Saturn fans create online petition to tell GM to keep the brand

Saturn has alot of potential lately. It's just caught up in a bad market. Maybe an independent firm can run it to success, but right now GM can afford to keep and grow it with all it's other issues.

— DexDiamonds (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 9:55:47 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

<crosses fingers for new Geo Storm>

— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 10:15:49 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

what 30 40 fans lol!!

— carguy68 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 10:46:32 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

IMO GM should have killed them 10years ago with Pontiac, Buick, Saab, Hummer. They should have kept Olds. Olds died because GM didn't know how to market them at the time. I cant wait for 001 to get the GM divisions and make me CEO of them.

— NItePhire (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 10:53:45 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -5   

Saturns are much more appealing than the other GM offerings. GM should dump the name "GM" along with every other car execept the vette. Rebrand GM as saturn with the current saturn lineup.

— LexSucks (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 11:28:24 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Yesterday December 10, 2008 I was in Irvine where I live in California getting off the 5 freeway at Jeffery Rd. waiting at a left turn light when a Saturn in full camo drove past me getting on the freeway.

Without a doubt it was the car below the Aura.

— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 11:41:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

oh God, Saturn has fans? lol

— Designer1 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 1:03:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

I really like the saturn sky.

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 1:23:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

I wonder what Opel fans are saying.

— Spectator (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 2:55:01 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Yes, the Solstice/GT/Sky are great cars.

— TehShibbs (View Profile)

Posted on 12/11/2008 8:57:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

While Saturn does make some of the better cars of GM's roster, it's totally redundant and Wagoner would be out of his mind to keep the brand. The only way I could see it surviving would be for it to be absorbed by Chevrolet or Pontiac.

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 12/12/2008 12:25:06 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Awwww, how cute!

— delan (View Profile)

Posted on 12/12/2008 2:42:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

GM hasn't sold Opel.

— ktu01 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/13/2008 3:39:49 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The only reason why Saturns are now becoming more appealing is because they are rebadging Opel cars. Their entire lineup is now almost essentially lifted from Opel. This is a good thing in the sense that Opel is engineering some great, stylish cars these days. However, Opel is a slightly more premium brand than what Saturn is (think VW vs. Saturn), so to maintain a sustainable amount of profit per car while marketing them at the lower price point Saturn is looking for, GM will have to either assemble Opel cars in the US or Mexico, or they will eventually redesign Opel models with cheaper components for the US market (not too different with what VW is rumored to be planning for the next generation Passat and Jetta to control costs and make them less subject to impact of Euro vs. US dollar).

While a big part of me wish they killed Saturn and just imported Opels to provide an affordable European alternative to the other imports, in the current economic state, that just doesn't sound financially viable. Offering European-flavored cars through Saturn can position Saturn as a unique brand in a competitive segment, but honestly, GM isn't (and can't afford to at the moment) to properly market and advertise Saturn as such. If they're not going to do it properly, then they should just kill off Saturn instead of holding onto them thinking they can one day transform Saturn. Good management will realize what fights are worth fighting, and what is worth giving up from the get go.

Also, if they start spreading Opel cars throughout the GM brands, that's not solving any issues. A recent article on Car and Driver stated GM was planning on using the new Opel Insignia as a Pontiac to replace the G6. What? There's something called brand identity, and rebadging Opel cars as different brands doesn't help that. GM is already suffering from an unfocused product and brands strategy. They are just starting to reach a consistent design language within Saturn (cause they're mostly all Opels), but once they start moving away from that, they'll just dilute not only the branding of Saturn, but of Pontiac (and any other GM brand they use Opels for).

— ktu01 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/13/2008 3:38:55 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1