Should Saturn go Green?

[carman21]

With runaway sales of Toyota's Prius, Where is GM's Prius?

I believe that Saturn would be better served if it had a hybrid exclusive model like the Prius.

I believe that instead of giving Chevy the Volt, why not make it Saturn's flagship?

I propose killing the Aura & the poor selling Outlook and send the Astra to Pontiac.

The Vue would become a plug-in hybrid only.

Saturn would become GM's first Hybrid brand. I believe Saturn could also act as venue for introducing electric and hydrogen powered vehicles.

I believe sales of the Saturn Volt & Vue will run between 200-250k.

I realize this is wholly unrealistic but, its still an interesting idea that leaves Pontiac getting the Opels and Buick getting Holdens.

Edited November 6, 2007 by carman21

[Drew Dowdell]

I think both Saturn and Buick should have a lineup where every vehicle has a hybrid version.

Saturn would cater to the lower end of the scale and Buick could cater to those who still like a bit of ostentatiousness.

Besides, Buick has the perfect trim line name, Electra.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I think it should start with the Volt and be rolled out to every GM division. Meaning every division gets and exclusive plug in hybrid.

For instance: (Off the top of my head)

Chevrolet gets the Volt

GMC could then get a plug in Sierra or Yukon

Hummer could get a plug in H2 or HX

Buick could get a large plug in sedan

Cadillac could get a plug in that is CTS sized

Pontiac could get a performance plug in

Saturn could get a small plug in SUV (the Vue)

Saab could get a plug in wagon

[PurdueGuy]

With runaway sales of Toyota's Prius, Where is GM's Prius?

Chevy Volt

I believe that Saturn would be better served if it had a hybrid exclusive model like the Prius.

I believe that instead of giving Chevy the Volt, why not make it Saturn's flagship?

Major lack of dealerships. For example, Idaho has ONE Saturn dealership. I live in Idaho, and it's four hours away. Nearest Chevy dealer is four minutes away.

I propose killing the Aura & the poor selling Outlook and send the Astra to Pontiac.

The Vue would become a plug-in hybrid only.

Saturn would become GM's first Hybrid brand. I believe Saturn could also act as venue for introducing electric and hydrogen powered vehicles.

I believe sales of the Saturn Volt & Vue will run between 200-250k.

I realize this is wholly unrealistic but, its still an interesting idea that leaves Pontiac getting the Opels and Buick getting Holdens.

I agree it's wholly unrealistic, except maybe as a plan to kill of Saturn and greatly hurt the other brands as well. Well, Pontiac would love the Astra. Aura & Outlook = almost zero development dollar extra sales. (well, the Aura took some development dollars, but they were surely all made up for in development savings for the new Malibu.) The Outlook is to the Acadia as GMC is to Chevy - it costs so little for it to exist that it takes very few sales before the cost is justified.

The Volt should go to Chevy. I don't think arguing it going to another brand makes a lick of sense unless it's as an additional model. Even then, I think the Volt should stand on it's own as a Chevy for at least a year or two. Work out the bugs, build Chevy's image, let the "early adopters" grab 'em up. Then add on a model or two in the upscale range.

I agree that GM would be well served to keep Saturn's image generally "green", but that doesn't mean hybrid & fuel cell only. That can mean efficient smaller cars and diesels as well. The Corsa will help green image, even in a gasoline version. Diesel Corsa, Astra, Aura. Heck yeah.

Making the Vue hybrid-only is a great way to ditch a lot of sales. Saturn sells a lot of Vue's (especially considering the lack of dealerships) - to think that you'd keep or make up for even half of those sales going hybrid only is a huge gamble. Keep in mind, Saturn is getting the attention and support it is because of import buyers cross-shopping it much more than other brands. Greatly narrowing the scope of the brand isn't a good idea at all, IMO.

FOG, does a plug-in full size SUV even make sense? How many batteries would a Suburban or Tahoe have to have to have an all-electric range of even 20 miles? I know common sense doesn't always line up with market trends and demands, but it just seems silly...

I can see a situation like Oldsmoboi is saying, with a hybrid version of each model (except I'm not so sure about models like the Sky). To make an entire brand hybrid-only may be brand suicide. Oh, and +1 on Electra name if Buick gets a Volt variant.

Edited November 6, 2007 by PurdueGuy

[Northstar]

Saturn will turn the corner, eventually. The fact is that the Aura is not class-leading, the Outlook is out-done by it's GM counterparts (though I'm guessing import-intenders may be more likely to buy it than the others, the Sky is already doing well, the Astra will sell out fast (low supply), the Vue is doing well...

The next generation Outlook should perhaps be a little different than the other next-gen Lambdas. Perhaps it should be slightly smaller (more like a Pilot). The NG Aura looks pretty promising so far.

