Saturn's Showroom Comparison Against Honda And Toyota Is Starting To Pay Off

A look of disbelief crossed Karen Smith's face as a Saturn salesman handed her the keys to a shiny new Toyota Camry.

"Really, go ahead and drive it," he told Smith, who was car shopping for her teenage son. "Try the Honda, too."

Off she drove, rolling out of a Saturn dealer's lot in the hot-selling Toyota, her two sons and their grandmother in the car. For the next 15 minutes, the brood weighed the pros and cons of the Camry and the Saturn Aura, from the handling on a tight corner to the arrangement of the instrument panel.

The unlikely exercise is part of a new promotion from General Motors Corp.'s Saturn brand that pits the new Aura four-door against American car buyers' perennial favorites -- the Camry and Honda Accord -- in Saturn showrooms across the nation.
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uscgame - 7/10/2007 12:36:07 PM

+1 Boost

As part of GM's assault, Saturn dealers nationwide bought or rented a Camry and Accord to have in showrooms for the "Side-by-Side-by-Side" national campaign that runs through July.

Its a good thing for GM this wasn't going on in June then huh.

bmwdrvr - 7/10/2007 9:47:28 PM

-1 Boost

no actually your wrong there, check the stats again....GM may be down as a whole but SATURN sales actually increased through june do largely to the Aura, and the Outlook...bad assumption

cynic - 7/10/2007 11:36:43 AM

+3 Boost

bla bla bla bla

Designer1 - 7/10/2007 7:05:30 PM

+4 Boost

Yes you're right ford1 (formula1), its an Opel, and FYI Opel is the WORST Germen car manufacturers.

2007Tahoe - 7/13/2007 3:19:33 AM

+1 Boost

@ BUCKFUSHdotcom
I believe you're looking for a Dodge Avenger lol.

PlanB - 7/10/2007 11:17:33 AM

0 Boost

I kinda feel sorry for GM, they got some good product now, but they brought it on themselves. People will live with crappy transportation but for so long until it is too late. Now look at them, they've got 2 main competitors cars on their lots and still getting their butts kicked.

quizz - 7/10/2007 11:31:38 AM

-3 Boost

If only BMW would do that with the C63 and RS4 prior to giving buyers a test drive on the new M3.

montyz81 - 7/10/2007 12:36:07 PM

0 Boost

They need to bring in the Altima. Altima sales would increase for sure!

kpaxx - 7/10/2007 1:56:35 PM

0 Boost

The Aura is definitely a better overall package than the Camry and maybe the Accord.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 2:27:14 PM

+1 Boost

bring in the Subaru Legacy.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 2:41:14 PM

+1 Boost

this car won't sell like the camry or accord if it offers a 4-cyl engine. plus, there are quality issues from this car. I went in and interior was pretty cheap.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 2:46:20 PM

0 Boost

and the back was bland.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 3:29:53 PM

+1 Boost

theyre a diff story. much better organized.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 3:29:54 PM

+1 Boost

theyre a diff story. much better organized.

ctsang - 7/10/2007 3:17:48 PM

+4 Boost

bring in the korean cars too

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 9:56:26 PM

+2 Boost

yep, most as police cars.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 9:56:32 PM

+1 Boost

yep, most as police cars.

vdiv - 7/10/2007 4:19:28 PM

+4 Boost

Of course, if they could also drive a Hyundai Sonata and compare the price, most people will drive off in the Sonata.

I'm sorry but the fact that the Aura is a rebadged Opel is not a good thing.

Htay7500 - 7/10/2007 7:09:47 PM

+2 Boost

Exactly. Not a big deal since rebadging this from an opel wont make such a big diff.

