BigAls87Z28
09-20-2004, 09:17 PM
GM will, in the next few years, take Saturn to a new level. Yes, the company once known for its quirky design and low price, is now moving on up the chain.
GM has recently unvield 3 new Saturns at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. Here is the info from GMI.
I’ve gotten a glimpse into Saturn’s crystal ball, and I can declare the General Motors division just may have a future, something that has been very much in doubt in recent years.
Saturn executives gave a group of journalists a sneak peak at a trio of future vehicles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. I’m absolutely sworn to secrecy on providing details of those vehicles until closer to their official unveiling in early 2005, but I can report to you the reaction of the crowd.
It was a simple: wow.
Normally cynical journalists, who nonchalantly attended the briefing not expecting much, were blown away.
When the official unveiling of the new Saturns finally arrives, people will see designs and use of materials they’ve never seen before. As for interiors, something I’ve harshly criticized and hounded GM executives about for years, well, all I can say, is I didn’t think they had it in ’em. What I saw on that front made me hopeful for the rest of GM’s vehicles.
When the new models are introduced, a re-positioning of Saturn as a more upscale division – more upscale than Chevrolet and even Pontiac – will also be evident. In fact, it looks like Saturn will slot where Oldsmobile once was.
Fabulous standout vehicles are what Saturn has desperately lacked since GM created the import-fighting brand in the 1980s. Even its very first small car was old by the time it hit showrooms in October 1990. GM had been working on a Japanese-fighter small car, the roots of the first Saturn, since 1982. It was intended for the Chevrolet division when then-GM Chairman Roger B. Smith decided it should be manufactured and sold in a new way by a new division. Thus, Saturn was created.
By then, its first car was old – and not competitive with the likes of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Still, Saturn valiantly soldiered on with its dated, single-product line, making progress via its customer-pleasing service. Finally, in 1998, Saturn added the midsize L-Series, also dated as it was borrowed from Opel and not competitive with its prime targets, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. So unsuccessful was the L-Series that Saturn recently curtailed its production, earlier than intended.
Finally, new models arrived for the product-starved division. The Ion small car replaced the original S but was a disaster due to its homely exterior appearance, quirky center-mounted instrument panel, to name only a few flaws. Hundreds of changes have been made for 2005 but one wonders if the damage is done. Then came the Vue sport utility, which had problems with its continuously variable transmission – now history – and its suspension that broke during government testing, a problem that since has been repaired, Saturn says.
So the positive reaction from the press regarding its future products came as welcome news – and a relief – to Saturn executives, who only the week before were dealing with the Vue crisis, which involved the Herculean effort of contacting hundreds of thousands of Vue owners and meeting with dealers across the country.
In addition to introducing new Saturns, which will also include a rebadged GM minivan this fall, and boosting to a more upscale position, GM has made other moves regarding Saturn in recent months that will mean “a different kind of car company,� as Saturn advertised itself in its early days, is a different kind of car company than when it started.
For better or worse – and only time will tell – the once-independent Saturn has been fully integrated into the GM fold. The Ion now is the responsibility of the small-car team, also in charge of the Chevrolet Cobalt. Saturn headquarters has moved from its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to GM’s downtown Renaissance Center. All of its once-standalone entities have been absorbed into GM. Even its distinctive plastic-body panels are going away.
On the plus side, Saturn is finally getting the attention in terms of resources for new products that it has needed; it’s getting the Bob Lutz full-court press, insiders say.
Still questions linger: Is it too little too late? After all, the first of this trio of new vehicles secretly unveiled in California don’t go on sale until 2006. And how will Saturn’s re-positioning play? With its move upscale, will prospective new Saturn customers get it? Will the loyal owners hang in there? Will Saturn be viewed as a unique car company, or just another GM division?
http://www.globalauto.net/clipsheet.cfm?article_id=2020&today=09/20/04&mode=display&brand_id=3
This has gone along with info I have known for some time. I did not know about these 3 cars though, nor do I know what they look like.
