GM to close down Saturn.

[peter78]

I just read in todays paper that the deal with Penske Automotive Group falls apart at the last minute. Roger Penske said he was going to get Saturn's 371 dealers and promised to retain the 13,000 Saturn employees. But, now I guess all the dealerships will close or sell something else and all the emplyees are now looking for a job.

I keep seeing the commerical about Saturn and how great they are. I have a tip, now is not the time to go buy a Saturn. Just ask my dad who bought a Borgward in 1960, in 1961 they went out of business.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/business/01auto.html

 

[Iron Clad Lou]

They should shut it down...we need to clean the streets of all these American made pieces of junk...it started with olds, then pontiac, now saturn....I like it!

 

[Jeff Kleb]

Dropping Saturn


Saturn was almost doomed from the start - as the "import fighter" brand probably cannibalized more sales from other GM divisions than from Toyota, Nissan, etc. I did like their "one price - no haggle" approach, though, and it seemed as though they really were a different kind of car company.

GM has been way too bloated for quite awhile. Back when they had a huge market share, there was enough room for the 'starter' brand - Chevrolet, the 'performance' marque - Pontiac, the 'family' car - Oldsmobile, an 'entry-level luxury car' called Buick and the "world standard" of Cadillac at the top of the heap. GMC was the "truck only" division of GM and stood on its own for decades. Each division had a distinct niche, but that seemed to fade throughout the 1980s as GM cars began to all look the same.

Remember the Chevy Impala/Caprice, Pontiac Bonnevile/Parsienne, Oldsmobile Delta 88/Ninety-Eight and Buick LeSabre/Park Avenue? Yeah, they were almost the same - down to the wheel covers with different logos in the center.
:nono:

Somewhere along the line, GM divisions became more 'corporate' than ever before and the separate divisions lost their unique identities. I think that GM was smart to jettison Oldsmobile (and now, Pontiac). Keep it simple - Chevy as the bargain brand, Buick for quality, mid-level luxury and Cadillac for high-performance luxury. Keep GMC for trucks only, even though they are likely to be stealing sales from Chevy!

Toyota has done fine with high-zoot Lexus at the top of their line....and Scion marketed to younger buyers (though it seems as though quite a few geezers are buying them). Likewise, Honda has Acura and Nissan makes Infiniti cars for the high-dollar customers in their midst.

I hope that the new, "leaner & meaner" GM can get things rolling again.
:jump:

 

[MikesToy]

...we need to clean the streets of all these American made pieces of junk...I like it!

I thought they were Mexican made.
:bash:

 

[96743runner]

Ugh, America will finally be rid of those ugly, crappy saturns!

And I can't stand that commercial for saturn on tv.

 

[ForeRunnerSi]

actually now would be a great time to buy a saturn. Saturn doesn't sell any of their own cars. They are all rebadged from another GM mark. So any GM dealer can service them.

 

[JohnsD90]

actually now would be a great time to buy a saturn. Saturn doesn't sell any of their own cars. They are all rebadged from another GM mark. So any GM dealer can service them.

Saturns last so that means there actually rebadged opel's.

 

[JohnsD90]

Toyota has done fine with high-zoot Lexus at the top of their line....and Scion marketed to younger buyers (though it seems as though quite a few geezers are buying them). Likewise, Honda has Acura and Nissan makes Infiniti cars for the high-dollar customers in their midst.

I hope that the new, "leaner & meaner" GM can get things rolling again.
:jump:

VW has Audi, Dodge has Chrysler. Kia has Hyundia(what a FCUKIng joke that is)

 

[ForeRunnerSi]

Saturns last so that means there actually rebadged opel's.

GM owns or at has a large investment in Holden(Australia), Vauxhall(UK), Opel(Germany)

 

[JohnsD90]

GM owns or at has a large investment in Holden(Australia), Vauxhall(UK), Opel(Germany)

I know that, its evident GM doesnt interfere much with opel (vauxhall has been getting better) because they are well built and european.

 

[ForeRunnerSi]

I know that, its evident GM doesnt interfere much with opel (vauxhall has been getting better) because they are well built and european.

I think from 2004 and before GM hasn't interfered with any of their brands. Hence the reason they have been playing desperately catch up the past 1-2 year(s). Its in all of their global markets. In holden and vauxhall they have been going through complete model revisions to keep up with ford. One of the reason's why I think ford has been able to power through this economy is due to the fact that their cars a still relative to current offerings from other European and Japanese manufactures. Vauxhall maybe be getting better but they still have a ways to go. If you ever watch top gear vauxhalls are still consider "rubbish" except for the Monoro which is just a holden commodore in drag. Also I don't buy the fact that the astra or vectra I forget which one was north american car of the year.