Saturn News
2010 Saturn Aura Put On Hold
Posted Jul 14, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
It appears the General has put the brakes on the 2010 Saturn Aura redesign. Based on the Opel Insignia, the 2010 Aura was to be more upscale and a whole lot sexier than it's current incarnation. It would have been the first vehicle stateside to ride on the new Epsilon II architecture.
The Fairfax, KY plant had been scheduled to begin production of the new Aura in mid 2009, but last week the plant received word that this would no longer be the case. Rumor has it that GM is rethinking the Aura's powertrain for fuel economy reasons in light of $4.00 gas.
All we can say is that it's disappointing to see such a good looking car be delayed in a market where GM really could use some help.
Category: Saturn
Comments (2)
It appears the General has put the brakes on the 2010 Saturn Aura redesign. Based on the Opel Insignia, the 2010 Aura was to be more upscale and a whole lot sexier than it's current incarnation. It would have been the first vehicle stateside to ride on the new Epsilon II architecture.
The Fairfax, KY plant had been scheduled to begin production of the new Aura in mid 2009, but last week the plant received word that this would no longer be the case. Rumor has it that GM is rethinking the Aura's powertrain for fuel economy reasons in light of $4.00 gas.
All we can say is that it's disappointing to see such a good looking car be delayed in a market where GM really could use some help.
Category: Saturn
Comments (2)
GM Picks up 4 MotorWeek Awards
Posted Feb 13, 2008 @ 11:54 pm
MotorWeek has just announced their 2008 Best of the Year awards and the General managed to snag 4 of the 14 awards. The Cadillac CTS won the Best Sport Sedan award, adding another line to the laundry list of accolades the new Caddy has received. Other winners for GM were the GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe (Best Large Utility), Buick Enclave/Saturn Outlook/GMC Acadia (Best Crossover Utility), GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (Best Eco-Friendly).
For a complete list of winners, hit the jump...
Continue reading GM Picks up 4 MotorWeek Awards
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Saturn
Comments
MotorWeek has just announced their 2008 Best of the Year awards and the General managed to snag 4 of the 14 awards. The Cadillac CTS won the Best Sport Sedan award, adding another line to the laundry list of accolades the new Caddy has received. Other winners for GM were the GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe (Best Large Utility), Buick Enclave/Saturn Outlook/GMC Acadia (Best Crossover Utility), GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (Best Eco-Friendly).
For a complete list of winners, hit the jump...
Continue reading GM Picks up 4 MotorWeek Awards
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Saturn
Comments
GM Raises Price 1.5% On Average
Posted Dec 20, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Due to increasing costs of raw materials, the General has decided to raise prices on nearly every vehicle. The price increases average out to 1.5%. Some vehicles, such as the Chevy Malibu LS, will see no increase in price. On the other hand, Cadillac XLR will jump a whopping $1,500. Don't even try running out to your favorite dealer to snag a car before the price goes up. These price increases are effective immediately.
Press release after the jump...
Continue reading GM Raises Price 1.5% On Average
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Sales and Financial
Comments (1)
Due to increasing costs of raw materials, the General has decided to raise prices on nearly every vehicle. The price increases average out to 1.5%. Some vehicles, such as the Chevy Malibu LS, will see no increase in price. On the other hand, Cadillac XLR will jump a whopping $1,500. Don't even try running out to your favorite dealer to snag a car before the price goes up. These price increases are effective immediately.
Press release after the jump...
Continue reading GM Raises Price 1.5% On Average
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Sales and Financial
Comments (1)
Lutz: Importing Astra Saves GM $900 Million
Posted Dec 20, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
According to our favorite cigar chompin', jet flyin' auto exec, importing the Saturn Astra only cost the General $100 million. Bob Lutz compared that with an estimated $1 billion it would have cost for GM to design, engineer, etc a new car specifically for the US market. Clearly, this is a sign that GM's strategy of global platforms is a winner when it comes to price cutting. Additionally, importing the Astra from Belgium allows the Antwerp plant to operate consistantly at full capacity, which also saves the company money. And of course, we as consumers benefit from this because we finally get the cool European designs we've been drooling over! The Saturn Astra will hit dealerships in the US next month.
Category: Saturn, Sales and Financial
Comments (2)
According to our favorite cigar chompin', jet flyin' auto exec, importing the Saturn Astra only cost the General $100 million. Bob Lutz compared that with an estimated $1 billion it would have cost for GM to design, engineer, etc a new car specifically for the US market. Clearly, this is a sign that GM's strategy of global platforms is a winner when it comes to price cutting. Additionally, importing the Astra from Belgium allows the Antwerp plant to operate consistantly at full capacity, which also saves the company money. And of course, we as consumers benefit from this because we finally get the cool European designs we've been drooling over! The Saturn Astra will hit dealerships in the US next month.
Category: Saturn, Sales and Financial
Comments (2)
GM Wins 7 ESPN MyRide Editor's Choice Awards
Posted Dec 11, 2007 @ 2:21 am
ESPN reviews cars? They sure do, and they sure seem to like the latest models from General Motors. ESPN MyRide's Editor's Choice awards were announced yesterday and the General picked up 7 awards, including the Car of The Year.
Hit the jump to see what awards GM won and what ESPN had to say about each car.
Continue reading GM Wins 7 ESPN MyRide Editor's Choice Awards
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Saturn
ESPN reviews cars? They sure do, and they sure seem to like the latest models from General Motors. ESPN MyRide's Editor's Choice awards were announced yesterday and the General picked up 7 awards, including the Car of The Year.
