Sun sets on Saturn: GM kills fading star brand

[snopes]

For those who expected General Motors' once-funky Saturn brand to live on with a new owner, there has been a sad twist. Saturn, once billed as a different kind of car company, appears as dead as Pontiac and Oldsmobile.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091001/...e/us_gm_saturn

[Elfinlady]

I am in mourning. I love Saturns, and never planned to own a different brand of car.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Elfinlady

I am in mourning. I love Saturns, and never planned to own a different brand of car.

I like my old Saturn, but after they dropped the old SL/SW/SC lines it kind of felt like they became just another GM brand. None of their newer models really appealed to me as much.

Actually, looking at their current line up I do kind of like the Saturn Astra, but they must have done a poor job of marketing it because I didn't really know about it until I looked at their website just now.

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I like my old Saturn, but after they dropped the old SL/SW/SC lines it kind of felt like they became just another GM brand.

That seems to be one of the problems with GM management of the brand; it was supposed to have unique cars, but I don't know if it was for lack of imagination or what, but Saturn really hasn't stood a chance under the GM umbrella for several years.

It's a big economic hit for this area, too.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

I really like my old Saturn SW2. It's served me really well and has required next to no work.

Sad to see them go.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

That seems to be one of the problems with GM management of the brand; it was supposed to have unique cars, but I don't know if it was for lack of imagination or what, but Saturn really hasn't stood a chance under the GM umbrella for several years.

Right -- There's that "rule" that every GM car has at least one twin under some other GM brand, and in the beginning Saturn was the exception to that rule. Their cars were unique and nothing like anything else GM made. Now it seems like that's all gone out the window. Take the Aura, which they've heavily marketed. It's probably a nice car, but if I'm not mistaken it's essentially a Chevy Malibu.

[NorthernLite]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Right -- There's that "rule" that every GM car has at least one twin under some other GM brand, and in the beginning Saturn was the exception to that rule. Their cars were unique and nothing like anything else GM made. Now it seems like that's all gone out the window. Take the Aura, which they've heavily marketed. It's probably a nice car, but if I'm not mistaken it's essentially a Chevy Malibu.

I'm not sure about the Aura but the latest versions of the Vue were twinned with the Equinox/Torrent and the Outlook was a Traverse/Acadia in Saturn jammies.

[Elfinlady]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I like my old Saturn, but after they dropped the old SL/SW/SC lines it kind of felt like they became just another GM brand. None of their newer models really appealed to me as much.

I do have to admit I agree with this. I really miss my old SL. I like my current Saturn wagon fine, but my SL was something special.

[Not_Done_Living]

My mother has an Astra.. its a fun sport drive...

This is a bitter sweet move for me... as GM is my Customer, and i am slowly losing business as they shrink, but the business i am currently losing from them is PITA business that i would rather be without..

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I like my old Saturn, but after they dropped the old SL/SW/SC lines it kind of felt like they became just another GM brand. None of their newer models really appealed to me as much.

I feel pretty much the exact opposite. Saturn's biggest problem is that they hung on with the old style SL/SC range for far too long, and they were simply not competitive with anything being made by other manufacturers. They sold simply because they were a bit cheaper, got good mileage, and the no-haggling prices. Consequently GM invested almost no money in Saturn (much like they did with their other compact cars, but that's another story altogether), and the brand stumbled along for it's first decade with dated product. The Ion was a step in the right direction (modern underpinnings, modern styling, modern levels of NVH). The current range is where they should have been a generation or more ago-properly competitive. Naturally the range is getting killed off. A huge wasted opportunity.

Right -- There's that "rule" that every GM car has at least one twin under some other GM brand, and in the beginning Saturn was the exception to that rule. Their cars were unique and nothing like anything else GM made. Now it seems like that's all gone out the window. Take the Aura, which they've heavily marketed. It's probably a nice car, but if I'm not mistaken it's essentially a Chevy Malibu.

It's not really a "rule" as such-every other manufacturer does this as well, as it saves on development costs. Most of them simply do it better than GM. Current Saturns use GM's European platforms-the Aura uses the Epsilon platform. In my opinion this is something GM should have done from the outset-used their European platforms rather than a clean sheet design that cost too much to replace in a timely fashion.

-RB

[Nappy Solo]

Originally Posted by NorthernLite

I'm not sure about the Aura but the latest versions of the Vue were twinned with the Equinox/Torrent and the Outlook was a Traverse/Acadia in Saturn jammies.

I almost bought a Vue this year. It is based on the Opel Antara, where the Equinox and Torrent also share platform with the Suzuki XL7. The Vue can come with a GM V6 that also comes in some sporty Caddies, not sure of the exact designation of that engine family. I looked at a 2010 Equinox hoping the redesign would be like the soon to be discontinued Saturn, but they are not the same look. The Vue is really a nice driving, nicely sized crossover, but I'm not going to buy an orphan. I bought my daughter a '98 SL Saturn for college, and it still runs fine with 100k plus miles on it. It was a good choice, sorry to see Saturn go away. Pulled up next to a Pontiac Solstice, and realized both that and its twin, the Saturn Sky are goners.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by Roadsterboy

It's not really a "rule" as such-every other manufacturer does this as well, as it saves on development costs.

