GMI Exclusive: Saturn May Go To BPG, Why Aura ≠ Insignia

[4gm]

The Insignia should have been the next gen Lacrosse if it wasn't going to be a Saturn. The Insignia looks fantastic. The Lacrosse is boring and mediocre. They could have slapped a Buick grill on the Insignia and been done with it. Who's making these decisions over there? This is ridiculous.

[GMfan1111]

Originally Posted by RB35SLT

Kinda off little off topic here...

How old is Saturn? What happened to Geo?

Geo was slowly incorporated into the Chevy lineup after the 1997 model year though some of its models were avalible under the chevy badge until 2004

As for Saturn Even though the brand hit its stride in the early 90's it was actually originally established back in 1985 (with Saturn corporation being established a few years earlier in 1982)

[ronald mcretard]

Originally Posted by steve333

Oh man............Opel produces a hot car and then GM will change everything about it for Saturn!?

Just sell Opels here. Keep the same designs. Drop the Saturn name altogether.
OPEL OPEL Chant along with me...................

+1 Best idea I have heard all day.

[jkr2106]

Originally Posted by doppleganger

Sorry, but I think GM is making a mistake here. THIS car has got it right as is, and would seriously give Acura's new TL a run. It's like GM is its own worst enemy sometimes.

Exactly! The Insignia could definately be a TL fighter. The Invicta is clearly an ES fighter. Where's the overlap? Yeah, they're both FWD midsizers, but those are two completely different demographics. I think using the BPG channel to boost Saturn sales is fine (not my first choice, though) but I fail to see how the Insignia would compete with the next-gen LaCrosse when they look completely different, have different driving dynamics, different pedigrees, and thusly different buyers.

[DU Biggs]

just offer "select" saturn vehicles at rural pbgmc dealerships. by select i mean a very small inventory. I really think that people in small rural areas would buy saturns if they saw them in dealerships...but right now they dont know that all the parts in their Aura are the same as their neighbors G6....so if they were sold locally people would know they could be serviced locally.
I am saying this as someone who grew up in a small town....one that ironically had two GM dealerships....one was Pontiac Buick GMC, and the other was Chevrolet Cadillac....
SAAB wasn't gm to these people (and too weird and expensive), HUMMER wasn't around, and Saturn was a "hippie" brand.

[AndrewGS]

Dumbest thing I've heard all week. Kind of reminds me of the times I heard they were killing Oldsmobile and giving Saturn a larger car.

[DU Biggs]

Originally Posted by 69Firebird400

Actually, you may have identified GM's problem with selling the Insignia as-is in North America. It's probably too expensive to produce and sell with all of the nice stuff they get in Europe, because it sells for a hell of a lot more money there than Saturn could hope to sell it for here. The first thing I thought of when I saw "unique sheetmetal" and "unique interior" for the US was "they are de-contenting it."

And that's really a shame - when the Aura was first hyped/introduced, the word was that Saturn would become GM's Acura and the Aura would be its TL. Well, even the old TL has a lot more nice technology than the Aura does, but the Insignia appears to be much closer to the TL's m.o. than the current Aura is able to do.

GM either can't or won't take chances on the right products anymore. The chances they took before were met with mixed results...innovative designs like the Avalanche, HHR, AZTEK, SSR, CTS, and Mailibu MAXX, were all met with very different sales results, but at least all these models are instantly recognizable as GM products. I wish GM would look at Saturn as a malleable and potentially life saving brand as long as they make cars that are a value for their content level (not cheap to buy) and technology leaders (fuel economy included), that are available more readily (at other GM dealerships like a Scion or Mini branded outlet)

ps..all of the cars i mentioned have violently loyal owners that would defend their vehicle in almost any situation....maybe GM should have a Niche retailer that is a "GM" dealership that sells unique models that arent branded....similar to what the corvette has done around the world. for example maybe there is a dealership that sells the GM H3, HHR, Spark, Traxx, SSR,......

[djo165]

This sounds like the kind of decision you get when the leadership at the top doesn't have the guts to make the hard decisions that need to be made.

Adding Saturn to BPG would help Saturn get more outlets and therefore more sales. But it would also water down the Saturn brand and rob it of what little uniqueness it has left.

One of GM's biggest problems with having too many divisional brands is they don't have enough $$ to properly support each division in terms of advertising and marketing. Adding Saturn to BPG does nothing to help in this area.

So if they do decide to add Saturn to BPG dealers, then go ahead and kill Pontiac. Make the Vibe a Saturn and give the G8 to Chevy. The G8 strikes me as more "American", and therefore belongs w/Chevy and it's RWD brother, Camaro, not with the rest of the FWD lineup. And the G8 ST could finally take the right name of El Camino!

The BPG dealers would be compensated for losing Pontiac by gaining Saturn. Any stand alone Pontiac dealers could become Saturn dealers as well. Point is that GM has got to give up some divisional brands in any reconfiguration. Anything less is just delaying the obvious.

[djo165]

If GM doesn't bring the Insignia in with the EXACT same sheet metal, they are fools. The exterior is perfect as is.

I sent pics of that car to two buddies of mine who both drive imports, and even they said that it was a fantastic looking car, and very "un-GM looking." From them, this was high praise.

Build it here, sooner. Not later.

[Rocket 88]

HORRIBLE IDEA! This is why I drink on weekends. Thanks GM!

COMBINE SATURN WITH SAAB DEALERSHIPS!

[jcgable]

This is all too depressing. Now I wonder what the drama is with the other EPII Vehicle... Is Chevy dropping the Malibu??? I wouldn't be too shocked at this point.

[RB35SLT]

Originally Posted by GMfan1111

Geo was slowly incorporated into the Chevy lineup after the 1997 model year though some of its models were avalible under the chevy badge until 2004

As for Saturn Even though the brand hit its stride in the early 90's it was actually originally established back in 1985 (with Saturn corporation being established a few years earlier in 1982)

Thanks.

[ChevyRules]

Guys, it won't be a PSBG dealer, it will be a PBS or GSB dealer. Remember GM's plan to kill a brand? With the Acadia and SUT killed, it looks like a PBS dealer will be happening.

[EldoFan]

Originally Posted by AndrewGS

Dumbest thing I've heard all week. Kind of reminds me of the times I heard they were killing Oldsmobile and giving Saturn a larger car.

Amen to that.

[A Bum In A Bus]

It's about time, this is a move that should have been made 5 years ago. How do you expect to sell cars when there are no dealers in some states for 80 to 100 miles, and Chevy dealers could not service Saturn. Chevy dealers could not order a Saturn part to fix the car while it was under warranty. An elderly couple that I know(late seventies) had to drive 85 miles to the Saturn dealer for service when a Chevy dealer was two blocks away, absolutely lunacy. They tried to get their car serviced at the Chevy dealer and could not, they were told only Saturn could service the car properly, duh.

As to the uniqueness of the brand, GM stopped watering the vine growing Saturns long ago, most of the dealers have been struggling to state alive. As with other brands(Pontiac, Buick, Olds and even Caddy) GM fed the Saturn brand crumbs while giving trucks and SUVs the lions share of the budget, and we all know the results of that decision.

GM is currently combining dealers in small towns and forming super dealers, one stop shopping. I believe this is an excellent idea, giving the customer more choices is never a bad thing, it usually insures a sale. As to which automobile the customer buys, that will sort itself out, as long as the money goes into the GM coffers does it really matter?