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Comments
Not sure I agree with that strategy. The Cruze is getting a diesel, why not a diesel 'nox?
Demand is so strong, do they really need a THIRD power train option?
My sister is one of them. Her first new car was a 2000 Saturn SL2, which she bought as a present to herself for finishing college and landing a full-time job. 7 years and 95K miles later, she bought a brand-new '07 Aura, getting a decent trade-in on the SL2 as well. The '07 was totaled thanks to black ice and a head-on collision with a guardrail at 65 MPH in March of '10 (she only suffered a few bruises), and she immediately scoured the used-car market, finding the lowest-mileage, highest-optioned Aura she could find (a silver '09 Aura with only 8K miles!) She still swears by Saturn, and is pissed at GM for giving them up.
IMO Saturn was an excellent brand that GM simply abandoned to develop their trucks/SUVs. I remember how ground-breaking Saturn was back in '89. It was supposed to put GM back on the map, and initial sales were excellent. But as GM always did in the '90s, Saturn was virtually forgotten, and their products suffered. Too bad they just started to sell some great products (such as the Aura and Sky) when GM nailed the coffin shut.
The Aura shared a platform with the G6/Malibu/Saab 9-3/Vectra/BLS/Signum/Croma and seemingly half the cars made worldwide. The Sky was a face-lifted Solistice. The Outlook was a GMC Acadia with a different D-pillar. The Astra was unique, but nobody was buying it.
So what stood out to me was the low pressure, no-haggle, up front sales techniques. Customers were happier than kids in candy stores, yet they dropped the strategy. Remember when Saturn started, they promised no rebates? They caved, and things started to fall apart.
Toyota copied the no-haggle pricing for Scion, but they kept costs low, using JDM odd ball cars that already existed but were unique products to the US. Scion has survived.
I was sort of hoping that Saturn would be a sub-brand of Chevrolet and would keep the no-haggle policy. Young people don't like to haggle over prices, so the Sonic and Cruze could have been part of that sub-brand.
I bet Chevrolet pushed for them to cancel Saturn, though, because it was probably competiting for the same re$ource$.
Even the Astra wasn't totally unique. It's essentially what the Cobalt would have been, if it hadn't been Americanized so much.
It was too small for my tastes, but I thought the Astra was a good looking car, and seemed well-built with a nice interior. But it was fairly pricey as I recall, used smaller engines than the Cobalt (1.8 I think?) and wasn't all that economical.
My wife had a '92 SL2 when we were married. Wasn't a bad car. It had it's issues, but it made to 100k anyway and with a manual trans was relatively fun to drive. My SIL had a '95 SC1 and my MIL had a '95 SL2. None drive GM products today, my MIL now drives a Camry.
LOL, that's pretty well describes how it looked.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is a step closer to concluding that General Motors should have recalled 384,000 Saturn Ions in 2010 as part of a larger recall that covered one million Chevrolets and Pontiacs for a steering problem.
OK, you picked the model which had the most sales lost in Toyota lineup. But a fact is a fact, the RAV4 did lose 7k vehicles last month, for whatever reason.
But Toyota lost a total 26k vehicles last month, how you explain the rest? According to WSJ, Toyota's total domestic made cars dropped 15.7% (from 46,888 to 39,550), and the imported cars dropped 17.5% (from 33,371 to 27,547). The percentage is similar but the domestic made cars dropped more in volume than imported. You agreed that the domestic production had fully recovered; how you explain that?
How come no one disputes the statement in my original post about the Nissan having a higher incentive percentage than GM, and Toyota and Honda higher than Ford after I re-noted the source? It's so funny to see someone even wrote "XLU has the nerve to post incentives for the Japanese brands higher than GM? "
My ION experienced the electric power steering problem and I've had the problem fixed at my local "authorized Saturn service center" (aka Chevrolet dealer).
It was pretty popular too, with their "The Car You Knew America Could Build" slogan, and I've heard that, with bringing back the Malibu name, a lot of people who had bought Malibus in the past bought them, so there was some brand equity with that name.
