AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Saturn's Aura fading?

In another one of his General Motors Deathwatch editorials, Robert Farago of thecarconnection.com, suggests that the highly-touted Saturn Aura has been less than a roaring sales success. Quoting:

In its first three months, Saturn sold 19,746 Auras. If the model sustains those numbers– and that’s a big “if”– the Aura will generate roughly 80k sales per year. While the projected annual tally would dwarf ’05 sales of the similarly platformed Saab 9-3 (24,133), it would fail to surmount the, gulp, Buick Lucerne (96,515). To put that into perspective, last year GM sold 323,981 Chevrolet Impalas, 312,747 Cobalt/HHR’s, 157,644 G6’s and 163,853 Chevrolet Malibus.

To put THAT into perspective, between 34 and 60 percent of those models went to rental fleets. In other words, in the battle for the mass market, the award-winning pride of Detroit Saturn Aura is another, even smaller, damp squib.

Part of the reason for Saturn's disappointing sales has to be questionable marketing. I've seen several print ads, but I can't remember a single television commercial.

Another reason is that the Saturn dealer network isn't what it used to be. Although Saturn dealers get praise for their customer service, they just don't churn the metal like Chevrolet dealers. When the Malibu (pre-redesign) sells twice as much has the new-design Aura, it's time for GM to consider whether the Saturn brand is a true necessity.


A Tango that only Takes Two

Ron Burdge of The Lemon Law Blog turned me onto a new electric car called the Tango from a company called Commuter Cars Corporation. The Tango is a two-seater that looks like the Smart ForTwo, except the Tango is narrower. In fact the Tango is narrower than some motorcycles. The passenger is crammed into a jumpseat behind the driver. The Tango may look like a Smart car, but it goes like a Tesla roadster. Published 0-60 time is 4.2 seconds. What's the price for this beastie? $108,000 for a "mostly assembled" top of the line T600 model. George Clooney has the first one.

One may quibble and say that the Tango is as likely to get off the ground as the Moller Skycar, but Commuter Cars Corporation has delivered one, and that's one more than the Chevrolet Volt.

Here's a link to a Google.com video of the Tango T600.