Saturn Astra production could shift to US
It's always been tough for automakers to build small cars profitably in the United States. The high overhead that they faced, combined with limited demand for small cars, made things tough. When GM decided to start selling the Opel Astra as a new small Saturn in the US market they started off by exporting European-built cars to the U.S. With the US dollar in free-fall against the Euro, this obviously isn't a sustainable strategy. As a result, if the Astra proves to be popular as a Saturn, GM is likely to start producing them in the U.S. especially when the next-generation model debuts and shares more hardware with the Chevy Cobalt.
[Source: Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 2:06PM (12/12/2007)
It's not just assembly labor cost that matters. The German car makers all lean very heavily on their European supply chain for innovation and proximity. For high-volume just-in-time production, you want all of your suppliers within 100 miles of your factory.
Also, GM Europe currently has plants that are running below capacity. The corporation as a whole will break even at beast on the imported Saturn Astras. However, that it still cheaper than not having any compacts in US showrooms at all and having to pay workers in Germany, Sweden and Belgium to twiddle their thumbs. Labor laws in these countries make downsizing almost impossible.
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bitchel 2:50PM (12/12/2007)
I am a swiss driver, i love europeans compact and mid size cars. They have a good acceleration ( 0 to 60 mph in 7 to 10 seconds), they have a GREAT miles per gallons rank ( almost every "standard" european car has a 30 mpg rank and better, up to 40 !), they looks nice, they takes less space than big SUV. Look at these typical european mid size and compact car ont the web (european website please!), here is a list of some nice models: Peugeot: 1007, 107, 206, 206 SW, 207 SW, 308, 207 CC / fiat: 500, punto / seat: ibiza, leon / wolskwagen: golf, polo / citroen: C1, C2, C3 C4.
Aren't they great? We have to buy more small and mid size car, they make less oil dependance, less pollution, they take less space on parking places and road, they cost less, than bigger cars. They are just better! With oil prices increasing and global warming, we have better buy them. Imagine they have a 30 to 40 MPG rank, and what will it be if they are hybrid? better! maybe 50, 100 MPG who knows..... I hope American consummers will buy a lot of small and mid size cars in the future, or better makes their own new compact and midsize models!
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cody 8:10AM (12/14/2007)
ohhh, but letting the GM USA cost cutters at the car will be a mistake. I hope they don't let the U.S. stylist at it.
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