The Honda S2000 costs about the same if not more and has less HP. The Mazda MX-5 has way less HP and costs the same, the BMW Z4 is definitely a nice car but costs WAY more and also has less HP.

For a sports roadster, you can't beat the Sky Redline.

@Jim Topoleski: [auto.howstuffworks.com]

I don't see how you can say GM/Saturn are separate companies. GM has always called the shots to some degree, check out that bio from howstuffworks.com about the history of Saturn and you will see Saturn has never been an indepent company.

From the CNN article earlier, "Ivey Report, written by GM engineer Edward Ivey in 1973." stated that they could prevent fuel fires for about $2.20 per car but instead choose to, "Unless they could keep the price to less than $2.20, it wasn't worth it to General Motors to prevent those burn deaths in General Motors vehicles."

This was known in 1973 and the CNN article is about an accident in 1981, GM knew about the problems for 8 years. Their ads may try to say they are on our side but I believe we are nothing but dollar signs to them.

After this year the Kappa platform is being retired, so they have no choice. Even the Opel GT is being put out to pasture.

You dig up a ELEVEN year old article, UNRELATED TO SATURN (who btw at that time was a separate entity of GM and not part of the fold like they have been the last 5 years) with people who DONT EVEN WORK FOR THE COMPANY anymore and expect to be taken seriously.

Get off the internet please.

@Jim Topoleski:
[www.cnn.com]

I don't see what I said was untrue,here is a paragraph from that CNN news story that is a good example of beancounters gone mad.
-Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety said: "General Motors concluded that there were about $2.40 worth of deaths each year, spread out across all cars. Unless they could keep the price to less than $2.20, it wasn't worth it to General Motors to prevent those burn deaths in General Motors vehicles." -
If you wanna believe those ads that GM/Saturn give a dam about the consumer then go ahead, but I say to them we are just a dollar sign.

Oh well, I'm glad to see the brand survive. Who knows, maybe it will do good enough outside of GM that they'll be able to become their own brand and start manufacturing back in the states.

I have an '03 Vue that I bought in '06. Last summer, the transmission completely failed (at 50k miles). Of course, it was BARELY out of warranty, so Saturn said at first that I was on my own--but a little digging on the internet turned up a class action law suit because this transmission failure is widespread and Saturn knew those stupid disc transmissions were crappy all along. After I told Saturn I was planning on joining the lawsuit, they quickly agreed to pay for the new transmission my vehicle needed AND offered a new extended warranty on the new transmission.

I know that I felt very betrayed by a brand that had built itself on being honest with customers and making reliable cars. I had to strong-arm them into doing the right thing by taking legal action. I will never buy another Saturn.

The only glimmer of happiness I get from this turn of events is that maybe they'll still have to pay out the $ I'm owed from the law suit settlement!

The quip above about punting the vehicle was supposed to be mostly jocular, but just because it supposedly holds up well in those types of crashes, simple physics dictates the occupants of the heavier vehicle are going to be in a much better position regardless of how you slice it. But I digress.

My real point is, aside from the compact size, which is great for perhaps D.C. and the like where that is actually potentially useful, there are just very few legitimate reasons to own one of those cars when there are far more efficient full-size vehicles operating on the road.

GM killed Saturns manufacturing ability when they re-tookover the company. The Spring Hill plant that was Saturns became Chevys.

Because this whole paragraph is full of stupid.

Lets COMPLETELY forget right now that a Smart is still heavier than an F1 car. By your ideas, an Expedition is safe, because it's heavy. Go crash one at 150mph then, see how 'safe' you end up, because you can do that in a light F1 car (600kg, or 1300lb, give or take) and walk away.

Little tip in case you didn't know. Smarts have been sold in europe for years. There are big vehicles on european roads. not piddly 2-3 ton SUVs, 40-45ton semis. You know what, they handle accidents with them ok, and such accidents are a little more common, because in Europe, you get RHD and LHD trucks and roads mixed together.

BTW, a 3tonner at 55mph, has about the same energy as a 2toner at ~70mph. Plenty of that in Europe. PS, if large vehicles are so safe, why do large american-spec vehicles score so badly in european crash-tests?

@H3ion:

Actually, both the Pontiac and the Saturn are based on an Opel roadster design.

I always thought the Sky was the much better looking of the two, but everyone I saw with one of them had the Pontiac. Granted, the Sky has a VERY plasticky interior...

Does anyone else HATE the current Saturn ads where they have the "employees" tell some touching human story about dedication, reliability, and assurance that Saturn/GM is gonna be there for you. I HATE those ads, GM/Saturn needs to drop the bs, this is a company that will let people die rather then fix a product because it's cheaper for them. This is a company where the CEO fatten themselves at the expense of it's workers. Ihope Penske can make it work but GM/Saturn should stop wasting taxpayer money on these BS ads.

Saturns are EASILY as fuel efficient as Smarts and some hybrids. They're just not as prestigious/pretentious. And, admittedly, they're not very good looking.

