As just about everyone expected, General Motors and Chrysler are back asking
for more bailouts. Instead of $17.4 billion, they now want $39 billion.
As part of its turnaround plan, GM plans to jettison Saturn, the brand launched in 1985 as a quirky import fighter.
After a successful launch, Saturn was absorbed into the mother ship and had most of the life squeezed out of it. About all thatâ??s left of the original concept is the no-haggle policy.
This pains David Blaskiewicz, who manages new- and used-car sales at Saturn of Fishers. Blaskiewicz was on the ground floor when some of the first models rolled off the assembly line in 1990.
Saturn dealers, maybe with help from outside investors, should buy the brand from GM and develop a solid market identity, he says. The brand should specialize in alternative fuels and offer enough pizzazz to continue attracting buyers who tend to be wealthier and better educated than average.
If GM severs all ties to Saturn, the stand-alone would need to scramble to find another companyâ??s vehicles to sell. Thatâ??s because existing Saturn vehicles are sold by GM under other brands. The Outlook crossover is similar to a Chevrolet Traverse, for example.
If Saturn could rebadge another companyâ??s vehicles for a few years until it could design and build its own from scratch, Saturn could survive, Blaskiewicz believes. He envisions a future when the old slogan, â??A different kind of car. A different kind of car companyâ?? rings true again.
What do you think? Should Saturn be saved, and if so, what should it look like?
As part of its turnaround plan, GM plans to jettison Saturn, the brand launched in 1985 as a quirky import fighter.
After a successful launch, Saturn was absorbed into the mother ship and had most of the life squeezed out of it. About all thatâ??s left of the original concept is the no-haggle policy.
This pains David Blaskiewicz, who manages new- and used-car sales at Saturn of Fishers. Blaskiewicz was on the ground floor when some of the first models rolled off the assembly line in 1990.
Saturn dealers, maybe with help from outside investors, should buy the brand from GM and develop a solid market identity, he says. The brand should specialize in alternative fuels and offer enough pizzazz to continue attracting buyers who tend to be wealthier and better educated than average.
If GM severs all ties to Saturn, the stand-alone would need to scramble to find another companyâ??s vehicles to sell. Thatâ??s because existing Saturn vehicles are sold by GM under other brands. The Outlook crossover is similar to a Chevrolet Traverse, for example.
If Saturn could rebadge another companyâ??s vehicles for a few years until it could design and build its own from scratch, Saturn could survive, Blaskiewicz believes. He envisions a future when the old slogan, â??A different kind of car. A different kind of car companyâ?? rings true again.
What do you think? Should Saturn be saved, and if so, what should it look like?
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Car companies can be so clueless about the variety of people who want to buy cars. When I was ready to buy my most recent car, I thought I should try some other places in the name of being a careful shopper. My experiences at non-Saturn places were...laughably bad. Who knew there were so many ways to try to make a single, middle-aged woman feel like an idiot for car-shopping by herself?
I may have felt like an idiot, but I had the last laugh: I took my money back to Saturn.
I don't ever want to shop for cars anywhere else.
Their SUV's are quality as well. I hope they can keep them going - looks like they are getting the AXE though.
My mother was a loyal Saturnist for eons and religiously went to the annual Saturn-fest, where she met up with old friends (whom she met at previous events) from across the country. When she finally realized that Saturn had gone corporate, she bought a Toyota.
One idea would be to follow the European example of licensing big parts from other auto companies. I believe Lotus, for example, gets its engines from Toyota. Saturn could work a transmission deal with Subaru and go all vehicles are all-wheel drive like Subaru did years ago. Perhaps it could also go all-hybrid or all-electric and work an engine deal with GM. Designs can be licensed from Fiat, Renault or a smaller but creative design house.
That is the kind of thinking that might save it, in my mind.
A balanced trade package is the only way to save any US manufacturing. We don't have a friend in Washington who will say anything about limits on China.
Dupress