So maybe it's a good thing that Chevy simply retired the Malibu name initially, rather than putting it on the Celebrity and then the Lumina. I'm sure those two would have run the name through the muck.
However competent it was though, I don't think I could call it "class-leading". And, that class of car kept improving over the years, so by 2003 it was hopelessly out of date. And the 2004, while an improvement in many respects, just wasn't enough of an improvement. Thankfully they finally caught up with the 2008 Malibu.
How much did THAT cost? :sick:
Regards,
OW
No, not "whatever" - we know exactly why. Supply constraints.
how you explain the rest?
Camry is old and about to be replaced, and Corolla, a design that dates back to 2006. That "explains" it. No surprise.
You agreed that the domestic production had fully recovered
Not HAD, HAS, I'd even say WILL. This is a recent phenomenon. It takes time to rebuild inventories.
They have production now, not a month ago, now.
They did not have inventory, and still do not. Even now.
There is a difference between inventory (models in stock) and production (cars moving off the assembly line) and it will take them a while to catch up. That is why people in Texas are finding they have to drive several hours to find a car in stock.
Nissan is unique, they have supply, even advertise that fact, plus they've piled on incentives and had sales growth.
What else is new - big incentives sell cars.
Same here. The Saturn had sort of a rugged, butch look to it for that class of car. The Solstice just looked too cutesy and playful, like a puppy that's about to pounce and lick you in the face. Or like one of those Pokemon critters.
Same here. The Saturn had sort of a rugged, butch look to it for that class of car. The Solstice just looked too cutesy and playful, like a puppy that's about to pounce and lick you in the face. Or like one of those Pokemon critters.
I was really, really, really wanting to like the Sky. When the first one arrived at the dealer, I hopped in -- FAIL!
I'm only 5'11" with a 30" inseam on my pants, but yet my line of sight was right into the top of the windshield. And this was with the top down; I suspect the top of my head would have encroached upon the roof with the top up.
I was so very bummed. :sick:
Her daily driver is a '10 300C and they both prefer how it performs over the Sky. Apparently the handling of the sky is a bit squirrely and even being turbocharged they prefer the power of the Hemi.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2006/10/saturn-sky-red-line/
This article is pretty much describes my friend's experience with their Sky.
I've sat in Miatas a few times at the auto shows, and they seemed okay to me...a lot better than I thought they would. But the Solstice/Sky were pretty cramped.
The base model alone disappointed me enough to not even bother waiting...
I thought it was cramped too, although the lawn chairs that I was sitting on, combined with the high doors made it feel like a bathtub. Visibility was the worst, I had to actually put my hand on the seat to basically "prop" myself up so I could see over the ridiculous humps... Ya, try doing that while driving, lol.
But the Colorado pickup truck gearbox was the biggest disappointment, like rowing a piece of re-bar through a box of rocks. Same thing I found with the first gen CTS.
I understood Putz's mission to build an affordable roadster that was cheap for the mass market. Thing is, he took the "cheap" part literally... :sick:
So instead of wasting my money on the Sky, I bought a 2004 Honda S2000 which I still have and hasn't given me a lick of trouble after 7 years :shades:
What is inappropriate is some of the cars the big 3 sells to the public.
What is inappropriate is the fleecing of taxpayers to save wall street, GM, and Chrysler.
My comments are hardly inappropriate compared to that.
I agree. So many examples of how...
They used the Aisin R-series transmission from the Colorado pickup and the H3. To compete with the Miata, known for the most buttery transmission in the world, and they think a pickup truck's manual will do that? And they go all the way to JAPAN to get it? Seriously?
Then they wonder why it was 400 lbs heavier than the Miata.
The top was also awful. Never mind the very poor fit and wrinkles. Not only did you have to get out of the car to put it up or down (deal killer for me), but when folded it took up the whole trunk!
I thought the interior was fine, these are all small cars. fin was tight in an SLK, I'm a bit tight in the Miata, my buddy's Boxster is cramped and my head nearly contacts the roll bar unless I sit in an awkward position.
I loved the styling. I actually went to NAIAS in 2006 when the Solistice was introduced. The production car even stayed true to the concept (they were side-by-side). Very cool.
