GM Inside News Forum - View Single Post - Rumblings & Rants: Saving money, Cutting brands, and what GM SHOULD do to survive

Citation84 · 09-07-2008, 08:01 AM

Nadepalma: The sporty compact for Pontiac sounds just like what the Astra is. You're on to something.

And yes, that money spent on Saturn instead having been spent on the 95 Cavalier would have made it a knock out. Apparently the Cavalier was used as a mule to test the Saturn 1.9 in the first place !! A picture over on Saturn fans shows a 1st Gen Cavalier and some Saturn engineers taken from sometime in the 80s

Cire_1wb : we are definitely on the same page.

None of my criticism of Saturn is intended to antagonize the fans [as I am one], but formed out of concern for GM's survival. They're not going to find black ink continuing to pour money into Saturn. I'd rather see any more money earmarked for Saturn spent on a Cruze based Skylark any day. Or a genuinely unique version of the Cruze built as a Pontiac.

But if they're not going to do anything more than rearrange the hash, let the Cruze stand alone with no derivatives for Saturn, Buick or Pontiac. Do it right or don't do it at all. Save the money and energy. Fold the VUE, Astra and Corsa into Pontiac. Full line for Pontiac at very little cost, lots of dealers, no direct overlap with Chevrolet or Buick.

BTW: Saturn can't be "sold" as it is simply a brand managed by GM now and not a wholly owned subsidiary with unique factories, design and tech depts, etc. Hummer and Saab could be as they are still essentially independent.

09-07-2008, 08:01 AM	#163 (permalink)
Citation84 2.4 Liter SIDI ECOTEC Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Van Nuys CA Drives: 2005 Saturn ION 1995 Saturn SL1 1963 Plymouth Va Posts: 243	Re: Rumblings & Rants: Saving money, Cutting brands, and what GM SHOULD do to survive Nadepalma: The sporty compact for Pontiac sounds just like what the Astra is. You're on to something. And yes, that money spent on Saturn instead having been spent on the 95 Cavalier would have made it a knock out. Apparently the Cavalier was used as a mule to test the Saturn 1.9 in the first place !! A picture over on Saturn fans shows a 1st Gen Cavalier and some Saturn engineers taken from sometime in the 80s Cire_1wb : we are definitely on the same page. None of my criticism of Saturn is intended to antagonize the fans [as I am one], but formed out of concern for GM's survival. They're not going to find black ink continuing to pour money into Saturn. I'd rather see any more money earmarked for Saturn spent on a Cruze based Skylark any day. Or a genuinely unique version of the Cruze built as a Pontiac. But if they're not going to do anything more than rearrange the hash, let the Cruze stand alone with no derivatives for Saturn, Buick or Pontiac. Do it right or don't do it at all. Save the money and energy. Fold the VUE, Astra and Corsa into Pontiac. Full line for Pontiac at very little cost, lots of dealers, no direct overlap with Chevrolet or Buick. BTW: Saturn can't be "sold" as it is simply a brand managed by GM now and not a wholly owned subsidiary with unique factories, design and tech depts, etc. Hummer and Saab could be as they are still essentially independent.