If Saturn's line-up fails, Lutz will have no more ideas

[guitarlix]

CHICAGO - To peek into the future of the General Motors Corp. turnaround plan, just look at Saturn.

Last year, when GM's sales skidded 8.7 percent, Saturn's rose by 6 percent. By fall, the small brand that used to call itself "A Different Kind of Car Company" will have a lineup that's almost completely new, with no models older than 20 months.

Simply put, if Saturn falls from orbit with all its new vehicles, GM likely will follow.

"It's a no-excuses product lineup," GM Vice Chairman for Global Product Development Bob Lutz said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Chicago Auto Show. "I told the sales and marketing guys if this lineup doesn't work, I'm out of ideas."

More here

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/.../gm_turnaround

[Ming]

I agree. If the balance of great products like the Sky, Outlook and Aura mixed with awesome, minimally changed Opels doesn't work --- Saturn is hopeless.

I hope they set proper expectations, however. Last I checked there aren't enough Saturn dealerships to deliver the kind of volume sales some other GM brands can.

[Saturn69]

"Simply put, if Saturn falls from orbit with all its new vehicles, GM likely will follow."

So, the future of GM, no, the very existence of GM, depends on Saturn? Is it wise to pin all of your hopes - or all of the blame - on just one division? One division which has less than 1/2 of the sales capacity of Chevy? With all of the new products coming out; the Enclave, the G8, Malibu, Camaro....is it fair or even justified in putting so much pressure on the smallest division of GM?

[CrunkedRL]

Well with all the money GM invested into Saturn over the past a couple years it's time they either put-out or be shut-out. I think from the reviews I've read about the Sky, Aura, and now Outlook that the company has a future full of promise. The new Vue IMO will be a huge hit and will once again give consumers an offering that is fiercely competitive and this time, much better packaged. The Astra 3 and 5 door hatches will create quite a buzz when released to the public and will be the only American car (per se) to compete in the hatchback segment. The positive reviews are all well in good but as I've mentioned many times before GM must keep their products relavent in today's market. GM historically speaking has been able to produce very good products. But due to a lack of periodic updates and bland styling most of their past successes have been left rotting on the vine. GM I believe is realizing that failure is not an option and are making some significant changes to most of the brands in it's portfolio.

[roteague]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

"Simply put, if Saturn falls from orbit with all its new vehicles, GM likely will follow."

So, the future of GM, no, the very existence of GM, depends on Saturn? Is it wise to pin all of your hopes - or all of the blame - on just one division?

I don't think that is his point at all. He seems to be saying that he has put all his knowledge and experience into the Saturn line, and if it doesn't resonate with American consumers then he doesn't know what the American consumer wants.

[espo19047]

Saturn leads GM's turnaround effort

That is the proper title for this article. Why is such a negative title used for this post. GM gets slapped even when something good is going on.

[Hurricane]

I do not think it will fail, at least not in the short term.

I think a huge question will be how will they follow the success of the wonderful products they are giving Saturn? What will Saturn look like five years from now? Will they continue to update their products in order to stay competitive? I certainly hope that they will. This has not always been the case, though.

[VibenPontiac]

Originally Posted by Saturn69

"Simply put, if Saturn falls from orbit with all its new vehicles, GM likely will follow."

So, the future of GM, no, the very existence of GM, depends on Saturn? Is it wise to pin all of your hopes - or all of the blame - on just one division? One division which has less than 1/2 of the sales capacity of Chevy? With all of the new products coming out; the Enclave, the G8, Malibu, Camaro....is it fair or even justified in putting so much pressure on the smallest division of GM?

I'm not sure he means that. I think that he's just saying that if GM can't sell Saturn's given their line-up then the company as a whole must be in trouble. Of course this is a gross over simplification - also note that the comments are the author's. GM management has made it clear that Chevy and Cadillac are the linchpins in the organization. I think its save to say that that is where the primary focus is going to be with Saturn being sort of the middle rung between Chevy and Cadillac.

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by roteague

I don't think that is his point at all. He seems to be saying that he has put all his knowledge and experience into the Saturn line, and if it doesn't resonate with American consumers then he doesn't know what the American consumer wants.

I agree with this assessment 100%.....

[prod]

I understand his statement, they have done as much as they can with the product. Great job too.
The question now is marketing. I dont think they have done a good job with advertising, certainly doesnt equal the quality and work put into the product.
And will they market saturn as a niche brand with unique customer service as in years past, or adopt a mainstream chevy type volume sales approach? I'm guessing the latter, hope it works.

[PontiacBixler]

Maybe it's too late to bring this up, but maybe Saturn wasn't the division to focus on at this point? Maybe Pontiac instead? A brand that has more to its name than "dent resistant, plastic doors"?

[guitarlix]

Originally Posted by espo19047

Saturn leads GM's turnaround effort

That is the proper title for this article. Why is such a negative title used for this post. GM gets slapped even when something good is going on.

I just posted the exact same thing from here

http://forums.thecarlounge.net/zerothread?id=3069293

[Saturn69]

Originally Posted by roteague

I don't think that is his point at all. He seems to be saying that he has put all his knowledge and experience into the Saturn line, and if it doesn't resonate with American consumers then he doesn't know what the American consumer wants.

I was quoting the author of the article, Tom Krisher, not Bob Lutz. It was the author's conclusion that I had an issue with. Funny, I thought it was the press' job to give us the facts and let US make the conclusions, nowt they're telling us what to think.

[jbernie]

Originally Posted by roteague

I don't think that is his point at all. He seems to be saying that he has put all his knowledge and experience into the Saturn line, and if it doesn't resonate with American consumers then he doesn't know what the American consumer wants.

Alternately and more concerning, the American public doesn't want what ever GM provides regardless of how good the product is. Obviously we have some vehicles that are HOT right now, but hot niche vehicles can't pull GM up by themselves.

[guitarlix]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

Maybe it's too late to bring this up, but maybe Saturn wasn't the division to focus on at this point? Maybe Pontiac instead? A brand that has more to its name than "dent resistant, plastic doors"?

I've only been saying this from day 1. Saturn is not going to do as well as GM hopes. A niche brand cannot become a volume brand overnight. Maybe it can over time as it builds on it's small successes......but how long can you wait?