Saturn's death could hurt GM CAFE numbers
Saturn Vue Hybrid - Click above for a high-res gallery
The ultimate fate of Saturn as an automotive brand remains uncertain, pending the outcome of the offers currently being made to buy it from a shrinking General Motors. One thing is certain though, it will not remain a part of GM. One of the primary reasons that Saturn is being disposed of is poor sales. There is, however, one exception to that sales record: hybrids. So far, Saturn has accounted for about a quarter of GM's sales of hybrids. Saturn also had the best CAFE numbers of any GM division, thanks to the absence of any full-size body-on-frame vehicles or fuel-thirsty V8 engines in brand showrooms.
Removing those sales from GM's total will likely have a negative impact on GM's overall CAFE numbers, at least in the short term. Looking more closely at the sales, though, shows that the automaker's big two-mode hybrid trucks have been taking an increasingly large proportion of GM's hybrid sales over the course of 2008. The powertrain of the two-mode Saturn Vue will almost certainly be migrated to other GM vehicles such as the new Chevy Equinox and Cadillac SRX, helping the entire porfolio's numbers as well. Another factor offsetting the loss of Saturn is the end of HUMMER and Pontiac, both of which have a number of lower mileage vehicles.
Gallery: ABG Garage: 2008 Saturn Vue Hybrid
[Source: Automotive News-sub req'd]
Photos copyright 2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs. Inc.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glenn 10:36AM (4/29/2009)
Dumping Saturn would seem to be an unwise business decision. Why not build the new GM around the Saturn hybrid platform? This is an ideal opportunity for GM to reinvent itself as THE quality green car company. Why not sell the new-world green brand? Build a following by exceeding the CAFE standards and put other auto-makers to shame. At the heart of GM decision=making (even with Mr. Lutz and the Chevy Volt) is a cynicism about the reality of climate change and a hope that they can stay in their old comfortable paradigm. This is precisely why GM needs completely new leadership.
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Michael 10:41AM (4/29/2009)
I think the biggest loss here will be the Vue plug-in, not the two-mode or any of the other hybrids. The BAS system is already in the Chevy Malibu, the two-mode system is already in the Yukon, Tahoe, Sierra and Silverado.
But the plug-in was going to be new. It's too bad, really.
As far as CAFE goes, I doubt the Saturn line-up had that big an effect on the overall fleet. The numbers just weren't there.
One last point, the mild hybrid sales were badly affected by the battery issue they had. After the recall, most of the batteries were being used to replace the hybrids already sold, rather than going into the new hybrids. That had a big affect on sales.
Mind you, the numbers still would have been low, but the 25% number in the automotive news article might have been up to 50%.
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UH2L 11:06AM (4/29/2009)
I did exactly such an analysis when I worked at Saturn marketing. I think each Saturn VUE enabled like $7,500 of Full-size-truck platform profit (because of high profit Tahoes and Escalades especially. This is all because of the harmonic averaging used to determine fuel economy.
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Throwback 11:18AM (4/29/2009)
Let's not get carried away here. Look at Saturn's sales numbers, the Chevy Equinox can use the dual mode hybrid, as can the Malibu. Both vehicles outsell the Vue and Aura respectively. GM has to survive first, otherwise CAFE is irrelevant.
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Nixon 12:03PM (4/29/2009)
If GM sells Saturn, one would expect the intellectual rights on Saturn products would also be part of the sell. I can't imagine a buyer agreeing to purchase a product line, and then be beholden to GM for the intellectual rights on the technology in their product line.
GM's only option then would be to license the Saturn hybrid system from the new owners of Saturn. I'm not sure if I were buying Saturn that I would allow that. Since we all know that Saturn's core strength and market differentiator IS their hybrid systems. It would be suicide for Saturn to license off their sole core strength and market differentiator.
Keeping the hybrid system all to itself is the only chance that an independent Saturn spin-off company would have to be successful. I'm sure anyone who would buy Saturn would also understand this.
I don't think we will ever be seeing the current Saturn hybrid technology in any GM products if Saturn becomes it's own company. It just wouldn't make any business sense for Saturn.
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Throwback 12:15PM (4/29/2009)
The dual mode system is a GM system not a Saturn system. The idea that GM would sell Saturn with the intellectual rights to the dual mode is silly. This system has been used in GM buses for years. It also appeared commercially on the Tahoe/Yukon twins first.
Sam Abuelsamid 1:08PM (4/29/2009)
The sale of Saturn will include nothing more than the rights to use the brand name. Saturn has no intellectual property, all of the technology belongs to GM. GM has already said they would not build any more Saturn branded vehicles after June of this year so whoever, buys the brand will have to source vehicles and tech from somewhere else.
Travis R 3:00PM (4/29/2009)
Wasn't the two-mode technology co-developed with Daimler-Chrysler and BMW? Who actually "owns" it?
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Sam Abuelsamid 3:09PM (4/29/2009)
GM originally developed the system for buses and owns the rights to the basic design. DaimlerChrysler and BMW signed on to help adapt it to light duty applications. Some IP is jointly owned but it remains that Saturn itself owns nothing.
diffrunt 3:10PM (4/29/2009)
Why should a rebadged chevy w/poorer styling cues cost more money? Saturn had some great early ideas, but as usual the bean counters prevailed .
And, speaking of hybrids----why? heavy,poor perfomance with constant indecision,higher mtce/repair costs , all for miniscule better mileage. Why?
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Tom 6:02PM (5/07/2009)
I have owned Saturns for more than 10 years now. I like the product concept, the product quality and their approach to product sales. Perhaps Saturn should sell GM (or just dump it) and take on the manufacturing responsibility to compliment their well mannered marketing, sales and service group.
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