Creating the news
I guess I’d bettter cover this as a number of people have sent me links to it (Thanks Saabken, David W et al)
Autoblog ran a story yesterday, which was rather hideous in that they defiled a picture of the Aero X by putting a Saturn badge on the front. I won’t reproduce that image here for obvious reasons…..
But the gist of the story, derived from Auto Motor and Sport in Germany, was that the arrival of the Saab 9-1 would quite likely lead to a derivative being made with a Saturn badge on it. Possibly one with a Pontiac badge, too. The Pontiac bit is news, I guess, but the Saturn bit shouldn’t be. Here’s the Trollhattan Saab interpretation:
The Saab 9-1 is going to be built in Trollhattan using the same base platform as the Opel Astra, which will also be built in Trollhattan after production of the 9-3 and 9-5 moves to Russelsheim in Germany. The Opel Astra is currently rebadged and sold in the US as the Saturn Astra.
Therefore, what Autoblog are reporting is that a Saab that will share a platform with a currently rebadged Saturn will give rise to a Saturn that’s already being sold as a Saturn. Even if we’re talking about a new evolution of the Delta platform, it’s still going to have an Opel (i.e. Saturn) Astra made on that platform, so it’s still a fait accompli.
That’s not news, it’s creating content.
I guess if there’s any news here, it’s that the automotive journos might start referring to the other Delta vehicles as rebadged Saabs instead of calling the Saab a rebadged [insert model of choice] like they normally do when they’ve run out of worthwhile things to say.
And that’s good news, if nothing else.
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Yawn. NEXT!
Completely agree, Swade. It almost seems inevitable that we’ll see a Saturn variant of the 9-1. However, as you say this is a good thing as the motor “journalists” will refer to the Saturn as a “Saab”-based car rather than the Saab as an Opel-based one. Maybe they’ll go full circle and just call the Saturn “Opel-based”…
This also fits-in to what I was told by a Saab insider about Saab slowly evolving to becoming to Opel/Saturn what Lexus is to Toyota, Infiniti is to Nissan, and Acura is to Honda.
However the Pontiac speculation is probably due to the fact that the Kappa platform underpins the Opel GT, Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice.
There is even rumor of a Buick variant of the 9-1! Yeah, right!
The only danger I can see from this is potential lost Saab sales when consumers realize they can get the same basic car in slightly-less luxurious trim for a lower price. Why buy a Saab when you can get the same basic car from Saturn with cloth seats instead of leather?
The next version of the Saturn Astra is scheduled to be built in North America, starting around the same time as the 9-1 is introduced (model year 2010, introduced in Q3 2009).
If history repeats itself, this will be an “Americanized” car, so expect a colour-coordinated plush velour interior, a soft suspension and a large strangely underpowered engine. It will most likely look like a plastic toy that has melted in the sun.
The car will share some components with the 9-1, but not many that the owner can see or touch (fuel filler neck? door latch?).
If AM&S is surprised by any of this, they really haven’t been paying attention to the auto industry. Perhaps they haven’t realized that the Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3, SEAT León and Škoda Octavia are all based on the same platform?
Bernard: don’t you know that motor journalists only bash on American auto manufacturers, not German or Japanese ones?
Actually a Buick version of DElta II makes sense, for China. There is a small Buick currently selling in China. Buick is huge in China, GM sells more cars in China than any other manufacturer.
Gripen siad: “The only danger I can see from this is potential lost Saab sales when consumers realize they can get the same basic car in slightly-less luxurious trim for a lower price. Why buy a Saab when you can get the same basic car from Saturn with cloth seats instead of leather?”
I think that *would* have been the risk in the past (witness the 9-2X/WRX conundrum) where Saab didn’t do good enough of a job differentiating its products against similar competitors. I believe Saab (& GM) is keenly more aware of branding and product differentiation these days and have learned from their past mistakes. Well let’s hope so anyway. I see future Saabs as the halo brand when compared against Opel & Saturn counterparts.
SaabKen: that’s a good point, but I’d question the 9-2X/WRX example.
Both had practically identical interiors, both with Subaru cloth seats. The only difference in the interior is that the Saab allegedly added some noise insulation in the doors. The difference between the 9-2X and WRX was almost exclusively exterior aesthetics (front end). The 9-2X even had the non-North American market rear end of the WRX from what I remember reading.
The difference between the 9-1X and the Opel and Saturn Astra should be much more than simply the level of luxury and appointment as they’re not a badge-engineered variation of one-another. They’re simply based on the same platform (same floorpan, wheelbase, etc.). The rest of the car should be drastically different.
The 9-1 needs to be almost as different to the next Astra as the Volvo C30 is to the Ford Focus. It would be a gross act of lunacy to let Saturn or Pontiac or Buick have a ‘cheapened’ version of the Saab, and seriously undermine the current efforts to reestablish Saab as a premium brand. Let them have the next Opel Astra and only that.