Roger Penske recently was interviewed by Detroit’s Big AM Station WJR 760. Mr. Penske talked about the future of the Saturn Brand and gave us a glimpse of the direction he would like to take the brand.
From Jorge Chapa, Inhabitat. Ohio State University recently took top honors in the 2009 EcoCAR Competition, which challenged students across the US and Canada to redesign a standard Saturn VUE into an ultra-efficient vehicle. Their winning EcoCAR utilizes a lithium battery and an ethanol-fueled engine to achieve an incredible 300% increase in fuel efficiency over its standard model counterpart! The vehicle took plenty of man hours, good design and well-honed math skills, but the end result proves that future-forward vehicles can be built with the technology of today.
[Source: Inhabitat, Read Entire Story]
KANSAS CITY, MO - Saturn owners in Kansas City have good reason to be confused after GM referred customers needing service farther away than they needed to go after Saturn dealerships were closed down in the metro area. But FOX 4’s Megan Cloherty is Working for You with some important information about where Saturn owners can go to have their vehicles serviced without a long drive to Topeka.
For a map of GM dealerships in the Kansas City area, click here.
[Source: Fox4kc.com]
From Laura Layden, Naples Daily News: The owner has hit the brakes on Saturn of Naples. On Wednesday, Bob Goodman said he’s putting the skids on the dealership off Airport-Pulling Road as part of a consolidation.
Sales and service operations in Naples will be merged with Saturn of Fort Myers off Fowler Street, which Goodman also owns.
The change is effective June 18.
[Source: Naples Daily News, Read Entire Story]
From Jamie Lincoln Kitman, The Washington Post: There’s a reason why finding buyers for the carmaker’s German Opel division and domestic Saturn brand has been easy: They’re the most promising divisions GM owns. Getting rid of them was dumb and pretty much seals the company’s fate.
For GM, junking Saturn represents opportunity lost. Creating the brand in the late 1980s gave the firm its only great post-Vietnam-era marketing success story. A make that appealed to people who didn’t like Detroit’s constant horsepower and styling wars, Saturn may not have been “a different kind of car,” as its colorful advertisements had it, but it did attract a different kind of customer, one GM had lost to the likes of Toyota and Honda. Educated and reasonably affluent, these customers wanted to buy American again, yet a remarkable 87 percent didn’t know that Saturn was part of General Motors. That was part of the plan.
It’s a good thing to reminisce about the early Saturn years. Here are a couple of commercials that should help you out.
Saturn of Carbondale Owner says "I will never buy another G.M. Product."
Instead of selling vehicles, lately Shemwell is selling tables, chairs, sofas, signage and other décor that once helped make his place of business welcoming to customers. Now, nearly fully stripped, footsteps echo off the walls and voices carry in the carless showroom.
As vacuums hummed outside his office, Shemwell sat and noted how this month’s bankruptcy filing by General Motors has left him in the financial lurch, including $80,000 in parts, $120,000 in specialty tools and thousands of dollars in signage for which he said he’ll take a loss.
“I’ll tell you this, and please quote me, I will never buy another G.M. (product),” he said. “It’s because of what they’ve done to the American people. They want another $30 billion in taxpayer money and they can’t buy us (dealerships) out.”
Clark Howard talks about Saturn's Future
Consumer advocate, Clark Howard talks about Saturn’s new lease on life. Clark feels positive about Saturn’s future under the leadership of Roger Penske.
