Tight Budgets slow Saturn Refreshning

[jmlee0695]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/i...esh/#more-6898
General Motors’ Saturn brand currently boasts one of the youngest overall lineups in the industry - its oldest model is the Saturn Sky (pictured), which debuted in 2006 as a 2007 model. Tough economic times at GM may mean that the current crop of mostly new models will have to stay largely unchanged for longer than previous generations.

While existing models like the Astra (see our review here), Aura and Sky aren’t scheduled for updates until 2011 at the earliest, with full redesigns pushed out to 2012 for the Aura and 2014 for the Sky - provided it’s still in the lineup then - a new car is being considered for introduction. If it does go forward, the new car would be a small entry-level offering slotting below the Astra in the lineup, possibly a rebadged version of Opel’s Corsa. A unique small car is also a possibility if importation proves impractical, and would be designed around GM’s Gamma FWD platform, reports Automotive News.

[Bravada]

The troubled Outlook crossover, which has seen poor sales through most of its short life, faces the axe unless things turn around.

Was it that hard to forsee? Why did they even bother? A Lambda minivan could've seen much better sales.

[newdude]

A new small car?? why?? How about getting the Astra OUT there, cut the price a bit, actually advertise, add more to it, then think about a smaller car.

[guitarlix]

A total and absolute waste of money. Saturn won't sell unless they fix the brand (image)............and considering that many people don't even know the company exists, that calls for a helluva fix.

[Ambalanche]

Originally Posted by jmlee0695

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/i...esh/#more-6898
Tough economic times at GM may mean that the current crop of mostly new models will have to stay largely unchanged for longer than previous generations.

Is that even possible? I don't remember any updates to the Ion, or S series cars except for every 5 years they changed the plastic panels. If they put updates/redesigns on the back bumper, or worse, don't replace them, how do they expect to sell more of these cars or any of the miriad other GM cars as this seems to be the track all of GM is on.

[Chaz_23]

based on todays headlines one would have to conclude that GM is in chaos. If there's a GM in 10 years it'll sell nothing but mini cars.

[Lichtronamo]

GMI suggested that Saturn could be inserted into BPG.

The idea of substituting Saturn into the BPG stores (and killing Pontiac) make some sense. It reduces the number of competing brands/products GM has (and reduces development costs which is a MAJOR issue for GM right now), provides the existing Pontiac dealers with almost equal retail volume, provides GM with more Saturn stores and avoids the need to close down existing Saturn stores that are almost all freestanding (and thus cost prohibitive).

Maybe this is the "official" news NSAP is promising later this week?

[steinravnik]

Originally Posted by jmlee0695

Tough economic times at GM may mean that the current crop of mostly new models will have to stay largely unchanged for longer than previous generations.

So what does this mean? The S Series stayed largely unchanged for like 10 years. So the current cars will stick around for more?

[jckjds]

If GM cuts Pontiac in favor of Saturn, it will be the biggest mistake GM has made in a long time (and that's really saying something with this comedy of errors).

Quite frankly, one brand needs to go. Given that Saturn only has a limited number of stores and a limited sales volume (plus, little brand value due to its relatively recent creation), it is the most obvious choice. Cutting Saturn should be relatively inexpensive, and it's product portfolio could be redistributed Buick and Pontiac (whatever isn't cut altogether).

Outlook -- gone, it's the worst of the Lambdas anyway.
Vue -- Buick
Aura -- gone -- the upcoming Lacrosse is better and competes in the same category/price.
Sky -- gone -- already have the Solstice. Could make it a Chevy if GM really wants to keep 2 around.
Astra -- could be the entry level Pontiac. Performance needs to be added, but it's already available in the european model, so that's noot a big deal.

Going forward, Buick should be heavily aligned with Opel -- as Opel's new, upscale designs appear to be a perfect fit for Buick. That should reduce Buick's overhead, while allowing for a relatively complete lineup.

[steinravnik]

Originally Posted by Chaz_23

based on todays headlines one would have to conclude that GM is in chaos. If there's a GM in 10 years it'll sell nothing but mini cars.

Seems like everything is up in the air now.

[megeebee]

I agree with BRAVADA. The Outlook was a mistake for the Saturn brand. With the Traverse coming for Chevrolet, I think the Outlook should die. Sales of the Vue might inch up if there were no Outlook.

The Astra is a grearter puzzlement. According to Automotive News Data Center, only 5900 had sold so far this year, through July 31. In comparison, the Outlook has sold 15,428 which is down 22% from last year.

Saturn totals were off nearly 18% from last year for the same period.

What the hell is wrong????

[Markld74]

Originally Posted by jckjds

If GM cuts Pontiac in favor of Saturn, it will be the biggest mistake GM has made in a long time (and that's really saying something with this comedy of errors).

