I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet (or maybe this is just old news for all of you and I'm playing catch-up) but the media here in Middle Tennessee is reporting that the Saturn plant is going to produce a Chevrloet crossover vehicle.

Probably makes a great deal of business sense but also seems to mean that GM's grand expirement to build a "different kind of car" and sell through a "different kind of dealership" is now over.

That seems a bit sad to me somehow.

 

Maybe they're trying to build a different kind of Chevy?

 

Some of the hardcore Saturn Fans are pretty pissed about it (and about the Vue production going to Ramos Arizpe). But they've been pissed for a while now, ever since the Ion came out, really (using GM Powertrain engines instead of Saturn-only 1.9L, GM platform, etc.). At least it had the plastic body panels. Some of the real die hards are appalled at the new product, despite the good reviews it is getting, because of the steel bodywork.

They are mad (and I understand to a certain extent) that Saturn is now basically "just another division of GM." Of course, it always was, but not in the same way the Chevy/Pontiac/etc. are. They were separate more like Chevy/Pontiac/etc. were back in the '50s and such (own engines and so forth).

While it may be a bummer to have something other than a Saturn at Spring Hill, at least it comfirms what I was trying to tell some of the guys at saturnfans.com. When Vue production shifted to Mexico, some bitched that more jobs were being outsourced. I tried to explain that Ramos Arizpe has been around for a long time, and is actually recognized as a good plant. Plus, with Spring Hill not closing (but in fact, getting a significant new investment), there is no net job loss. Only the transfer of which products are built where.

It will be weird for Spring Hill to make non-Saturns, but I'm still very happy that the plant is going to be utilized, not left to decline and eventually close.

 

When the plant agreed to come to terms with GM during the last bargaining agreement, GM confirmed to them that new product would come.

Naturally, they signed the deal.

What the deal did was, it took the exclusive rights from Spring Hill as the only location to build Saturns. It also brought the plant along with the rest of the GM/UAW plants under the same collective bargaining agreement.

 

No disagreement that it's good for the plant to stay open and to be getting some fresh capital investment.

It's just still sad to see the changes.

A very good friend of mine I've known since elementary school is now on her second Saturn after buying only Toyotas from post college until her first Saturn about eight years ago...she really doesn't care for GM in general but really identified with the Saturn way of doing things as I think a lot of the Saturn faithful have.

So, I suspect this change won't sit well with those who buy and love Saturn's as I suspect a lot of Saturn buyers don't identify themselves as "GM" people.

 

What difference does it make? Is it the loss of exclusivity? ooooooo you drive a Saturn, sweet. It is just another div. of GM.

 

It makes a difference because some people care about what Saturn was supposed to be about…if you understood why Saturn was brought into existence then perhaps you would understand why it makes a difference; especially to many of those who bought and have continued to buy Saturn vehicles.

Saturn was GM’s grand experiment to beat the Japanese manufacturers at their own game; copying not only their car’s physical style but Japanese management style as well.

I happen to think it was a good idea and applaud GM for trying…I’m also sad to see it come to an end (not that the end was a surprise)…just a lot more tangible now.

 

It makes a difference because some people care about what Saturn was supposed to be about…if you understood why Saturn was brought into existence then perhaps you would understand why it makes a difference; especially to many of those who bought and have continued to buy Saturn vehicles.

Saturn was GM’s grand experiment to beat the Japanese manufacturers at their own game; copying not only their car’s physical style but Japanese management style as well.

I happen to think it was a good idea and applaud GM for trying…I’m also sad to see it come to an end (not that the end was a surprise)…just a lot more tangible now.

 

Thing is GM did a stellar job of marketing the division. Until recently, most people who bought Saturns didn't even know it was part of GM. Even with buzzy noisy engines & cheap interiors, because the car had no visual attachment to GM and because of a 5 star dealer and service network, no one cared, thought they were dealing with an import, & still gave the car high marks.

Of just about any US nameplate, Saturn has the highest rate of buyers who also considered buying imports. That's in all likelyhood why it's Oldsmobile that bit the dust instead of Saturn. It's just that now, Saturn will really have imports in it's lineup.

 

The plant was a heavy focus of Saturn's early advertising and a huge part of the "brand identity" -- shifting the focus away from the usual Detroit/Rust Belt/UAW story.

When I was in college, we were discussing the movie "Rodger and Me", and this fat hippie was under the impression that Saturn was a worker-owned cooperative. That's how good the marketing was.

 

I do understand why Saturn was brought into existence, the bottm line is are they making money? In the big picture, it doesn't matter if you are different, but profitable that counts. I bought my wife a 96 saturn b/c she bought into the Saturn hype/image. lass than 2 yrs later she wanted to get rid of it b/c it turned out to be just another POS GM car.

 

I do understand why Saturn was brought into existence, the bottm line is are they making money? In the big picture, it doesn't matter if you are different, but profitable that counts. I bought my wife a 96 saturn b/c she bought into the Saturn hype/image. lass than 2 yrs later she wanted to get rid of it b/c it turned out to be just another POS GM car.

 

sorry for the multi post, the board was not responding.

 

As I've said above a couple of times, I understand the business decision...I'm just not happy about it and I suspect a lot of current Saturn owners/potential Saturn buyers won't be happy about it either.

It was a business decision that killed off the F-body (for a time)...most here wasn't happy about that either but that didn't negate the business need to stop making the car.

That said, it might have been a better idea for GM to have concentrated on makeing it's other divisions (and especially its dealer network) more like Saturn than turning Saturn into "just another GM division".

 

Hopefully the dealer network will continue to have very good service.