The midsize sedan General Motors Corp. had hoped would be a hit with Saturn lovers is instead on the automaker's hit list.
GM will kill off the slow-selling Saturn L-300 sedan and wagon in the summer of 2005, say suppliers, auto insiders and GM officials. The plan is to replace it later in 2005 with a four-door hatchback that some insiders call the Saturn Sportsback. It would be built on the same structure as the new Chevrolet Malibu and the Saab 9-3.
The Saturn L-300, called L-Series when it debuted in 1999, was GM's long-awaited attempt to create a midsize car that satisfied buyers of the original, compact Saturn would want to move to. Instead they just moved on, say auto-sales experts.
GM poured hundreds of millions into producing a first-ever midsize for Saturn and hoped to sell 200,000 of the L-Series a year. It topped out in 2001 with sales of 98,000, and a few years ago GM cut production from two shifts to one at the L-Series' Wilmington, Del., plant.
"It just had price, styling and size issues from the beginning. It's really a pretty boring car," said Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst for Global Insight, an auto-research firm. "GM suppliers were told to expect it to sell 200,000 a year, but it's never come close."
Lindland said competing Asian vehicles such as the Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Altima are faring the best in the competitive midsize-car segment. Sonata sales are up 20 percent for the year while Altima sales basically are flat.
L-Series sales tumbled to 81,000 last year and are down 16 percent in 2003. The L-300 is on pace to top 70,000.
GM has put heavy rebates on the L-300. They increased from $1,400 per vehicle in January to more than $3,400 in October, according to the vehicle-sales Web site www.edmunds.com. The vehicle's suggested retail price is between $16,000 and $24,000.
Sales have driven into a ditch the last two months. They fell 37 percent in September and 40 percent in October, compared with the same months in 2002. This is despite Saturn making over the front grille and rear and adding a brushed-nickel trim and silver gauges inside.
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GM will kill off the slow-selling Saturn L-300 sedan and wagon in the summer of 2005, say suppliers, auto insiders and GM officials. The plan is to replace it later in 2005 with a four-door hatchback that some insiders call the Saturn Sportsback. It would be built on the same structure as the new Chevrolet Malibu and the Saab 9-3.
The Saturn L-300, called L-Series when it debuted in 1999, was GM's long-awaited attempt to create a midsize car that satisfied buyers of the original, compact Saturn would want to move to. Instead they just moved on, say auto-sales experts.
GM poured hundreds of millions into producing a first-ever midsize for Saturn and hoped to sell 200,000 of the L-Series a year. It topped out in 2001 with sales of 98,000, and a few years ago GM cut production from two shifts to one at the L-Series' Wilmington, Del., plant.
"It just had price, styling and size issues from the beginning. It's really a pretty boring car," said Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst for Global Insight, an auto-research firm. "GM suppliers were told to expect it to sell 200,000 a year, but it's never come close."
Lindland said competing Asian vehicles such as the Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Altima are faring the best in the competitive midsize-car segment. Sonata sales are up 20 percent for the year while Altima sales basically are flat.
L-Series sales tumbled to 81,000 last year and are down 16 percent in 2003. The L-300 is on pace to top 70,000.
GM has put heavy rebates on the L-300. They increased from $1,400 per vehicle in January to more than $3,400 in October, according to the vehicle-sales Web site www.edmunds.com. The vehicle's suggested retail price is between $16,000 and $24,000.
Sales have driven into a ditch the last two months. They fell 37 percent in September and 40 percent in October, compared with the same months in 2002. This is despite Saturn making over the front grille and rear and adding a brushed-nickel trim and silver gauges inside.
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