See, this is a sticking point for me. I don't begrudge a manufacturer having a "standard" line and a "luxury" line, a la Honda and Acura or Chevrolet and Cadillac, but I keep thinking that making extremely similar vehicles under different nameplates is hopelessly inefficient.

Take Chevrolet trucks. Unless my impression is incorrect, there is a more or less exact duplicate for every single Chevy truck in the GMC lineup. Why? Wouldn't it be more efficient to simply have one truck that fits each particular niche rather than two slightly different ones with different logos on the grill?

Along the same lines (and even more blatant, IMO), there does not seem to be a single Mercury vehicle that isn't effectively a rebadged Ford.

If two different manufacturers want to partner - Nissan and Honda with the Rodeo/Passport and Oasis/Odyssey, Toyota and GM with the NUMMI vehicles - that's one thing. But I never understood a company churning out the same car with slightly different trim under different nameplates.

[PatYoung]

My decade old Saturn has had many fewer problems than my five year old Honda. Too bad GM bet on the Hummer as the car of the future.

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

See, this is a sticking point for me. I don't begrudge a manufacturer having a "standard" line and a "luxury" line, a la Honda and Acura or Chevrolet and Cadillac, but I keep thinking that making extremely similar vehicles under different nameplates is hopelessly inefficient.

It is-it's called "badge engineering". Done well, platform sharing is not a bad thing. The Solstice/Sky twins are a good example of doing it right-the cars look and behave very differently, and appeal to different tastes (I prefer the Sky to the Solstice, for example). The Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird twins are a prime example of doing it very badly-the cars are indistinguishable. Similarly poor badge engineering is part of the reason the British auto industry is no more.

Back in the sixties the US industry did it better-for example the GM A-body line (Chevrolet Chevelle, Buick Special, Olds Cutlass, and Pontiac Tempest) bore similarities in looks, but trim, engine, and driveline options were sufficiently different to give the four cars distinct personalities.

Oddly, some examples of completely different manufacturers sharing platforms have resulted in cars that are very similar, yet prove to be very popular, and nobody mentions it. The Mitsubishi Eclipse/Eagle Talon/Plymouth Laser triplets come to mind, as do the Honda Passport/Isuzu Rodeo twins.

-RB

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Roadsterboy

I feel pretty much the exact opposite. Saturn's biggest problem is that they hung on with the old style SL/SC range for far too long, and they were simply not competitive with anything being made by other manufacturers. They sold simply because they were a bit cheaper, got good mileage, and the no-haggling prices. Consequently GM invested almost no money in Saturn (much like they did with their other compact cars, but that's another story altogether), and the brand stumbled along for it's first decade with dated product. The Ion was a step in the right direction (modern underpinnings, modern styling, modern levels of NVH). The current range is where they should have been a generation or more ago-properly competitive. Naturally the range is getting killed off. A huge wasted opportunity.

I agree that they should have replaced the original models sooner, but I didn't particularly like the Ion compared with the older models, mostly because it was bigger and got worse mileage that the older Saturns. What I would have liked would be an updated inexpensive compact car with good mileage, something along the lines of the Toyota Yaris (Which is what I would likely buy if I were going to replace my Saturn today).

[Roadie]

This makes me sad. Saturn was my first new car in 1995. I had such a wonderful time at the dealership - long story short, my Honda died in the Saturn parking lot on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, 200 miles from home - and I was 8 months pregnant. Any other car salesman would have seen us as the desperate couple we were, and forced a new car on us. The salesman at the Saturn dealership let my husband use tools from the garage to repair our Honda so we could get home. We came back the next month and bought a car.

I wrote a letter about our experience to Saturn Corporation, and they put a vignette in their customer service training manual about it.

Bye bye, Saturn.

[Malruhn]

That was close! I was THIS close to buying a Saturn just three months ago.

[Minstrel]

My 2001 SC1 is still in great shape and I would have happily driven Saturns for the rest of my life. I was hoping that Penske would develop a racing Saturn!

[FrogFeathers]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

Take Chevrolet trucks. Unless my impression is incorrect, there is a more or less exact duplicate for every single Chevy truck in the GMC lineup. Why? Wouldn't it be more efficient to simply have one truck that fits each particular niche rather than two slightly different ones with different logos on the grill?

FWIW, I had a 1999 GMC Jimmy which was identical in every way (down to the paint, chrome, tire rims) to the Chevrolet Blazer. There were (at least) two other Jimmys here in town that looked like mine and (at least) four Blazers that were identical. One of the Blazers had a single digit difference in the license plate (which we all thought was some kind of "other dimension" flaw ).

That aside, I was a bit surprised to hear Saturn was done.

[Bettie Page Turner]

Originally Posted by Roadie

This makes me sad. Saturn was my first new car in 1995. I had such a wonderful time at the dealership - snip-
Bye bye, Saturn.

Exactly. I was shopping for a new car in 1999. I went to several dealerships and, after telling a salesman what I was looking at/for, heard "well, you know, for only $x dollars more, you could have X!" or "of course, you're looking for an automatic, right?" Right, cause I'm a girl.

The Saturn guy listened to what I was looking for and said "Sounds like our base model is for you."

I was in love.