Do you think GM will sell or fold the Saturn line?
Is Saturn Doomed?
I think the better question is - "Is GM doomed?"
They just have to make better cars. European cars for example don't have to be repaired all the time and they are fuel-economic. Same for Korean and Japanese cars.
And we never heard about Saturn in Europe to start with, so they are doomed anyways.
And we never heard about Saturn in Europe to start with, so they are doomed anyways.
| 8166UY wrote: |
| They just have to make better cars. European cars for example don't have to be repaired all the time and they are fuel-economic. Same for Korean and Japanese cars. |
I'm not sure I can agree with "repaired all the time" thing. Out of the seven vehicles I've owned in my life, the worst one I owned, in terms of reliability, was a Suzuki. The first vehicle I ever bought brand new, was a '93 Suzuki Swift. I paid $8000 CDN for it. In the first two years, it had $11,000 dollars of repairs done, thankfully, all covered by warranty. The rest of the vehicles I have owned have been north american vehicles. I had a '96 GMC 4x4 that put 500,000 km on, and the only part I ever had to replace, outside of routine maintenance, was the alternator.
I'll agree with the fuel efficiency thing, to some extent though. I think it is a little exaggerated. My '02 Chevy Cavalier get's almost identical mileage as my wifes '04 Toyota Matrix. The cav's a five-speed, the matrix is an auto, and the cavalier averages about 0.5-1 L/100 km better than the matrix.
My '04 GMC 3/4 ton get's better mileage than my buddies Nissan Titan, and I have 2,000 lbs of additional payload over the titan.
| jwellsy wrote: |
| Do you think GM will sell or fold the Saturn line? |
It was part of GM's recovery plan that it had to submit to the government to get bail-out money that the Saturn line would be dropped.
Whether it will be sold or simply ended depends on GM's decisions, though they'll probably prefer to get the extra money from the sale of the brand name.
Personally, I think that's an idiotic choice, because Saturn was the only GM brand that could compete with the Japanese imports at their own game. The starbucks crowd that disdains any American car would still endorse driving a Saturn as 'cool'.
(Saturn is to GM as Mazda is to Ford ^.^)
(In fact, I think GM is doing great, and that Ford is giving American cars a bad name lately.)
That's too bad about what they're doing to Saturn. The minute the cars became new and cool-looking, they're shut down. Sorta like what happened to Oldsmobile (I liked those Aleros...).
| 8166UY wrote: |
| European cars for example don't have to be repaired all the time and they are fuel-economic. Same for Korean and Japanese cars.
|
What I'd like to see happen with GM:
(Wishful thinking, I know)
-Drop Chevrolet brand
-Economy cars, minivans, and sedans either get dropped completely, or become Saturns
-The Corvette becomes two models: a Saturn version and a Cadillac version.
-Chevy pickups, SUV's, and vans become GMC's
-Hummer brand is eliminated
-GMC gets versions of the H1 and H3
-Cadillac gets a version of the H2 and H3
Any other GM brands are also treated similarly until you have three brands left:
GMC for trucks, SUV's, and vans that are dependable, durable, useful, and powerful.
Saturn for cars and small SUV's that are economical, reliable, and very cool.
Cadillac for luxury vehicles.
(Wishful thinking, I know)
-Drop Chevrolet brand
-Economy cars, minivans, and sedans either get dropped completely, or become Saturns
-The Corvette becomes two models: a Saturn version and a Cadillac version.
-Chevy pickups, SUV's, and vans become GMC's
-Hummer brand is eliminated
-GMC gets versions of the H1 and H3
-Cadillac gets a version of the H2 and H3
Any other GM brands are also treated similarly until you have three brands left:
GMC for trucks, SUV's, and vans that are dependable, durable, useful, and powerful.
Saturn for cars and small SUV's that are economical, reliable, and very cool.
Cadillac for luxury vehicles.
As for the guy that was talking about "repared all the time". My mother owned a Saturn SL2 for 7 years then i turned 16 and she gave it to me. 
only problem it ever had in the length of that 7 years was something with the roters or a drive pin, im not sure cause the machanic wouldnt tell me! XD. i had the car for 4 months and then my Brother-In-Law stole the car, Only got 2 blocks from my house, then totaled the vehicle. It was quiet upsetting considering how reliable it was and being my first vehicle.
only problem it ever had in the length of that 7 years was something with the roters or a drive pin, im not sure cause the machanic wouldnt tell me! XD. i had the car for 4 months and then my Brother-In-Law stole the car, Only got 2 blocks from my house, then totaled the vehicle. It was quiet upsetting considering how reliable it was and being my first vehicle.^Engine problems at only 7 years old? Not my idea of very good reliability, unless it had very high miles per year.
| 8166UY wrote: |
| They just have to make better cars. European cars for example don't have to be repaired all the time and they are fuel-economic. Same for Korean and Japanese cars.
And we never heard about Saturn in Europe to start with, so they are doomed anyways. |
Yeah, European cars aren't so reliable, either. In the US the cars with the worst reliability ratings are usually European (Audi, VW, Mercedes), although Chrysler hangs out down with those guys. Ford is now almost even with the top tier (Honda and Toyota), and Chevy is catching up. Other Japanese brands (Nissan, e.g.) have only middling reliability ratings.
Related topics
 |