The designer won multiple awards, and she's not hard to look at, either:
http://jalopnik.com/235866/jalopnik-question-of-the-day-is-gm-designer-vicki-vla- chakis-hotter-than-the-pontiac-solstice
Sadly the execution left much to be desired.
The issue affects the 2005-2007 Buick Rainier, 2005-2006 Chevrolet SSR, 2005-2007 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, 2005-2007 GMC Envoy, and 2005-2007 Saab 9-7. GM says 867,335 vehicles are potentially affected.
NHTSA first opened an investigation into this issue in April 2011 after receiving over 5000 reports of incorrect fuel level readings, which could lead drivers to inadvertently run out of fuel. There were 58 reported cases of engine stalling due to low fuel levels.
GM dealerships will notify owners that, if they have a problem with faulty fuel gauges, the sensor will be replaced and GM will pay half of the repair cost. The company also will reimburse owners who previously paid to have the issue repaired.
Do you think GM was blindsided by this? Did they not get any of the 5,000 complaints? :confuse:
This was Old GM stuff. How come they declined the Impala problem and not this????
Regards,
OW
Then they wonder why it was 400 lbs heavier than the Miata.
The top was also awful. Never mind the very poor fit and wrinkles. Not only did you have to get out of the car to put it up or down (deal killer for me), but when folded it took up the whole trunk!
But I thought Putz was the hero of GM who single handedly resurrected their car lines? At least according to him.
How well do you fit in the Miata? I remember being fairly comfortable in the ones at the auto shows (current one at least; the older generation was tight for me). I remember the beltline was high and it still felt claustrophobic, but without feeling cramped. I'm not that crazy about the style, though.
Style-wise, I like the Honda S2000 out of all those little 2-seaters, but it was way too cramped for me. If I ever went through the 2-seater phase, I wonder if I'd have to settle for something trophy-wifey like the final T-bird?
To say the least.
That said, the '08 and later look waaayyyyy better IMHO.
I read that with the Maxx, the rear seats moved fore-and-aft, which to me is a good idea.
But, I was impressed at how well I fit in the Miata.
In my NA, I had spacers to raiser the front seats, to provide more thigh support.
You most definitely make trade-offs to fit in a small roadsters, but being small and light is the whole appeal, so I don't see how it could be any different.
Interesting read on the new B-class cars. Sonic came in 2nd, not bad. I was hoping all that torque would beat the Accent (similar power but less torque) in acceleration tests, but I guess curb weight hurt that and fuel economy a little as well.
Still, a very respectable showing for the little newcomer from Chevy.
Useless trivia - Sonic's 4th gear (out of 6) is as tall as the Fit's 5th and final gear.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q3/2011_chevrolet_volt_vs._che- vrolet_cruze_eco-comparison_tests
This is a point some folks here (including me) have been saying all along.
http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA7497888.PDF
Some times other sites link that chart and you can find it on Google, but I had no luck just now.
I hate the fact that they charge a $50 deductible and is probably the reason if I ever did buy a used car from them, I wouldn't get the extended warranty for that reason alone. A bad car could bankrupt you on deductibles.
It was the selling dealer where the Trail Blazer was bought new. They were doing a goodwill warranty apparently.
Wait! Even with the increase in sales (by incentives), the inventory remains high!??
How Puzzling! Someone help GM figure this out!
Dialing....."Hello Kia, got a minute to talk??? We'd like to reduce our incentives and inventory as well. Please outline a solution for us. You seem to have it nailed down Dead Nuts On."
Regards,
OW
Cruze, Malibu, CTS, Camaro and now Sonic. Who would have thought GM would be interested in actually making competitive cars before 2008?????
Gotta love the Drop Top LT-1!! I'm still in for the Corvette. :shades:
Regards,
OW
Why settle for 2nd. Get the most powerful Chevrolet convertible ever.
ZL-1 Camaro!
"supercharged 6.2L “LSA” engine, SAE-rated at 580 horsepower (432 kW) and 556 lb.-ft. of torque (754 Nm)"
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,