http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31cfdb74-...uid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html I think this is a smart move. Hopefully, Roger and crew will keep Saturn AWESOME.
The Astra was essentially a rebranded Opel, it was pretty nice. Rest of the line, including the SKY was ass. Hopefully Penske makes Saturn awesome....
I wonder will Penske retain the Opel (Magna) link-up? Might as well just rebrand Saturn as Opel. Of all the US car 'brands' right now, I think Saturn may have the strongest line up of cars. Just about every one of them is competitive. Their reputation however will take a few years to catch up to this new reality.
IIRC, the whole line up is Opel/Vauxhall cars. The Sky is latest generation Opel GT Roadster/Vauxhall VX220. According to the article, Penske will keep the same lineup for the next 2-3 years and then go from there. The best part is as of now, it will keep 15k people in jobs and 360 dealerships open. Maybe I'll go apply there.
That might be true now, but the original Saturn's business principal is affordable quality plastic cars sold at a fixed price non-negotiable, hassle free. If Penske tries to recapture, that, I think it will be good. Everything he says he wants to do is more inline with how Saturn got started. Saturn was essentially an all new car; chassis, engine, everything. They had a new 4cyl developed to replace the 'oldsmobile QUAD4 DOHC,' and it was an over-engineered, but underpowered from the factory, timing chain driven OHC 4cyl. After that, tho, the 'cost cutting' consolidation began in about 2001 and GM started major technology sharing from all the overseas companies they bought, giving us the 2nd gen Ecotec from Opel. If I'm reading what Penske wants to do, he wants to shop foreign car companies whos cars he think will sell in the USA, import them in small runs to sell thru Saturn dealer network, then convince the overseas company to start building that car in the USA using the Saturn plants. If successful, this could have major political ramifications, considering how expensive production costs are in the US compared to the rest of the world.
Penske is a pretty smart guy so I won't pretend to think I know more about the auto industry than he does. For the record I agree I think Saturn makes quite a few nice cars and I would own one in a second.
There's a reason Opel is not a world leader in the automotive industry. They make a few quality products, but one of the reasons GM is in the pickle it's in is because of their inability to recognize a solid product if it bit them in the ass. There business model for the last decade and a half was just to pump out as much product as possible regardless of quality or long term viability. If they had cherry picked the best of their product from across the globe, they would have actually had a pretty solid lineup. They may do this moving forward, but they should have done it in the late 90's...
The Quad 4 was a great engine. My mom's 87 olds had the regular quad-4 and it was fast as hell and a blast to drive. Then there was the High Output version with more power. It had alot of tq for such a small engine.
I love driving my wife's Ion3. Lacks the power but is a nice car that is quite comfortable and gets killer mpg. When I don't feel like shifting gears and just need to take a quick trip up town and back I'm driving her Saturn. I fell in love with the Redline Sky but at that price it sells for I'd rather have something else like a FXT.