Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Automotive News & Views What if you were in charge of GM?
724 messages, Last post on Jul 04, 2009 at 7:22 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
|
|
|---|---|
|
Replying to: dtownfb (Jan 04, 2009 9:06 pm) Which car is that? I'm confused on Saturn's offerings. The L-series cars weren't based on the Malibu. They were based on the Opel Vectra B and manufactured at a GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware.
|
|
|
Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 05, 2009 7:54 am)
|
|
|
|
|
The L-series was heavily based on the Opel Vectra. SO in some ways, the Malibu connection is legit as it is now based on the Saturn Aura which in of itself is also a Vectra. Good thing about the Saturn is that while the Malibu makes its living off supprting the rental market, the midsize Saturns do relatively little fleet sales. |
|
|
Replying to: dtownfb (Jan 05, 2009 10:52 am)
|
|
|
Replying to: fezo (Jan 05, 2009 11:28 am)
|
|
|
As the owner of 3 Saturns, the past 10-12 comments on this thread strike a nerve with me. Currently, the Saturn product portfolio is as strong as it's ever been. I will admit, however, that there have been some missed opportunities in the past 5-10 years. 1) L-series. I own a 2003 L300 (with the V6) and chose it over an Accord or Camry because of the value it represented to me. Yes, it is quasi-European (which I'm reminded of every time I spend $400 to have the brake rotors replaced), but, with the 16" wheels and tires, it handles quite nicely. I've got 77K on mine at the moment and while it's had its fair share of issues (aforementioned brakes, plus two replaced BCM's) it's never left me stranded. 2) VUE. I've had two - an '05 and an '08. The '05 was the first year that GM offered the Honda sourced 3.5L V6 and the 5-speed automatic. My wife loved that car - up until the day it simply stopped running. Towed to the dealer, who couldn't find anything wrong. Picked it up from the service side of the dealership and immediately traded it in on a redesigned '08 - which is orders of magnitude better in every respect. 3) ION. My step-daughter drives an '06, and while it's no head turner in terms of looks, it is a competent little car that does what we ask of it. We took it from Denver to St. George, UT last Memorial Day weekend and loaded up with 3 teenaged girls and all their stuff, it averaged over 30MPG through the Rockies. One thing that used to make Saturn different was the use of the polymer panels. Both the ION and L-series have them, and it cannot be underestimated how good they look when clean. I used to drive to downtown Denver and park in public parking, so I don't know how many door dings I've avoided. Same with the ION at the college campus my daughter lives on. The other aspect of owning Saturn is the service experience, both before and after the sale. When we bought my L-series in November 2002, my wife was absolutely blown away by how easy it was (before that, we drove Fords almost exclusively). In the 6 years that I've owned Saturns, I cannot remember one bad service experience - the dealers that I've worked with have gone above and beyond the call of duty on more than one occasion to accommodate us. The Astra, while a fine little car, suffers from a couple of issues that have doomed it here in the states. The first, already noted above, is that the exchange rate has made it quite pricey compared to the competition. Hard to justify $20K for a compact that really has no pedigree here in the US. The second is that it was hastily converted to the US market and doesn't come equipped with an AUX jack or XM radio (as almost every other GM car, truck and SUV has). Little things, to be sure, but the little things often push a consumer to a different brand. I'm hoping (for obvious reasons) that GM keeps the Saturn brand alive, but I will admit that I'm not too optimistic about it. I've heard that the franchise agreements GM wrote with the dealers are different and give GM more control, allowing GM to close the brand without the same amount of overhead that plagued GM when they discontinued Oldsmobile. Time will tell.
|
|
|
Replying to: dtownfb (Jan 05, 2009 12:42 pm) My one car that got dumped while the loan was still going was an 80 VW Rabbit. |
|
|
Replying to: michaell (Jan 05, 2009 2:20 pm) Your L300 only managed to produce 180Hp from 3.0 Litres. The same model year Accord had a 3.0 Litre that put out another 60hp (240) and thanks to its 5 speed autobox compared to the L300's 4 speed probably got better gas mileage to boot. The L300 was too narrow for the American market and its shape was about as anoynomous is it gets. The L300 was an "ok" car but not a class leader. Truth is if you looked at all the expenses involved, repairs, gas and resale value, you would have saved money on the Accord in the long run. The Aura is much better than the L300 but still misses the mark. It has yet to win a comparison test. The Chevy Malibu which better utlizes the same platform set has had much better reviews. The Ion consistantly rated at the bottom of the class. It does not come close to the Civic or Mazda 3 in terms of refinement, standard features, drivability or gas mileage. The Colbalt sold at the Chevy store is again based on the same platform and is a much better car. Read some reviews of both. The Vue and the Astra is the only unique products Saturn offers, as crossovers go the Vue is not bad but "not bad" does not cut it anymore. There is no breakthrough here. Nothing that wows the buyer looking for a crossover. For about the same money you can get an Equinox which seats 6. The fact is that Saturn has never turned a profit and has failed in its misson to be an affective "import" fighter. It was one of Roger Smith's really bad business decisions to spend money on creating a new import fighting brand when he could have just had the funds spent to improve the exisiting ones. As for the pricing stategy, that too is a double-edged sword. I had a friend who was interested in one of the Lambda crossovers. He checked out the Outlook and then looked at the identical GMC Arcadia down the road. The Arcadia stickered higher, but because the GMC dealer was willing to negotiate he managed to get it for a lower price. I have never really understood brand loyalty in cars, each and everytime I buy a car, I do extensive reading and research, then thoroughly test drive the top five vehicles in the class I am looking at and pick a winner based on the car's performance, features and comfort . If all Americans bought cars this way every weak brand would be gone and we would always have top notch cars to choose from and frankly the big three would not have had the problems they are having now.
|
|
|
Replying to: TIMGT5 (Jan 06, 2009 3:19 am) |
|
|
Replying to: TIMGT5 (Jan 06, 2009 3:19 am) Again, not the way to run a company. No surprise Saturn is on the chopping block.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Automotive News & Views What if you were in charge of GM?
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
