Heathbar's Crunch » Business News

The Global Oil Scam: 50 Times Bigger than Madoff

Chris Heath — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:19:51 +0000

GM trying to survive for a shot at Plan O (Obama)

Chris Heath — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:59:54 +0000

They’re shutting off the escalators and cutting back on pens! Pretty good article though still.

With Saturn, G.M. Failed a Makeover

Chris Heath — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:02:43 +0000

“With sales of Saturn vehicles falling, General Motors said it was “exploring alternatives” for the brand that was once considered a symbol of its future.”

[T]he small Saturn Aura, part of a refreshed lineup based on vehicles from G.M.’s European division, “might be the best undiscovered car in America,” said Jack R. Nerad, the executive editorial director at Kelley. Aura sales are up 2.8 percent this year, while Saturn’s sales over all are down 21 percent compared with 2007.

This is my favorite American (brand) vehicle. If you haven’t given it a look and you’re in the market for a new car definitely give it a 24 hour test drive.

“I’m absolutely convinced that the Saturn way could have worked,” said Michael Bennett, the original U.A.W. leader at Saturn. “But what we had was never embraced or adopted.”

So, so true.

Despite G.M.’s pledge that Saturn would be run as a separate company, with its own car development and purchasing operations, it was folded into G.M.’s small-car operations in 1994, and its lineup did not receive any new models for the next five years.

That last bit is very important. Even many die-hard Saturn owners/fans don’t know that it was rolled back into GM and given a back seat. And that new model, the 2000 L-Series was the beginning of the end for Saturn. The S-Series was such a simple vehicle and not ‘done’ the GM way, but the rest were – and therein lies the problem. (note: the Aura wasn’t ‘done’ the GM way either)

Digg Story: GM Said to Study Shedding Saab, Saturn, Pontiac

Chris Heath — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:21:21 +0000

I work at a Cadillac/Hummer/Saab/Saturn Dealership and this article is worth the read. Very informative read even though I already knew most of the details. Apparently the Directors of the GM brands will be meeting early next week to review this new plan. meta/Sometimes not knowing how things will end up is a good thing./meta

Digg the story here.

Also, here’s a link to the printable version for those who want to
just read the article

Also, something interesting to me is that Buick is HUGE in China. That might help to sell it, but also would be a good reason to keep the brand.

If I had to guess I’d say that Pontiac will probably get the axe, and who knows, Saab may get sold. Saturn has a dwindling base and may get the axe too. GM tried to save it by rolling it up into the rest of GM and I think that may actually have helped kill it (if that does happen).

~

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