Jerry Flint on Saturn: Why No Blastoff?

[1957wildcat]

Do you believe that Saturn has potential? Some thought it would be easy, to just sell Opels in the US badged as Saturns.

Here's what Jerry Flint thinks, as posted to Forbes.com:
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/...0516flint.html

[megeebee]

I am as mystified by Saturns non-showing as anyone. But where does Mr. Flint get his information?

Only ONE Saturn is a rebadged Opel. The Astra. There's the GMDAT sourced Vue. The Aura is an Epsilon platform sedan. And we all know what the Outlook is. The Sky started as an American project, too.

And who told him Bob Lutz came to GM wanting to make Saturn and American distribution arm for Opel?

As I said, Saturns current situation is worthy of attention. I have my own opinions on the subject, too. But I also expect more from a journalist like Mr. Flint. This is the kind of quasi-insider stuff that might come from The Truth About Cars, or Cars.com. He should know better.

[Ambalanche]

Journalist...That's using the term LOOSELY!!

[CobaltSScrazy]

lack of marketing, lack of brand awareness, lack of a 'bridge product' in terms of pricing, stiffer competition/economical times, huge departure from brand's core values, and an inaccurate or better yet lack of perception by the automotive buying public...

I've seen more Sonata ads that I have the entire saturn brand ads the past month!

its really sad...

CobaltSS

[Aprime]

You're forgetting about a lack or simply misplacement of dealerships.

The only Quebec-side dealer here is in Aylmer, which is on the other side of town, 50 Kilometers away from my place of residence. In Ontario you've got the one close to the 417 and Turpin.

Meanwhile they're building a new Mazda and Mitsu dealership and a single street corner in Hull is served by two Chrysler dealerships and two GM dealerships (albeit, one's a Pontiac GMC Buick dealer while the other one is your run of the mill Chevy Cadillac dealer), there's little to differentiate the Chrysler dealership aside from the design of their buildings and the color of their signs. The new Saturns are doing well here for the most part. Unfortunately the Astra isn't, and that's because of its price point (but what the hell, leasing or financing one is a lot more advantageous than either two of GM's other hatchbacks (HHR, Vibe), and I believe you can service your Saturn at any GM location under warranty here). But I know the people around my age love the idea of Saturns being Opels. If they can prove themselves reliability-wise, I expect a lot of youth import sales to be taken away from... Well, the imports and back into GM. They despise Chevy but love Saturn. :P My close friend will be one of the firsts (currently owns a Golf, which is a pain in his ass, but he loves Euro cars). He's already drooling over the Corsa and I have yet to announce him that I'll be riding in an Astra from now on, due to the epic fail of this GMDAT.

Man I can't wait to switch to an Astra... Test-driving the little bast*rd tomorrow, hoping I won't be disappointed (so far I love it, but driving dynamics is what I want to know - I don't mind the lack of the power. Also would love to know about the fuel economy, but that's another story. FYI I now average 39MPG (auto) in my current car, but it's not exactly anything close to nervous, and we all know that a sporty attitude and a nervous powertrain means lower fuel economy unless you're a driving God of some sort).

Anyhow - I see less and less Camrys these days and more and more Accords and Malibus. The sighting ratio's pretty equal and I'm glad GM doesn't have the image problem I once believed it had. Irreliability doesn't seem to matter much to people here provided the product is good (not saying that Chevies are unreliable, but people will gladly step into a Volkswagen, even with their reputation).

[Vladimir1978]

Originally Posted by Aprime

ation under warranty here). But I know the people around my age love the idea of Saturns being Opels. If they can prove themselves reliability-wise, I expect a lot of youth import sales to be taken away from... Well, the imports and back into GM. They despise Chevy but love Saturn. :P My close friend will be one of the firsts (currently owns a Golf, which is a pain in his ass, but he loves Euro cars).

Putting Opel badges on the current Saturn lineup would be even more stupid than investing all the money they have into Saturn in the first place. Opel has no presence at all in North America with buyers they'd be targetting, and the ones who would remember Opel would recall the piles of crap that were imported in the dark days.

And no one 'loves' Saturn- if they did, the sales wouldn't be so horrendous. The idea of buying a Saturn and servicing it at the local Chevy dealer runs counter to the whole point of the brand anyways, with the dealership experience being one of the big selling points. Saturn is a broken brand, and GM has neither the time or money to fix it. They got their chance, time to spread the vehicles to the other divisions and move on.

[steinravnik]

Saturn does have a real nice line-up. GM did a good job here. I think they just need to advertise it more. The Aura is a great looking car. The Astra is pretty good too.

[paul8488]

GM should give dealerships incentives to trade in their Pontiac and/or Buick signs for Saturn ones. I'd think many would be happy to get the more fresh and modern and complete Saturn lineup.

[ANT]

I have been seeing quite a few more saturn tv commercials lately, mostly for the astra, but still some for the aura. And i see tons of auras on the road pretty much everywhere i go i see them, so maybe things are getting better

[Aprime]

Originally Posted by Vladimir1978

Putting Opel badges on the current Saturn lineup would be even more stupid than investing all the money they have into Saturn in the first place. Opel has no presence at all in North America with buyers they'd be targetting, and the ones who would remember Opel would recall the piles of crap that were imported in the dark days.

And no one 'loves' Saturn- if they did, the sales wouldn't be so horrendous. The idea of buying a Saturn and servicing it at the local Chevy dealer runs counter to the whole point of the brand anyways, with the dealership experience being one of the big selling points. Saturn is a broken brand, and GM has neither the time or money to fix it. They got their chance, time to spread the vehicles to the other divisions and move on.

I'm literally talking about a generation that's slightly too young to afford the new Saturns (or simply have too crappy jobs to/currently at college (I don't fit in either category, but I'm going back to college next year)). Their opinion of Opel is, however, quite unlikely to change overtime. They despise Chevy because it's run of the mill and American, to my knowledge. Something that Saturn isn't, to a certain extent.

And I never said switching Saturn branding to Opel branding (at least in this thread), I was simply referring to the present exchange program.