are hard to change and they'll still be wary of your product.  

Obviously it's unlikely that Honda (or Toyota or Nissan) would agree to such an arrangement, after all, what's in it for them? However a smaller automaker like Subaru is a possibility, especially with the new Chevy Volt that's slated or a 2010 release.  

A Subaru Volt would be a lot easier to sell then a Chevy one, and revealing later that the car is really a Chevy once it's winning in the marketplace is a possible way to strengthen the Chevy brand. At this point GM has to do something drastic to rebuild its brand, and doing the rebadge thing in the reverse of the usual way might be the way to go.  

Desperate times call for innovative tactics.  
Disclosure: at the time of publishing the author didn't own a position in any of the companies mentioned in this article; the ideas expressed are solely the opinions of the author and shouldn't be viewed as financial or investment advice.