regfootball

Maxed out? sorry, not MAXXED OUT...

only if they see the article.

the reality is that Saturn and Buick and Pontiac should really just occupy the same price classes, but simply offer different flavored cars. GM will likely not execute it properly, but in theory all three of those brands should be positioned about the same prices (with Buick maybe being as much as 10% higher in some cases). Its just that Buick would be luxury, pontiac performance, and saturn would appeal to the import and style minded. Saturn should be the brand someone who has an VW, Audi, or Lexus or Toyota would go to for a second family car or a solid family hauler becuase they don't want to buy a 'typical' GM car. chevy would get the dumpster to share with Kia. haha, really chevy needs to stay above kia and be just slightly below toyota. i am still confused as to how Saab can surivive without new products but I have always been convinced if they moved Saab downmarket a bit and positioned at as the cool accessible european and tried to emulate VW to a certain degree with credible Passat and Jetta competitors, and slightly cross into Audi and Acura and Lexus territory while stile offering the traditional scandinavian sensibilities that Volvo offers.........Sometimes I think Saab could be paired with Cadillac and sometimes I still think Saab needs to be fiercely independent. Saab doesn't mesh with Hummer at all. Maybe GM needs to create unique, low overhead dealers for Saab like Mini had done for BMW. GM is not nearly doing enough to build an image for Saab. and not so much through car marketing as through 'cultural marketing' and having their name pop up in the places that the funky offbeat independent types who should buy Saabs would find them. If Saab had a parallel car with the Golf / Rabbit and jetta that equal style and cache'.....Saab could make inroads. Imagine a 9-3 that had the desirability of the 98-05 Passat

OH, BUT JILLIE DOESN'T THINK SATURN CAN SELL ENOUGH MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS...........no sticks for the saturnista

beam axle or IRS?

Sex scandal puts Toyota in the headlines

this must correspond with the slowdown of the astra in the euro market. there was talk of cutting prod. there since sales dropped.

the Focus and Cobalt are aduqate to fill the segment. Both are good cars. Plus the Aveo. No one really wants anything smaller than a Focus or Cobalt and those 2 cars will get 95% the real world mpg any of the 'subcompacts' get. its just that they are not 'all new'.

and imagine the outcries of inappropriateness if Buick sold an 80,000 dollar sedan. why is the phaeton's steering wheel so cheap looking/parts binny if the car sells at 6 figures? I still find it wierd i saw three unique phaetons within 15 miles of my house within 2 hours last sunday

see, toyota is not immune. they thought they might be, but..... avalon camlee transmissions what WILL they do now?

nissan good civic bad elantra bad mazda3 good wrx good

well, the fit is not a design statement. its just a typical old style rice crapbox in terms of style. the versa sure is a nice package but i guess i would skip the versa and go sentra.

interior is a bit m45ey

i have a hunch the new sentra will become the compact class star and the mazda 3 will remain strong. NPR listeners will still buy corollas. but the hyundai will make inroads on the corolla. if you have pimples and want an xbox or playstation, the civic is still the car to get. aloof prfoessionals will go to the rabbit/gti

exterior is horrible indeed, atrocious, dismal the interior is ok (kind of toyota like), but i think the new sentra and the current mazda3 have it all over this thing. clearly heeyoondie is going after toyota. all power to em. with hyundai and toyota going at it making dull ass cars like this (but the buffoon yuppie intellectual hippie CR readers will still buy em) that should leave the door open for GM and Ford to start selling cool small cars again sometime. HOPEFULLY. the Caliber is selling like HOTCAKES around here.

