RIP Saturn & Pontiac

[Barbados Slim]

Jalopnik is reporting that GM's soon-to-be-announced viability plan for our bailout will include axing Saturn completely and killing Pontiac as a brand, except for a few niche models, whatever that means.

Saturn was just starting to make interesting cars. I rented a new V6 VUE on my last trip to Boston and loved it's comfort, though the mileage sucked for such a small SUV.

 

[Mallory]

I'm going to miss them both. Saturn started off as a good experiment and seemed like it was just reaching the point where it would start to pay off for GM. I won't miss Pontiac nearly as much, except for its history. Hopefully "niche models" means the nameplate will be around for a while yet.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

Ack.

We have had a Saturn in the family since the early 90's...

My first vehicle was a dark green Grand Prix...a solid urban assault vehicle.

 

[tomalak301]

So instead of axing companies like Buick and Hummer, they are axing Saturn? I'm biased because I own a Saturn, but that is just sad.

 

[Barbados Slim]

Yeah, Pontiac has a long history. My only hope was a revival of Firebird after Camaro proves to be a hit but that's now a long-shot. The weirdest Pontiac wasn't the Aztek for me, it was the Fiero. My friend's mom had one and it was a very odd car, with it's flat-on-the-floor sitting position and it's loud, mid-engine configuration...and it's crappy interior.

Buick is a hit brand for GM in China, so it's a keeper.

Hummer should go because of the PR nightmare that brand has been from the start. There were talks of selling that and Saab off so we'll see what comes of that. Saab hasn't been a big hit for them either but I can see someone buying that before getting rid of the brand completely.

GMC is superfluous, that should go.

 

[Plecostomus]

For awhile Saturn had the largest injection-molding machine in the WORLD at it's plant. I've seen some awesome manufacturing machinery but this thing was... awe-inspiring. It sucked down more resin in 24-hours than the company I worked at then used in a year.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I used to have a Saturn. It was sort of nice to look at, but it royally SUCKED as a winter driving car. Can't say I miss it much.

And Pontiac? People still have those?

 

[JonathonWally]

GMC is superfluous, that should go.

There's no reason for that.

A GMC truck and a Chevy truck only differ in certain asthetics and badging, GM doesn't lose any money since the trucks share all body panels essentially. Nowhere near the dramatic difference between a Pontiac G6 and a Chevy Malibu's differences for the same platform car.

I used to have a Saturn. It was sort of nice to look at, but it royally SUCKED as a winter driving car. Can't say I miss it much.

And Pontiac? People still have those?

I do. And it's more than a safe bet it's seen more ass than your ride.

 

[Barbados Slim]

GMC is superfluous, that should go.

There's no reason for that.

A GMC truck and a Chevy truck only differ in certain asthetics and badging, GM doesn't lose any money since the trucks share all body panels essentially. Nowhere near the dramatic difference between a Pontiac G6 and a Chevy Malibu's differences for the same platform car.

Money can be saved by not having a division where you have to get parts for a new grill or GMC specific headlamp. Cutting out a division is cutting out a division.

 

[Plecostomus]

I suspect most choices these folks made on which will stay and which will go... I suspect they decided based on "which VP/Manager do we not like who can we punish the hell with the people under them" rather than with an eye to long-term viability. Saturn was a hotbed of technological and process innovation that's why they are getting the ax. Rather than adopt Saturn's revolutionary methods they get rid of it... so they can concentrate on More Of The Same.

 

[John Picard]

GMC is superfluous, that should go.

There's no reason for that.

A GMC truck and a Chevy truck only differ in certain aesthetics and badging, GM doesn't lose any money since the trucks share all body panels essentially. Nowhere near the dramatic difference between a Pontiac G6 and a Chevy Malibu's differences for the same platform car.

Every little design/badge nuance affects the bottom line and that's what helped start to kill GM as well as Ford (look at what Ford has chopped off in the last 5 years). Economists have been saying that GM has needed to axe at least two or three brands for about 3 decades. GM has been heavily mismanaged since the mid-1960's and makes its divisions compete against each other. Not a very smart business model, but then again Detroit has been anything but.

The Saturn division was doing well until GM bureaucracy got involved and screwed things up. The so-called new Saturns are re-badged Opels from Germany.

 

[JonathonWally]

GMC is superfluous, that should go.

There's no reason for that.

A GMC truck and a Chevy truck only differ in certain asthetics and badging, GM doesn't lose any money since the trucks share all body panels essentially. Nowhere near the dramatic difference between a Pontiac G6 and a Chevy Malibu's differences for the same platform car.

Money can be saved by not having a division where you have to get parts for a new grill or GMC specific headlamp. Cutting out a division is cutting out a division.

No, it's not.

There's a huge difference between changing up only headlights and grills vs the entire body of the car.

Plus, GM receives fleet orders from business for GMC trucks. They sell the pickups and vans as fleet orders, so there would be a huge difference in eliminating Pontiac vs eliminating GMC.

 

[Mallory]

I don't think you can completely eliminate GMC. AFAIK, their heavy truck division is still doing OK. But I would ax the pickups, vans and Suburbans. Fleet buyers can still get the same vehicles from Chevy, just with some minor cosmetic differences.

 

[JonathonWally]

I don't think you can completely eliminate GMC. AFAIK, their heavy truck division is still doing OK. But I would ax the pickups, vans and Suburbans. Fleet buyers can still get the same vehicles from Chevy, just with some minor cosmetic differences.

Would GM really be saving that much money by just not rebadging grills, steering wheels and glove compartments, swapping a "GMC" for a Bowtie?

 

[1001001]

My wife and I have been dedicated Saturn owners for many years. We both drive Vues currently. We've owned five total.

The cars have always been great, as has the service. They're easy to maintain, easy to drive, and have (had) great support from our local dealer (who went out of business about six months ago).

Bummer.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I suspect most choices these folks made on which will stay and which will go... I suspect they decided based on "which VP/Manager do we not like who can we punish the hell with the people under them" rather than with an eye to long-term viability.

They couldn't transfer people between jobs? It seems like this is a very roundabout way to fire someone.

 

[Mallory]

I don't think you can completely eliminate GMC. AFAIK, their heavy truck division is still doing OK. But I would ax the pickups, vans and Suburbans. Fleet buyers can still get the same vehicles from Chevy, just with some minor cosmetic differences.

Would GM really be saving that much money by just not rebadging grills, steering wheels and glove compartments, swapping a "GMC" for a Bowtie?

That's just a minor component. The big savings come in cutting the overhead, the lines that do the rebadging (or assemble the vehicles to begin with), marketing, dealerships and all other kinds of peripheral expenses.

A big part of what got GM into this mess to begin with was making its brands compete against each other. And nothing is a better example of that then a rebadged Silverado.

 

[Augustus]

The one Saturn I drove was the most horrible thing ever. But it does seem to be coming around lately, but you got to get rid of something I guess.

I think they would like to get rid of Hummer, I know they were trying to sell it, but it might cost them too much money to shut it down...

 

[tharpdevenport]

As long as they don't stop having Pontiac mechanics (for when a regular mechanic won't do), it should be okay.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Saturn division was doing well until GM bureaucracy got involved and screwed things up. The so-called new Saturns are re-badged Opels from Germany.

How recently did that happen? The last time I had a Saturn was '92. That model (I had a 2-door coupe) lasted for awhile then it underwent a massive makeover which, IMHO, made it look extremely ugly. There's probably a connection with what you mentioned.