TriShield

Lutz Comments On Brand's Future, or Lack Thereof



”My personal favorite would be to see Saturn survive and prosper,” GM’s vice chairman told Automotive News. “But frankly, the reality is that that is probably not going to be the outcome.”

“That really seals our fate,” said Lasser, owner of Saturn of Denville, Saturn of Mount Olive and Saturn of Livingston. “I think they knew this fact months ago, and they never shared it with us.”

“We spent a huge bundle of money in giving Saturn an absolutely no-excuses product lineup, top to bottom. They had a better and fresher lineup than any GM division, and the sales just never materialized…

Lutz doesn’t fault dealers: “We have some very excellent Saturn dealers who’ve made a commitment to the brand.”

Lutz said he isn’t sure why Saturn has not done better.

“The fact is,” he said, “we don’t have the time or the resources to take 10 years to figure it out and possibly turn it around.”

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...902160352/1021

mzoomora

iTrader: (36)

Saturn does have a good lineup. They just got fucked by bad marketing and boring looking cars before that.

TriShield

Well, they priced pretty much all of the new cars out of the reach of traditional Saturn customers and more than what others would pay for a Saturn.

For example the Ion was $11k at my local dealer. The Astra which replaced it costs thousands and thousands of dollars more.

caseypayne69

I really like the Saturn Vue and Sky. The Sky looks 10 times better than the Pontiac version.

bygblok

iTrader: (4)

I worked for Saturn when it was still in it's first 5-7 years of operations and it was a truly great company at that point. When GM corporate took over the reigns and started dictating policy to Saturn it took a serious downward spiral that has never been overcome. Sadly enough, I still drive a saturn daily and have no complaints about it at all(never complained about the original S series) It was when they "branched" out into the larger cars and SUV market that they overspent their welcome. Saturn, take note and get back to the basics of building a car that works....not a car full of gimmicks!!

99_Z28

iTrader: (3)

I really liked the sky....

BAD2000TA

iTrader: (6)

This is key. When Saturn was introduced, it was a unique, separate car manufacturer. They did not share engines or platforms with the other GM divisions. Once GM re-branded Saturn as a marketing division, it was over. Basically, they traded Oldsmobile for Saturn and it didn't work.

One of the unique aspects of the different divisions in the past was their character. A Pontiac was a Pontiac and didn't have anything in common with it's Chevy, Olds, or Buick brothers. While platform sharing did combine the base car, it was the unique engines, suspensions, interiors, and exterior design that brought in loyal customers.

That's all gone. Too many similiarities between the various brands and no character remaining. It's sad, but I don't see it ever returning.

I still think that GM (and Chrysler & Ford) need to design stuff that people are passionate about. Give us something to be proud to drive. While the Corvette is great and I'll have a C6Z soon, it's not a big volume car. Think back to the 70's. GM sold a ton of Olds Cutlasses, Buick Regals, Pontiac Grand Prix's, etc. These were essentially the same car, but each was unique and stylish. The last Grand Prix had terrible lines that didn't flow well, combined with a boring interior that was designed in 1985ish. Yes, the G8 is nice, but there's no name recognition with the name G8 (or G6, G3, etc.). People remember the Grand Prix name.

Ultimately, buyers look at how much they spend and how they feel about the car they drive. I know far too many people that will spend a few dollars more for the nicer interiors and build-quality (albeit perceived buid-quality) of the Acura TL, Infiniti G37, Lexus IS350, etc.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

The early Saturns (SL1, SL2 etc.) were dependable and reliable small cars for a great price, not sure where all of that had changed.
I do actually like much of their current line up and they're still great (maybe even better) cars but if it isn't selling then it isn't selling, I guess it's just that simple.

7998

iTrader: (1)

The SL's and SC's lasted forever, but recently the whole brand is just a rebadged GM of some sort and it has moved away from it's traditional core customers. With that being said, Oh well if GM has to get rid of Saturn and a few others so be it. Theres no reason to build so many redundant vehicles. There nothing a Saturn is that a Chevrolet can't be.