Hit the jump to see what awards GM won and what ESPN had to say about each car.
Continue reading GM Wins 7 ESPN MyRide Editor's Choice Awards
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Saturn
Saturn: New Models = Dead Brand?
Posted Sep 07, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
According to Jerry Garrett, author of the New York Times' "Wheels" blog, Saturn is dead. "G.M. has not only killed it, it has dismembered the body and dumped pieces at undisclosed locations."
This is most puzzling... replacing every Saturn model in an 18 month span means the company is dead? Increased sales in a year when the car industry as a whole has faultered means the company is gone? Ridiculous.
His main argument is that GM has changed Saturn from being an independant company to being Opel for the US. Well this isn't exactly true considering the only rebadged Opel designed car in the Saturn lineup is the forthcoming Astra (the VUE is sold as an Opel, but it's Daewoo derived. The Aura takes styling cues from the Opel Vectra, but it's on the same platform as the Pontiac G6). But so what? Saturn used to sell boring cars. Now they sell stylish cars that are fun to drive, and they're selling more of them. Hardly seems like a bad move to me.
On GM's Fastlane Blog, Kyle Johnson, Director of Communications for Saturn, fires back at Garrett, defending the "Opelization" of Saturn.
Read More:
The NYT blog
Saturn's Response
Category: Saturn
According to Jerry Garrett, author of the New York Times' "Wheels" blog, Saturn is dead. "G.M. has not only killed it, it has dismembered the body and dumped pieces at undisclosed locations."
This is most puzzling... replacing every Saturn model in an 18 month span means the company is dead? Increased sales in a year when the car industry as a whole has faultered means the company is gone? Ridiculous.
His main argument is that GM has changed Saturn from being an independant company to being Opel for the US. Well this isn't exactly true considering the only rebadged Opel designed car in the Saturn lineup is the forthcoming Astra (the VUE is sold as an Opel, but it's Daewoo derived. The Aura takes styling cues from the Opel Vectra, but it's on the same platform as the Pontiac G6). But so what? Saturn used to sell boring cars. Now they sell stylish cars that are fun to drive, and they're selling more of them. Hardly seems like a bad move to me.
On GM's Fastlane Blog, Kyle Johnson, Director of Communications for Saturn, fires back at Garrett, defending the "Opelization" of Saturn.
Read More:
The NYT blog
Saturn's Response
Category: Saturn
Aura Comparison Strategy Seems To Be Working
Posted Aug 11, 2007 @ 7:21 am
In an effort to speed up the sluggish sales of the 2007 North American Car of the Year, Saturn dealerships began offering "side by side by side" test drives pitting the Aura against the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Bringing competitors' vehicles into dealerships was seen as a risky move by some critics, but according to the Freep, the move paid off.
Edmonds.com has reported that the percent of consumers considering both the Aura and the Camry rose to 8% (up from 3% last December).
Another indication that Saturn's strategy worked is reflected in the Aura's July sales. As the market for passenger cars dipped considerably in July, the Aura's sales held steady. From May to July, Aura sales were up 21%, meanwhile the segment leading Camry's sales were down 17%.
Read the Freep article
Category: Saturn
In an effort to speed up the sluggish sales of the 2007 North American Car of the Year, Saturn dealerships began offering "side by side by side" test drives pitting the Aura against the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Bringing competitors' vehicles into dealerships was seen as a risky move by some critics, but according to the Freep, the move paid off.
Edmonds.com has reported that the percent of consumers considering both the Aura and the Camry rose to 8% (up from 3% last December).
Another indication that Saturn's strategy worked is reflected in the Aura's July sales. As the market for passenger cars dipped considerably in July, the Aura's sales held steady. From May to July, Aura sales were up 21%, meanwhile the segment leading Camry's sales were down 17%.
Read the Freep article
Category: Saturn
Buick Ties with Lexus for #1 in JD Power Vehicle Dependability
Posted Aug 09, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
Today JD Power released their Vehicle Dependability rankings and Buick and Lexus came out on top. The Vehicle Dependability rankings are based on the number of problems consumers have had with their cars since buying them 3 years ago. So this year's rankings reflect how reliable 2004 model year vehicles were built.
Buick jumped from 3rd last year to a tie for first with Lexus at 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Rounding out the top five are Cadillac (162), Mercury (168), and Honda (169). Domestic fans will be pleased to notice that 3 out of the top 5 brands were American.
Maybe it's about time the public started giving GM its due for making more reliable cars!
Press release from Buick after the jump...
Continue reading Buick Ties with Lexus for #1 in JD Power Vehicle Dependability
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn
Today JD Power released their Vehicle Dependability rankings and Buick and Lexus came out on top. The Vehicle Dependability rankings are based on the number of problems consumers have had with their cars since buying them 3 years ago. So this year's rankings reflect how reliable 2004 model year vehicles were built.
Buick jumped from 3rd last year to a tie for first with Lexus at 145 problems per 100 vehicles. Rounding out the top five are Cadillac (162), Mercury (168), and Honda (169). Domestic fans will be pleased to notice that 3 out of the top 5 brands were American.
Maybe it's about time the public started giving GM its due for making more reliable cars!
Press release from Buick after the jump...
Continue reading Buick Ties with Lexus for #1 in JD Power Vehicle Dependability
Category: Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn
