Saturn's Spin-Off Attracting GM's Foreign Rivals

According to Steven Girsky, a long-time industry consultant responsible for leading GM’s task force, GM rivals including foreign manufacturers are interested in selling their cars under the Saturn brand. Girsky declined to name which automakers have been talking to the group responsible for studying Saturn’s spin-off and called the talks “informal.”
In its viability plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury on Feb. 17, GM said that it plans on terminating Saturn. Following that, key Saturn dealers pushed to study spinning-off the brand from General Motors.
Grisky told Automotive News that his group is looking to see whether a spin-off will be viable enough to sell vehicles through the 400 Saturn dealerships now operating. He said that the spin-off would offer automakers an opportunity to build their vehicles in domestic assembly plants and provide a ready-made distribution network for their cars.
Grisky said that the spin-off could work with Saturn’s current lineup through 2011.
- By: Omar Rana
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fatandsassy - 3/18/2009 2:01:12 PM

-1 Boost

OR.... Just let Saturn DIE!!!!!

fatandsassy - 3/18/2009 2:13:39 PM

-5 Boost

I hate a cheap car company. You build cheap crap with bad cheap looks. If you were making anything else other than an automobile the GOV would not have cared and let the company fold. The only car worth saving was the SKY and you abused this car by not giving it a power top and an interior that was worthy of competing against the Miata.

So lets add some more cheap crap cars to the Saturn lineup that will sit on lots and take up more space, MONEY, and materials.

Sorry for the negative post but I am really getting tired of GM.......stupid

(However the Camaro looks great)- maybe this is a light at the end of a tunnel

inspirion7 - 3/18/2009 2:59:44 PM

+2 Boost

Dumb to add a hardtop as Mazda did to the Miata. It added extra weight and price ( $27k to start) to a model that was economic? It did nothing for the sales of the Miata.

True auto sales are down for all car makes, but the Kappa twins, Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky outsold the Mazda Miata by a group.
Saturn didn't have cheap cars, on the contrary, the VUE, OUTLOOK and AURA were derived from other models and if anyone had driven the vehicles, you would see. The issue that has always been is GM's defiance in making Saturn a lead brand in spite of Chevy and the other brands.

The light at the end of the tunnel started with Saturn with great customer service that was the envy of the automotive world, and good products. GM let Saturn starve for years without money, advertising and product replacement. It is amazing Saturn continued with the model lines that it had. Customer loyalty was off the charts.

Again, GM, like the electric EV1, blew it with it came to Saturn as it had with multiple great products and ideas. I would guess fatandsassy has never been in a Saturn showroom or driven one?

fatandsassy - 3/18/2009 3:37:35 PM

-4 Boost

You can rebadge crap all you want but it still stinks.
Why would I ever want to go into a Saturn Showroom?

inspirion7 - 3/18/2009 3:53:29 PM

+2 Boost

Well how the hell do you know anything then? Just your ignorant viewpoint without substance that is why. So if Mazda goes down without aid (it doesn't look good right now for them) then they make crap as well? Your logic is flawed and has no substance.

Star - 3/18/2009 10:35:13 PM

+2 Boost

Fat,

Saturn is not what it used to be. Their products are extremely competitive.

tango - 3/18/2009 8:54:19 PM

+1 Boost

This is not a new idea at all. A very recent example of this is Kia. Originally a conglomerative effort of Ford/Mazda and a Korean company, when Hyundai bought it, within a generation of models, the old Mazda bits were turned out and Hyundai (itself an effort spear-headed by Mitsubishi) bits used instead. A bit further back in history is SEAT, a VW subsidiary which when purchased back in the late 80s, used FIAT mechanicals and designs. Now they employ full VAG parts. And the list continues. So if Great Wall (of China) wants to sell it's Deer as a Saturn, let them. Err...then again...perhaps Great Wall is a bad example...LOL!

crslmn - 3/19/2009 4:46:34 PM

+1 Boost

With the EV1 all G.M. did was spend millions of dollars creating a car that there was no demand for. I think G.M. gave the people an electric car that there is suposed to be a demand for but wasn't. Toyota didn't do any better with the RAV4 EV and it was not a 2 seater. G.M. may have made a lot of mistakes but the electric car just didn't have demand. I'm not sure it does yet. By the way most electricity is still produced by power plants that burn fossil fuels. Their not as green as people make themout to be.