I would totally have gotten a Aura wagon over the Aura I did. More room for computers. As it is my Aura trunk is huge, I can easily fit 5 old style iMacs (IE CRT models) in the trunk without flipping forward the seats.

@pecan 3.14159265: It's an awesome drive....but the RX-8 from Mazda is better

I read not too long ago that the typical Saturn S-series buyer has drifted over to the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla - the main cars that appeal to that demographic. GM had no good alternative for that buyer demographic.

@Skankingmike: German cars are expensive because you're buying a brand name - most US market BMW's are built in America, and most VW's are built in Mexico. Mercedes and Audi, to my knowledge, are built in Europe, and thusly are expensive, but as premium brands they're expensive anyways...

@pecan 3.14159265: Exactly. It was one of those cars that was really interesting and you're glad it was made, but you'd never actually buy one.

Penske isn't "some random guy in Detroit" - Penske Auto Group is the second largest dealer network in terms of revenue in the US, and he's already the exclusive distributor for the SMART minicar.

As far as the Sky, it's a cool car, but sales volume is next to nothing. Besides, given that GM is also about to kill Pontiac, the only other brand that has a twin to the Sky (the Solstice), I'm guessing that there probably won't be a Sky to sell even if Penske wanted to sell it.

@Geekybiker: That's what I'm wondering. Will he create new cars? Or will he simply import/rebadge other cars? The rebadging is good from a short term financial perspective, but when you can't control the quality of your product in any meaningful way, you're reputation is at the mercy of others, who may have different priorities.

Ya god forbid somebody distribute a small fuel efficient car amongst the over-compensating, over-consuming American behemoths that currently drove (punny!) GM, and Chrysler into the ground today.

@Kaellorian: Penske is the man, and Saturn has a pretty good vehicle lineup that has not been well marketed. They will do fine. This has me much more interested in purchasing a new Saturn, although it won't be for several years yet.

This what they should do:

Keep the Sky, it makes the brand look attractive
Ditch the Outlook and Vue and create a crossover/wagon like the impreza
Keep the Aura, and build from its popularity

The problem with Saturn through the years has been that the brand had no reason to exist after 2001. Make saturn the brand that embraces customer service, quality and vehicles that make sense for consumers to buy.

Also keep the headquarters as far away from Detroit as possible, that place is a just a cesspool of ideas.

@mechmike:

I've always had great experiences with Penske in the past, and they've always given me what I considered a good value for my money, or atleast better then what I could get elsewhere. I hope he is able to save this brand as its the one I hoped to get for a new car (when I'm in the market that is).

Hey - You could work in the car biz. That's what they are planning on doing. Right now,the working plan is to import Renaults built in South Korea to sell alongside the Saturns that they keep. Penske already is responsible for distributing the Smart in the U.S. He's a car guy and very sharp. If there is anybody that can pull this off, it's him

BTW- The Saturn that exists today is not the hug-a-bear cute concept that was born in the early 90's. GM corporate politics ensured that "a different kind of car company" could never survive inside of GM. No way to know how they will manage it under Penske, but here's hoping that they broom all traces of their GM heritage.

Junking the design has nothing to do with Pontiac living or dying. Even if they'd kept both companies, it would still have been going away. It never made a profit (even being more expensive than its competition) either in Pontiac or Saturn form, because it was too expensive to manufacture. Supposedly it used so much hydroforming that it cost too much to make. This is an issue with the Kappa platform, not either of the specific cars based on it.

Looking at General Motors in terms of brands and models causes nothing but confusion. Think about them in terms of platforms and a lot of things become a lot clearer (like why Buick has such a reputation for quality while Pontiac doesn't).

Basically there are too many cars being made by several orders of magnitude. You just have to look at the huge car parks of just manufactured cars to know this.

Our Vue has been very reliable. It has a Honda powertrain after all (and is one of the main reasons we bought it). The interior is boring as all hell, but the engine hasn't give us one problem after 5 years / 55K miles.

This is getting better the more I think of it.

On a related matter, I can't help but wonder how far an Expedition could punt one of those in the event of a head-on collision.

Not manufacturing any cars on their own they could rebadge the best cars from outside North American markets and import them. They don't have any of the development and manufacturing headaches... they just buy in bulk and import them.

So every time you see a really fantastic car you wish was available in US-Canada, but isn't, send an email to Saturn and ask them to bring it in.

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath either.

Good point.

[goliath.ecnext.com]

There's a reason many Japanese cars are made here in America The importing fees and shipping costs are very high.

Which is why a German car is expensive or pretty much most European cars.

They'll maybe be made in Mexico but not China.

@Quake 'n' Shake: Considering the major American manufactures were huge, and couldn't make it...perhaps the small guy has a shot.

@Hank Scorpio: "Well, we'll just see about that. Ta-ta, Tut-tle."

Saturn's Demise Delayed for 2 Years By Detroit Businessman

There, fixed it. Who else doubts he'll be able to pull this off long term?

Why so negative? What is it about Saturn that you think makes the brand inherently unsuccessful?

I'd love to be his lawyer for the sole purpose of being able to say that I'm working on "The Penske File."