With a lineup of Corsa, Astra, Aura, Sky, Vue, and Outlook, Saturn can do some serious damage. Honda didn't grow to the size it is today. The first gen Accord didn't sell in droves. The Civic didn't become the compact of choice overnight. The same thing can, and I believe will, happen with Saturn. We can't expect Saturn to sell 150k Auras, 200k Astras, 100k Outlooks, 200k Vues, and 100k Corsas overnight, though. Sales will continue to increase for quite some time.

[PurdueGuy]

Saturn will turn the corner, eventually. The fact is that the Aura is not class-leading, the Outlook is out-done by it's GM counterparts (though I'm guessing import-intenders may be more likely to buy it than the others, the Sky is already doing well, the Astra will sell out fast (low supply), the Vue is doing well...

The next generation Outlook should perhaps be a little different than the other next-gen Lambdas. Perhaps it should be slightly smaller (more like a Pilot). The NG Aura looks pretty promising so far.

With a lineup of Corsa, Astra, Aura, Sky, Vue, and Outlook, Saturn can do some serious damage. Honda didn't grow to the size it is today. The first gen Accord didn't sell in droves. The Civic didn't become the compact of choice overnight. The same thing can, and I believe will, happen with Saturn. We can't expect Saturn to sell 150k Auras, 200k Astras, 100k Outlooks, 200k Vues, and 100k Corsas overnight, though. Sales will continue to increase for quite some time.

Don't forget the Zafira, or whatever the Global Delta MPV7 turns out to be. I'm still getting my head around how that will fit. Not sure if it's good bad or indifferent to the lineup.

[carman21]

Major lack of dealerships. For example, Idaho has ONE Saturn dealership. I live in Idaho, and it's four hours away. Nearest Chevy dealer is four minutes away.

I didn't think of the dealership shortage. However, most hybrid buyers live in markets that also have many Saturn dealers.

I agree it's wholly unrealistic, except maybe as a plan to kill of Saturn and greatly hurt the other brands as well. Well, Pontiac would love the Astra. Aura & Outlook = almost zero development dollar extra sales. (well, the Aura took some development dollars, but they were surely all made up for in development savings for the new Malibu.) The Outlook is to the Acadia as GMC is to Chevy - it costs so little for it to exist that it takes very few sales before the cost is justified.

The Malibu will likely kill off the Aura before it is given the chance to grow roots in the market. This would not happen until it as supposed to be redesigned for 2010 or 2011 model year. The Outlook is truly th weaker selling of the trio. GM will question wasting more money on a second generation.

The Volt should go to Chevy. I don't think arguing it going to another brand makes a lick of sense unless it's as an additional model. Even then, I think the Volt should stand on it's own as a Chevy for at least a year or two. Work out the bugs, build Chevy's image, let the "early adopters" grab 'em up. Then add on a model or two in the upscale range.

Saturn's demographics match those of a hybrid buyer than those of current Chevy buyers. While Chevy will boost volume, it will merely hurt Saturn by taking away eco-minded import buyers to Chevy. Chevy should merely integrate hybrids into its existing line-up. Leaving Saturn with the experimental models.

I agree that GM would be well served to keep Saturn's image generally "green", but that doesn't mean hybrid & fuel cell only. That can mean efficient smaller cars and diesels as well.

While you are correct, I believe Saturn needs to regain a bit of its quirkiness. Today that means high-tech green machines.

Imagine a Sky that gets 50MPG. With the Redline engine. Thats just an example.

Imagine Saturn commercials, "The only brand that does not sell cars under 40MPG," The lowest carbon footprint of any brand", "At the Forefront of the Green Movement", etc. I suppose you get where I'm going.

Hybrid-buyers look for Prestige. Hey, look at me I got a Prius! These people feel the same pride as those whom buy a Lexus. I believe Saturn could be the Cadillac of the Green market.

Edited November 7, 2007 by carman21

[PurdueGuy]

How many hybrids do you think the market would buy? Some would-be loyal Saturn customers are already frustrated at an ever-rising base model price. Going to hybrids, fuel cells, diesels, etc as exclusive product would alienate even more of the current customer base, at which point the brand's existence is purely depending on conquest sales and massive hybrid market growth.

The Aura won't die when it comes time for redesign - it will be differentiated substantially from it's Malibu and G6 cousins by becoming what they tried to make people think it was this gen - an Opel Vectra for the US. If you've seen the spy pics, you know this will further move the brand upscale.

I've certainly heard worse ideas for the brand than what you're proposing, I'm just not convinced the numbers would add up to make Saturn a successful brand. Maybe in ten years...

[Ravenfreak13]

Saturn started off green...and it DID sell over 1 million vehicles by 98', yet it still wasn't enough. I must say that our saturn is rough around the edges but looks ten times better then any corolla or civic of the 90's. The car won't ever die, thats for sure.

[Oracle of Delphi]

As Opel goes green or should I say greener, so will Saturn!

[carman21]

Please note that, I would prefer a Olds 442 that will push me into the trunk just by tapping the gas and it gets 5MPG. I like warmer weather so, the more CO2 the betta,lol.