Designer1 - 7/10/2007 7:06:57 PM

+3 Boost

Innocent lady, how easy it is to fool a lady that knows nothing about cars, who has no one in her family that knows about cars, so of course she'll go and buy a stinking Saturn even over a Bently, if the Bently was offered to her for the same price.

audirevolution - 7/10/2007 9:16:53 PM

0 Boost

Buck,

Lexus are cheaper even with BMW giving incentives.
Look at the MSRP difference between the 7 and the LS.

mikeydred20 - 7/10/2007 8:37:28 PM

+2 Boost

Did Saturn check their realiability before playing with the big boys. It would be so funny if one broke down while being tested.

bmwdrvr - 7/10/2007 9:51:04 PM

-1 Boost

its funny to hear the ignorrant bias responses, again while GM may be down as a whole they have several brands Saturn is just one, and it actually had a rise in sales when GM as a whole was down, the aura is a big seller right now for GM, and everyone isn't so big on driving a toyota or honda and are just looking for something else, and obviously for many people the aura fills that

2JZSoarer - 7/10/2007 11:41:58 PM

+1 Boost

Do the Saturn sales men also mention that the Aura is a rebadged Opel and Vaxhaul that have been out for a couple of years!If they redesign Aura in a short time because it's an old model in europe,the current Aura will not have a good residual value...

carfan3 - 7/11/2007 1:40:35 PM

0 Boost

Why would they? It incorporates the Opel look, but is not a rebadge as it rides on a 6" or so longer wheelbase. The interiors are also very different.

Have you actually driven the Aura XR?

Baapo - 7/11/2007 9:58:33 PM

+4 Boost

I'm not sure if Toyota and Honda are too concerned about Saturn having their cars on the lot for comparison; just take a look at June sales and my guess if July won't be much different:

Camry: 46,630 (240,530)
Accord: 29,257 (182,346)
Altima: 25,935 (?)

Aura: 4,692 (27,229)

I'm shocked the aged Accord can sell close to 30K units despite getting soo long in the tooth; I'm willing to bet they new Accord will sell more cars in its first month than Aura has in the year to that point!!!

bmwdrvr - 7/11/2007 10:17:51 PM

-3 Boost

one why would Saturns goal be to outsell 3 of the best selling cars in america with a brand new name plate, and entry into an already established segment. obviously the point behind them putting the cars in the showroom is to show customers that the aura is just as good or better than the accord and camry, not turn the Aura into the best selling car in american in its first year and besides this segment has enough sales anually that there is no need to outsell the top sellers and have high revenues or good profits.....where the logic

Htay7500 - 7/12/2007 10:11:37 AM

+2 Boost

im still suprised tht the current accord is selling very well when the next one comes.

Htay7500 - 7/12/2007 10:10:06 AM

+2 Boost

you probably never took history class, China, not Japan, is communist, tht shows how mildly retarded and ignorant you are. and plus your just jealous tht the camry and accord are top-sellers in the mid-size segment and will never reach up to their reputation.

Htay7500 - 7/12/2007 12:18:53 PM

+2 Boost

the aura will never reach up to camrys and accord reputation.

Htay7500 - 7/12/2007 12:18:22 PM

+1 Boost

who? lmao.

jberger - 7/12/2007 5:21:54 PM

+2 Boost

I stopped by my local Saturn dealer when I saw the big "compare" banner outside.
They were comparing the low end, 4cyl Camry and Accord to the fully loaded 6Cyl Aura. Not a very honest comparison from a company that promotes itself as a friend of the customer.

I think a much better comparison drive would involve a 3 year old test drive of each car. Regardless of the trim level and cylinder count, I'm certain I know which models would win that comparison.

Htay7500 - 7/13/2007 9:50:27 AM

+3 Boost

explain yourself, how will it win against its strongest competitors?

jon21 - 7/13/2007 12:33:21 PM

+2 Boost

Can we BAN crazylarry? What a hateful person!

lewissalem - 7/13/2007 1:02:28 PM

+1 Boost

I am pleased that GM is platform sharing with Opel. The interiors are much better than anything GM has put out recently (save the GMT900s.)

If the Vue wasn't over 4,000lbs I would consider it too.

chuck717 - 7/13/2007 3:16:04 PM

+1 Boost

Wow the cars wars and language are alive and well who thought Saturn would bring out the best and worse in posters, that usually means that somebody is doing things right instead of wrong, maybe this is what GM wanted, bringing a good old fight back into play like when GM and Ford boys had at it about who was king of the hill?