BAD2000TA

iTrader: (6)

agreed - I'd rather kill Saturn to keep Pontiac. Just give the poncho's some good product offerings.......and don't try to make it GM's BMW division (Lutz = dork)

Irunelevens

Honestly, it would probably be healthier overall for them to keep Saturn (with a bit of retooling) and dump Pontiac.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

True.




Also true...while I do love the Saturn Aura and it truly is a great car for the money, the Chevrolet Malibu is essentially the same car underneath and slightly less expensive as well. Of course the pricing on both vehicles is actually based on the fact that there are two vehicles sharing a platform (spreads the costs out over more lines providing they both sell) in the first place and dropping one could actually raise the costs of the other. But there are also lots of cost savings realized by not having two sets of grills, two sets of interior styles, two sets of badges etc. etc.
I like the Ion Redline but one can still get most of what that car offers with a Cobalt SS.
I really really do wish/hope that the Sky/Sky Redline get picked up by Chevrolet though, those are cool sports cars.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

I agree, but it seems they might ultimately be cutting both which again means no more Sky or Solstice...which I also think is a potentially bad move in these times of fuel consciousness. Those are good cars for people seeking a fun roadster along with some fuel efficiency at a decent price.

shtnfrds

iTrader: (1)

thats no lie. my mom bought a 91 when they first came out. ended up hitting a racoon on our first road trip and saturn actually replaced the WHOLE car. had that car for 12 or 13 years and had ZERO problems.

Try getting GM to replace your car with a new one now, you have to go all out and push them on the lemon law.

Irunelevens

I heard they were cancelling the Sky and Solstice anyway because of slow sales.

AronZ28

iTrader: (2)

True . . . .

I couldn't help but feel they would've sold better if they had a real trunk. Go look at a Miata, it has enough trunk for a medium sized suitcase or a week's worth of grocerys for a single person.


I think the new Saturn lineup was never marketed, and was redundant with other GM brands. I personally think the Buick Enclave, Pontiac Solstice Chevy Malibu look a lot nicer than their Saturn counterparts.

And I have yet to see a single Saturn Astra on the road. I live about 5 miles from the Spring Hill plant, so there is a lot of saturn loyalists out here, but for whatever reason, that car never sold to the people who owned Ions/S-series.

z_speedfreak

iTrader: (3)

damn those sky's are sexxy and the redline's ecotec has the highest hp per ci GM has ever produced ...I know, I know ricer math
its a damn shame whats going on w/ gm right now..

TT632

iTrader: (3)

I really like the Saturn line up. The Styling is different enough that I would buy the Saturn over one of its other GM siblings. Ive been down to the Saturn dealership and have almost pulled the trigger a couple of times.

In the end, GM will lose more market share if Saturn is shut down and we will have more job loses. It will help GM's books in the short run considering they lose money on almost every car sold. But in the long run, they will be visiting these cuts again a couple of years down the road. On a positive note, if Hyundai can turn around any body can. They were barely better than a Yugo in the 80's. On the other hand Hyundai is subsidized by the Korean government and their industrial complex.

BAD2000TA

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, you're right. That's one thing that certainly bothered me, too. I mean, at least other sports cars have some room for groceries. Top down, and that trunk disappears.

I also thought that expanding the engine options would help it, too. The Ecotech is good, but the 3.6 liter V6 in the CTS or even the 5.3 would be nice. I know it fits - ask Mallett!!!

Irunelevens

The lack of trunk I don't understand... even my car has some semblance of a trunk. The engine options I completely understand why GM wouldn't and couldn't offer anything more than a 4cyl. If they put the 3.6l V6 in the car it would raise the price to a point where it would have even more selling problems. Just saying, people aren't going to pay as much money for a Saturn/Pontiac as they would for a BMW/Porsche/Mercedes, even if the Saturn/Pontiac is faster. It would also edge the Solstice/Sky even closer to the Corvette's price, which would be unacceptable. ESPECIALLY if it had a V8, which would put to too close to the Corvette's performance.