Quite frankly, one brand needs to go. Given that Saturn only has a limited number of stores and a limited sales volume (plus, little brand value due to its relatively recent creation), it is the most obvious choice. Cutting Saturn should be relatively inexpensive, and it's product portfolio could be redistributed Buick and Pontiac (whatever isn't cut altogether).

Outlook -- gone, it's the worst of the Lambdas anyway.
Vue -- Buick
Aura -- gone -- the upcoming Lacrosse is better and competes in the same category/price.
Sky -- gone -- already have the Solstice. Could make it a Chevy if GM really wants to keep 2 around.
Astra -- could be the entry level Pontiac. Performance needs to be added, but it's already available in the european model, so that's noot a big deal.

Going forward, Buick should be heavily aligned with Opel -- as Opel's new, upscale designs appear to be a perfect fit for Buick. That should reduce Buick's overhead, while allowing for a relatively complete lineup.

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. THE ONLY GM BRANDS THAT WOULD BE CHEAPER TO CUT WOULD BE HUMMER AND SAAB. HUMMER IS UP FOR SALE, AND I DON'T THINK SAAB WILL BE GOING ANYWHERE SINCE IT IS BECOMING A STRONG DEVELOPMENT SOURCE FOR GM.

KILLING SATURN MAKES MOST SENSE, LESS DEALERS, LOWER COST TO DO SO AND PONTIAC HAS OUTSOLD SATURN EVERY YEAR AND HAS A BETTER IMAGE.

ONE SUGGESTION WOULD BE; If GM wants to have two cars of the Sky/Solstice, give Cadillac the Sky and upgrade the hell out of it in refinement (premium leather, power driver's seat, heated front seats, power top, high performance V6 Engine with turbo or supercharger.

[StormHunter77]

Why is the Aura not being repaced by the Insignia right away? Wasn't the Insignia developed with the North American market in mind (as a Saturn)? Wouldn't it be relatively easy to build it here too?

[Chaz_23]

GM needs to stop getting hysterical about whatever lies the media are propagating.

GM as the world's largest automaker needs to make: tiny cars, compact cars, midsize cars, large cars, FWD, RWD, allWD, midtrucks, large trucks, mid SUVs, large SUvs, mid Xovers, large Xovers, minivans, hybrids, electrics, 4 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 8 cylinder, manuals, automatics, manual mode automatics, turbo, supercharged, etc. And they need to keep making them regardless of what today's trend is. Just look at Toyota. Have they stopped making minivans? Have they stopped making mid-size SUVs? Have they cut divisions? Have they announced in a panic that they'll stop making engines except for 4 cylinder ones? Are they going to put a 4 cylinder in their Turdas?

GM is setting itself up for some future catastrophe by being short-sighted and going with trends. They know well it takes them 15 years to respond to any trend and here they are willing to throw out half of the company for not good reason. No more money for Pontiac, Saturn, Cadillac. This is more a reflection of the mess Ricky has gotten GM into than anything else.

[GMinTheDriveway]

Killing Saturn is not the answer. It's not as if Saturn is a so-called "damaged brand". They haven't been around long enough for that. Saturn's shortcoming is lack of market awareness.
Plus, killing off Saturn will have no effect on the income of GM. Just like the demise of Olds, Saturn buyers will NOT migrate to other GM brands en masse. It has been quoted numerous times that Saturn buyers in overwhelming numbers (60-75%) would not even CONSIDER buying a GM vehicle outside of Saturn.

So we have this paradox: The best selling car world wide can't manage 1000 sales a month in the USA, the car-buying country where there are more cars than children in each household. What's the problem? MARKETING. Hyundai solved their horrible brand image by marketing and a semi-useless but nice sounding non-transferrable warranty.

Outlook can stay or go, but if it goes Saturn should have some kind of 7-8 passenger vehicle (a competitive one, not another RELAY).
SKY is a nearly useless attractor of attention if we don't have another sporty vehicle to turn people to. It needs to either have all the shortcomings addressed seriously or dropped.

ASTRA is a great car that needs what is missing from the USA lineup: CHOICES. One of the reasons this car is so successful abroad is it has so many choices. Here, you get one engine, 2 transmissions, 2 similar styles. There, you get sedan, wagon, 3-door hatch, 5-door hatch, convertible, diesel engines, turbo gas engines, fancy panoramic glass roofs. We get jack sh_t.

AURA which won so many accolades as a show car is languishing on the lots, looking stale as little brother Malibu gets all the attention. It's a great car but the new Insignia hatch would be much more practical even though it looks like a notch-back sedan.

Time after time we get 75%, 80% of what we need to succeed. We need 100% support of GM, no matter the cost.
A sub-compact with a "40" on the MPG sticker would go a long way towards bringing in gas mileage slaves as well.