Saturn's future under Penske: electric cars might move to front of the line
Saturn Vue Plug-in - click above for a high-res gallery
Now that Penske has agreed to buy Saturn from GM, the big question is what will happen to the brand's vehicles. The agreement between the two companies stated that GM would keep building the Aura, Vue, and Outlook models for Penske on a contract basis and, as we heard earlier, the plug-in Vue Hybrid powertrain will be moved over to the Equinox. In the higher-mpg era that's coming, though, Saturn needs to focus on green cars. According to Roger Penske, there is at least a small chance that the new Saturn will bring all-electric vehicles to market soon. Penske told Edmunds that EVs "might be the first vehicles produced in the U.S." under Saturn's arrangement with foreign partners.
Penske highlighted Saturn's dedicated customer base as one reason that his company wanted to buy the brand. Penske also distributes Daimler's popular smart fortwo in the U.S. The all-electric smart ed is scheduled to make it to U.S. dealerships towards the end of 2010. Penske said Saturn and smart dealerships will remain separate entities.
Gallery: Detroit 2008: Saturn Vue Two-Modes
[Source: Green Car Advisor]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ShaunneyCakes 3:51PM (6/08/2009)
I truely hope they pull it off. Saturns tend to be reasonably priced, and a Saturn EV at 25,000 would dominate the market if it is not ugly...
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Dag 5:30PM (6/08/2009)
Here you go Penske . . . a company that already does Saturn Sky conversions. Buy these guys out and have them start making Saturn EVs right on the original assembly line.
http://www.ampmotorworks.com/
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Chris 4:06PM (6/09/2009)
So $28, 265 for the Sky (base, suggested MSRP) + $25,000 for the AMP conversion = $53,265
Or you can hold out for the Tesla S which is targeted at the $49,900 MSRP* and is faster and has twice the expected range. (*includes $7500 tax credit)
This little Saturn rocket is a dud unless they can get the price down or the performance up... sounds like a tough job for Penske.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the Sky is not on the list of vehicles that GM will continue to make for the new Saturn owner.
Dag 4:18PM (6/09/2009)
Well Chris, your analysis is a bit simplistic.
1) The point of combining the two would be to heavily reduce the price of electric Sky . . instead of producing a gas-powered Sky and then pulling out the engine and replacing it with an electric drive train, you instead just build it with an electric drive train. Thus the cost of a gas drive train, the cost of installing the gas drivetrain, and the cost of pulling out the gas drivetrain would all be eliminated. Plus, the cost of the installing an electric drivetrain would be reduced since it would be done on an assembly line instead of hand installed at a garage.
2) Tesla is full of cow excrement when they quote that $49,900 price tag and I really wish they would stop doing that. They have abosolutely no idea now to build and sell the model S at such a price. Their plan is dependent on large battery price reductions that may not ever occur. With the Roadster, Tesla has raised the price much over their initial quote price and they are supposedly still losing money on at the inflated price.
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Chris 2:15AM (6/10/2009)
Maybe I'm being simplistic but several issues still remain:
1.) Will GM be willing to provide Skys to Penske? This article says NO. http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/06/gm-penske-make-a-deal-for-saturn-hummer-opel-deals-floundering.html
2.)Even if they do get the price down, how big is the market for two seater "sport" PEVs. If the ICE Sky was selling well you would think it would be on the list mentioned in issue #1 instead of a sedan and two SUVs.
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