GM has recently unvield 3 new Saturns at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. Here is the info from GMI.
I’ve gotten a glimpse into Saturn’s crystal ball, and I can declare the General Motors division just may have a future, something that has been very much in doubt in recent years.
Saturn executives gave a group of journalists a sneak peak at a trio of future vehicles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. I’m absolutely sworn to secrecy on providing details of those vehicles until closer to their official unveiling in early 2005, but I can report to you the reaction of the crowd.
It was a simple: wow.
Normally cynical journalists, who nonchalantly attended the briefing not expecting much, were blown away.
When the official unveiling of the new Saturns finally arrives, people will see designs and use of materials they’ve never seen before. As for interiors, something I’ve harshly criticized and hounded GM executives about for years, well, all I can say, is I didn’t think they had it in ’em. What I saw on that front made me hopeful for the rest of GM’s vehicles.
When the new models are introduced, a re-positioning of Saturn as a more upscale division – more upscale than Chevrolet and even Pontiac – will also be evident. In fact, it looks like Saturn will slot where Oldsmobile once was.
Fabulous standout vehicles are what Saturn has desperately lacked since GM created the import-fighting brand in the 1980s. Even its very first small car was old by the time it hit showrooms in October 1990. GM had been working on a Japanese-fighter small car, the roots of the first Saturn, since 1982. It was intended for the Chevrolet division when then-GM Chairman Roger B. Smith decided it should be manufactured and sold in a new way by a new division. Thus, Saturn was created.
By then, its first car was old – and not competitive with the likes of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Still, Saturn valiantly soldiered on with its dated, single-product line, making progress via its customer-pleasing service. Finally, in 1998, Saturn added the midsize L-Series, also dated as it was borrowed from Opel and not competitive with its prime targets, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. So unsuccessful was the L-Series that Saturn recently curtailed its production, earlier than intended.
Finally, new models arrived for the product-starved division. The Ion small car replaced the original S but was a disaster due to its homely exterior appearance, quirky center-mounted instrument panel, to name only a few flaws. Hundreds of changes have been made for 2005 but one wonders if the damage is done. Then came the Vue sport utility, which had problems with its continuously variable transmission – now history – and its suspension that broke during government testing, a problem that since has been repaired, Saturn says.
So the positive reaction from the press regarding its future products came as welcome news – and a relief – to Saturn executives, who only the week before were dealing with the Vue crisis, which involved the Herculean effort of contacting hundreds of thousands of Vue owners and meeting with dealers across the country.
In addition to introducing new Saturns, which will also include a rebadged GM minivan this fall, and boosting to a more upscale position, GM has made other moves regarding Saturn in recent months that will mean “a different kind of car company,� as Saturn advertised itself in its early days, is a different kind of car company than when it started.
For better or worse – and only time will tell – the once-independent Saturn has been fully integrated into the GM fold. The Ion now is the responsibility of the small-car team, also in charge of the Chevrolet Cobalt. Saturn headquarters has moved from its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to GM’s downtown Renaissance Center. All of its once-standalone entities have been absorbed into GM. Even its distinctive plastic-body panels are going away.
On the plus side, Saturn is finally getting the attention in terms of resources for new products that it has needed; it’s getting the Bob Lutz full-court press, insiders say.
Still questions linger: Is it too little too late? After all, the first of this trio of new vehicles secretly unveiled in California don’t go on sale until 2006. And how will Saturn’s re-positioning play? With its move upscale, will prospective new Saturn customers get it? Will the loyal owners hang in there? Will Saturn be viewed as a unique car company, or just another GM division?
http://www.globalauto.net/clipsheet.cfm?article_id=2020&today=09/20/04&mode=display&brand_id=3
This has gone along with info I have known for some time. I did not know about these 3 cars though, nor do I know what they look like.