Saturn fading fast???

Conversation 27 comments

1. Ouch! That’s sad if the worst happens.

   I like the Aura, Astra, Sky and Vue quite a bit but due to Saturn’s one price policy I would never consider one. At their sticker they only offer “okay” value when compared to other MSRPs, but since I can dicker with other MSRPs to get good value I skip even considering Saturn.

2. Who needs Saturn when all the old ladys that bought them are creeping in the left lane 20mph under in Kia now?
   they used to drive Ramblers , then those sqaure Dodge cars to saturn and now Kia!

3. GM chopping Saturn? Horrible move considering how poor Pontiac, GMC and Buick’s products are and have been over the past decade. Guess what finger I am holding up GM? You kill Saturn, you lose me as a GM customer forever.

4. i hope the VUE will find a home as well. It looks GREAT! Maybe it could become a Pontiac?

5. Sad. Remember when this brand was launched? So many questioned why? in the first place. All that wasted investment money that could have gone into rebuilding Buick or Oldsmobile. Such a shame. Their current line up is nice…but too little, too late I guess. What a terrible time to be a car fan. GM: Good luck in rebuilding and surviving.

6. Yup, I think Saturn is the odd man out. I hate the thought of screwing all those dealers so I’m hoping that someone will buy Saturn from GM. Maybe the Chinese? They certainly could use it as a chance to get a foothold in the US market.

7. The Sky might make a nice Chevy. They could even keep the name and put in a new grille.

   J.

8. I remember when I was in college in the 90s, Saturn was a youthful import-fighting brand. The only one GM had. It was good at one time and I thought, after several years of neglect and selling complete crap, they had a pretty decent lineup today. Bummer.

9. Too bad. The one thing that the late (and not at all great) Roger Smith did that might have had merit will probably disappear.

   Saturn has a good line of cars but they’re not sufficiently distinctive. Any Saturn could just as well be a Chevy, so who needs it?

   GM needs to drop its redundant brands.

10. Too bad about Saturn. I actually like the company. I still have a ’94 SC2. It’s got 180,000miles on it and believe it or not I get about 41mpg highway. It’s been average maintenance wise and since I’ve owned it in ’95, it’s only left me stranded once. Bad economy, gas prices expected to go up and it’s paid for…..I’m keeping her until she blows up. My point is Saturn has treated me well enough and it’s too bad GM may close it’s doors. I do realize however that pretty much all their vehicles since about the late ’90’s until about a year ago have been TOTAL CRAP, especially the Ion. But it’s been this last year that they were finally starting to make some progress with some well built vehicles. But now with a TOTAL CRAP economy, GM on the edge of a cliff, and cars within GM that compete against each other (non-negotiable Aura vs. negotiable Malibu), it’s obvious that, unfortunately, the smart business decision is to get rid of Saturn. They can always keep a couple of Saturns vehicles and make them Chevy’s or whatever, but I think the company as we know it is a gonner.

    I’ll be sorry to see you go Saturn.

11. Again, pathetic.

    Finally, GM builds/brings good cars.

    And then this shit.

    I’ll empty a 40 for you, Saturn.

    Just let me pass it through my kidneys first.

12. All that time and money turning Saturn into a real car brand and now all gone…People bought the old crap cars they made but didn’t buy the new stuff…The new Vue sold a bit though…Nobody bought the new Astra which killed Saturn because the crappy ION sold much better. Saturn buyers where just freaks anyway.

13. A shame to see them leave, but it's needed.
    *Agila and Corsa-> Chevy
    (Maybe, MAYBE the VXR version as a Pontiac)
    *Zafira-> Chevy
    *Astra VXR hot hatch (next gen)->Pontiac
    *Insignia->Buick
    *Antara/Vue->GMC (or Buick?)

    Pontiac should stop copying BMW with the split
    grilles that look stupid anyway, and replace it
    with the "V" grille of Vauxhall, but put the arrowhead in the middle and keep the honeycomb.

14. I think if Saturn has to fade away, GM should do something that they should have done already 20 years ago…they should sell the models as Opel’s when they are out of troubled waters as Volkswagen fighters and so on, or even higher, because they could create a new image.

15. Need to have Outlook go to Pontiac as a Porsche Cayenne killer.

16. Ford sells more Escapes in a month then Saturn total sales for a month. Thats why Saturn is dead.
    They should just rebadge the vue and astra into chevys and call it a day. chevy already has the outlook and aura. and the sky is the new “niche” pontiac solstice. Smart business move to get rid of all the rebadging.

17. Saturn sold 50K crappy little IONs last year and only 10K Astras this year…Saturn customers want crap…GM screwed up.

18. Volkswagen fighters?

    VW cant sell anything here…Buick sells more.

19. GM knew Saturn was toast when the Astra didn’t sell…Their “no haggle” price thing made their cars far more expensive than the competition. Pontiac can be for sporty cars…At least people buy Pontiacs.

20. The Saturn (Opel) Astra is a decent car but overpriced and not as competitive as corresponding Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Mazdas, etc.

    There’s no reason for most people to buy an Astra in the U.S.–so they don’t!

21. Without Chapter 11, the US taxpayer is the one that is going to make Saturn go away.

    Every Saturn dealer in the country will sue if they don’t get compensation.

22. Yup…Saturn buyers wanted crap…The new non-crappy cars don’t sell. What would you expect from people who are too weak to haggle?

23. Too little, too late. Saturn was a mistake anyway.

24. Let’s see now…. GM will keep the 2 most slowest selling brands in their lineup (Buick And Hummer) but they will axe Saturn which sells more vehicles than the previous mentioned brands combined. No wonder the government parted with all that money so easily!

25. Saturn has competent cars in the sub-compact and compact segment, but they arent competitive and dont have a look that can challenge the Civics, 3’s and Corollas. They arent cheap, but you get generally cheap looking (ie: GM looking interiors) and the external styling doesnt fit the image – futuristic (just look at the naming convention). The two are at odds. Its a shame. This is where GM should have pulled out all the stops to stay afloat.

26. Saturn has never made a profit and they lose money with every car they sell…Even with the Euro down against the Dollar they still lose money.

27. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/business/04saturn.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=saturn&st=cse