Saturn sees flat 2005 but robust 2006


By Jean Halliday
Automotive News / January 17, 2005





DETROIT -- Saturn Corp. sales are not likely to rise significantly this year, General Manager Jill Lajdziak concedes. But she adds: "The big year for the brand will be calendar 2006."

Saturn plans to enter several new segments in the next two years. Its first seven-passenger minivan, the Relay, went on sale in November.

The automaker unveiled the Sky, a two-seat, rear-wheel-drive roadster, at the North American International Auto Show here last week. The car is scheduled to arrive in showrooms in the first quarter of 2006.

Saturn also plans a mid-sized SUV for summer 2006.

Saturn calls the Relay "a transitional product." The automaker conducted a year-long advance launch for the minivan, using e-mail, direct mailings, events and sweepstakes. TV commercials are scheduled to begin this month.

Lajdziak says the automaker intends to maintain its reputation for customer care. But as its lineup expands, Saturn will talk more about product in its advertising, she says. Its current ads feature Saturn owners.

Saturn executives say they intend to offer refined vehicles with better interior and exterior fit and finish. As a result, GM wants prices of Saturn vehicles to rise above those of Chevrolet, the company's mass-market division.

Saturn's 2004 U.S. sales fell 21.8 percent from 2003, to 212,017 vehicles. Sales of its Vue SUV rose by 6.1 percent to 86,957.

Production of Saturn's L-series midrange cars ended in June, and sales plummeted by 70.1 percent, to 19,453, in 2004.

Saturn projects it will sell about 15,000 Sky roadsters per year.
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=51317

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One of the things that I found shocking was "Saturn executives say they intend to offer refined vehicles with better interior and exterior fit and finish. As a result, GM wants prices of Saturn vehicles to rise above those of Chevrolet, the company's mass-market division."