PurdueGuy

According to Edmunds, the Ion is only about 50lbs lighter. (though that's kinda impressive considering 2 extra doors...)

ATTENTION REGARDING V12 BIO TURBO You people can't read, and didn't follow the format of the commercial. The whole commercial is a set of contrasts (lots of bling vs simple & classy, smoke billowing stacks vs solar panels). A) It doesn't say "bio turbo", it says BiTurbo (as in, two turbos). It's a Mercedes: B) It's meant to be a contrast to the picture that follows it, a Saturn "Hybrid" badge. The text says "rethink status" - it's pointing out that today hybrids are becoming (have become?) a bigger status symbol than a big powerful engine.

Interesting...

When did the Versa stop being a Nissan?

wow... talk about a huge loss for Audi/VW. The expensive car, plus a lot of information that comes with testing a prototype. I'm sure it's well documented, though... hopefully for them. Still, best that whatever caused this be caught & fixed now, rather then see two or three of these go up in flames later on in customers' hands...

Well, if you want to get into blame, there's plenty to go around - GM, each brand individually including Chevy & Saturn, the media, on & on. Blame generally doesn't help much in making the best of a current situation, though...

Ok, I can agree with that, but I would expect buyers who would want a DTS, but then can't afford one, would be more likely to buy a Lucerne instead then a buyer who wants a Vue would switch over to buying a 'nox. They'd probably get something from Toyota or Honda...

understood, but here's the thing... Saturn was created to compete with the imports & their small economy cars, thus the S-Series. Meanwhile, the import companies it was made to compete with greatly improved their image and product, while Saturn was starved and had the same car with only minor refinements. They got left behind. Now Saturn is getting new product, and is once again being positioned to compete with the imports - it just means something different now. It's no longer just cheap A to B compacts - now it's semi-luxury cars, to compete with Toyota & Honda, and many people who would "never buy from GM" would consider buying from Saturn, simply due to image. Thing is, Toyota & Honda have bare bones models. To say that buyers who want a bare bones model can get it from Chevy is ignoring the fact that image keeps many of the potential Saturn buyers from buying Chevy. Fact is, many buyers who might look at a Saturn, but decide they'd prefer a lower priced model with fewer features will get it... from Honda or Toyota, not from Chevy. I say make the bare bones models available, and let the market dictate production from there. If the base models don't sell well, or aren't profitable, then stop making them. Moving upmarket doesn't have to mean turning away customers who want something on the lower end. If the buyers they're after with Saturn were open to buying from Chevy, then I'd agree that this is a good strategy, to more aggressively push Saturn's image upmarket. Unfortunately, I just think it results in sales lost to the imports again.

For those of you saying "let the nox be the lower model" - you're forgetting that Saturn is meant to make customers of those who wouldn't buy from another GM brand. Plus, the nox isn't a Vue with different sheetmetal anymore... Lots of people buy bare bones models. I don't know if not having a true bare bones model is wise for Saturn or not, but I'm leaning toward not. Also, the comment about women & automatics... my wife really enjoys driving a manual tranny car on a regular basis. I could see it as an overall trend, but don't assume that it's 100%.

THANK YOU - FINALLY! I still can't understand why they'd dillute the reputation of the SS by calling the 2.4L model the same thing. The 2.4 is good, and deserves a seperate designation, but not SS. On the same token, the 2.4L Ion with the sport appearance package (a.k.a. redline lookalike package) is also stupid.

BOSOF = "body on seat on frame" lol

ah, the monthly "if only they hadn't killed olds" thread...

a gear selector is not a stick shift...

I don't think they ever intended to sell many of the first gen hybrid trucks. When I looked into them, they were very limited availability anyway. Not only did people not know about them - those that did probably couldn't find one to buy. I thought it was an awesome package. The fuel savings is more the icing on the cake - the meat of the benefits was from the generator ability. Excellent feature for contractors, or even many homeowners & people with special hobbies, etc. Hope the future hybrid trucks also have the generator capability.

The Impact was the concept car that preceded the EV1. Very similar in shape, but lacked a LOT of refinement compared to the final product.

the 3 scoop hood looks dumb. The rest looks decent... for what it is.

I used to have a '76 Mercury Monarch... My first car. It was A) slow (6 cyl, not that the 8 was fast) B) ugly (the scourge of rust) C) unreliable (sold it when it started breaking down about every other week.) D) uncomfortable in anything but perfect weather (heat & AC didn't work, and manual windows) E) inefficient (don't think I measured it, but it was bad...) ... and I loved it. First cars are like that.

It's just a photoshop, guys, and not a terribly good one. Look at the entire left side of the nose... just because someone photoshoped it, doesn't mean GM even considered it. You guys get so easily worked up sometimes...

what is this one? sure looks like the EV1, but with different tails... tried looking up info on the Impact, and all the pics I got looked the same as the EV1 (though maybe they were just EV1s...)

+1

Red Line wasn't just an appearance package in the Ion Red Line, though it has been in the Vue Red Line. Personally, I'd hate to see them continue to water down the Red Line name with another model having just an appearance package... At the dealers. These are future models.

I would think an extended cab would be nice over a crew cab... not so long but with a full bed. Much like those old jeep trucks, which are kinda cool...

ah, the monthly "if only they hadn't killed olds, and instead spent every penny that went to saturn on olds instead" thread...

fixed... :AH-HA_wink: I don't dislike what they have today, but I'm no fan of every generation of vehicle getting heavier & heavier, and while I understand and agree with the badge engineering they're doing, it still takes something special away from the brand... Anyway, they're still nice vehicles, and Saturn sales will increase, because what they have now is more in line with what most people want. We'll have to see what they offer with the Astra, though, and how heavy it gets...