well then just shut the doors. Seriously. why bother making cars at all? If GM wants to be full line they have to offer some cars like this. How else do you grow a customer base or brand loyalty? Its like the grocery store. Do you think they sell enough crap like soy milk and organic tortilla chips to justify the floor space and stocking efforts? Or Mangoes. Aside from the Latinas around here, you think any white suburbanites buy mangoes in enough number to justfiy their floor space? But if you want to attract a customer to your store/brand, you might just have to sell mangoes. how can VW sell so many unqiue models with manuals etc. you can't tell me a car like the R32 sells in such great volume that they can justify it. or the Jetti GLI manual. Or the TSX manual. If there are two cars in GM's non-Saab/Cadillac (read-affordable) lineup that absolutely need to have a v6 stick combo, it is the Aura and G6......... and I would even throw in the grand prix and malibu myself. There are 4 cars right there that combined and with synergy with Aussie, European/Saab/Opel and Korean product could share powertrains etc enough to offset the cost. Globally they can easily produce at least 60,000 - 100,000 of this powertrain combo for a fwd chassis. Hardly niche. Why not collaborate on engineering with BMW or something? Fact is GM's decisions are still beancounter driven and lack any sort of intent to be aggressive with product offerings. GM is and always will be a bunch of product PUSSIES when it comes to affordable segments of the market. And you can tell Jillie, THE RICKER, buickman, and Laneve I said that. back in saturns biggest volume years, it owuld be interesting to see how many units saturn sold of sticks between the vues, L and SL/ion series. I bet saturn itself has moved at least 20-30 thousand sticks a year in its heyday years.....

looks pretty good!

i had heard the Aura's hybrid system was the 2 mode.

I drove a 2.7 Magnum once. SLOOOOOO i don't think this recall is a big deal.

what sort of lease terms did you get?

the G6 GTP manual doesn't sell as well as it could for two reasons -too expensive for what you get (i.e. pushrod motor, second tier handling, GM typical interior) -enthusiasts who drive cars with manuals also want the best engine hardware to go with. the 3.6 litre vvt hf whould be in this car, not the 'dated' 3900. the 3900 is not perceived as competitive to the Altima's 3.5 or other cars like the Accord v6, etc. I'll also add if the car has developed a rep as being a numb handler and lacking steering feel and other chassis refinement, then the buff books will knock it and that kills sales. The Mazda6 v6/manual sells extremely well. Part of that is because you can get the stick and OHC v6 for a lot less actual money. It is possible to get a Mazda6s v6/stick and just a tiny few options but still get it around 20 grand. Most GTP's rotting on dealer lots will sticker at 28.5 and north. GM is not big on incentives anymore. So your G6 GTP is gonna start around 25 grand. You can say it might be cheaper than an Altima SE-R for example, but just six months ago I could have walked into any Nissan dealer and thrown 25 thou on the desk and walked out with a new base (but extremely well equipped) Maxima that has the GTP trumped on many consumer levels. Add to this the perception that one should never pay as much for a GM car that you pay for other brands and the pushrod factor and the fact that the G6 is still narrow and low compared to the Accord and Altima and even the mazda6 and that's why the G6 manual doesn't sell. its one of those things where if you build it right and nail everything than having a stick will benefit you. But the G6 now falters on a few other basic levels that affect its sales greatly. If Pontiac didn't have their collective heads up their asses, what I do is take a base 6 cylinder G6, and offer a simple 'performance' or GT package. the 3.9 engine, the 6 speed (1000 bucks). then i offer a suspension package which includes 4 wheel disc, tight suspension, and the steering upgrade to high perf hydraulic (1500 bucks). if you start with the base G6, one can get one and simply choose those 2 options and get a great high perf value. I would then offer an option for high bolstered seats, but only a few cars. the basic G6 seats are good to begin with. then you would have your sunroof and sound options. the G6 would improve its cred 1000 % by simply offering the 3.6/manual combo. Even by selling only 7-10 thou a year. Pontiac IS performance, right?

well sure, if she always talks without answering the question and lies.

they didn't put the 3.6 DOHC in the G6. if it didn't have a redesign, at least they could put the top hardware in it. If the G6 had everything nailed, then maybe saturn could get by without the stick. but the G6 has interior and design issues, and apparently ride and handling issues as well as lacking the upper crust motor. Saturn Aura was supposed to fill all those voids.