How did GM convince its dealers to accept a car that was going to sell at 30-40k a year vs. the Ion that was selling at like 150k a year? Won't this be a lot of lost sales for Saturn?

Chris

higher transaction price.

That would account for a good bit of it. I wish the Astra well and may even end up with one in the driveway. Contrary to what a couple of other people have posted here, IMHO it is a wonderful car and a brilliant decision at GM.

Just hope people with money in their pockets agree with me.

Chris

Easier sales.... instead of having to coerce people into the car, having people come in specifically looking for the car will help a lot too.

this is merely step one in replacing an undesirable name and brand (Ion) with a desirable car (astra). they are upgrading the lineup by switching now, and then when the next astra comes out they will have built off the momentum of doing the swtich now. the next astra they will build them here and sell in higher volumes. in the interim they just needed to have an entry in place with the name and that it wasn't laughable and damaging to the brand like Ion was.

Higher transaction price does not necessarily mean the dealer makes more money, only GM does. You should see the 'grosses' on Corvettes around the GTA these days! I've made more money selling Aveos! The one advantage of having a 'desireable' vehicle, instead of a 'cheap' vehicle is that you can attract better clientelle: you know, the onese with money and credit ratings that don't look like a small country in South America.

Satunr now has more than two products to peddle. The additional traffic generated by Astra will also increase Aura viewership.

saturns model now is to sell like 5-7 models at moderate volumes. not 2 models at big volume.

astra should fit into that plan.

People will likely buy Astras at or near sticker, as opposed to being given the cars by their local friendly Saturn retailer.

Edited February 6, 200818 yr by Satty

People will likely buy Astras at or near sticker, as opposed to being given the cars by their local friendly Saturn retailer.

People will likely buy Astras at or near sticker, as opposed to being given the cars by their local friendly Saturn retailer.

Probably a lot less fleets too.....basically doesn't the Astra AND Aura kinda replace the Ion....? When did the L-series go away?

Probably a lot less fleets too.....basically doesn't the Astra AND Aura kinda replace the Ion....? When did the L-series go away?

Aura is L-series sized and more or less directly replaced it with a short absence in between... though I'm sure there are still some L-series on a lot somewhere out there.

the Astra directly replaces the Ion and will be getting a sedan version in the future.

you guys are forgetting that Saturn has nothing to complain about, they've received tons of product in the last two years. Astra is just icing on the cake. and the future one will be even better and higher volume thanks to being built here. Astra is also a quality product and fits into a move upmarket.

I work part time at a Saturn Dealer , I can tell u first hand ...our dealer anyways are beyond happy to see the Ion die and are doing backflips over the Astra . This car looks GOOD . The interior design is a bit long in tooth compared to stuff now , but the interior materials are first rate ....again it looks really good . All this car needs is a optional 1.9 Turbo/6-speed from the Euro Astra to match its handling ability .....oh yeah , and a redline/vXR/OPC . Hopefully GM expands the lieup with the next gen thats soon to come .

All this car needs is a optional 2.0 diesel/6-speed from the Euro Astra to match its handling ability

fixed

fixed

1.9L actually :AH-HA_wink:

1.9L actually :AH-HA_wink:

I guess I shouldn't have assumed this was a diesel.

That's a gas car. That 2.0L turbo was replaced by the new 1.6L turbo.