A report published today indicates General Motors will definitely replace the Saturn Ion with a rebadged Opel Astra, further aligning the two brands. Citing reliable supplier reports, Automotive News says the new car will sell for $16,000 and is expected to sell fewer units than the Ion. In mid-April, it was reported that GM had scrapped the vehicle that was intended to replace the Ion, despite positive reaction to it. Called the “Evoke,” the new car was expected for the 2007 model year, and had been previewed to some members of the press last year. In March, GM’s Bob Lutz said Saturn wished “they had an Opel Astra instead of a Saturn Ion.” GM has been actively aligning Saturn and Opel and equivalent brands on either side of the Atlantic. Recently, GM introduced the 2007 PreVue Concept — a rebadged Opel — and the Opel GT — a rebadged Saturn Sky.
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05/08, 10:45 AM
posted by:
Paul D.
Well the first step in rehabilitation IS admitting that you have a problem. It looks as though GM is admitting that they can’t engineer a successful small or midsize car here in the US.
Witness the Aura, Sky and now the next Ion. All Opel derivatives.
GM has also had a problem with building a small or midsize car in the US without F’ing it up right out of the gate. What do you suppose they are going to do to change that?
05/08, 10:59 AM
posted by:
Andre Neves
So wait a sec…doesn’t that mean that they are going to start building the Evokes here, or importing them rebadged?
Nice move by the way.
05/08, 10:59 AM
posted by:
mike
The Aura isn’t an Opel clone. It looks like the Vectra, sort of, but it isn’t a clone, it was designed from the ground up on the Epsilon platform, for Saturn, by Saturn.
05/08, 2:11 PM
posted by:
Derek
This is great for Saturn, bad for Pontiac. GM may be killing another one. They better bring more (and better) holdens for Pontiac and Buick, SOON.
05/08, 4:10 PM
posted by:
sh.yoon
*applause*
Thank you GM, for having some business sense. Making Saturn, essentially, an American Opel will do wonders. Now, all they now have to do is bring in the Zafira…and some of those OPC-spec models.
05/08, 5:33 PM
posted by:
kmoney9999
Hells yeah is all I have to say
05/08, 6:52 PM
posted by:
YouthDriver 24
Wow I never thought I would consider buying a Saturn, This is a great replacement for the Ion. Saturn is really on an up swing.
05/09, 7:03 AM
posted by:
canut4ever
Why did they took YEARS before they figured it out? It is about time and that says something about the North American design studio. They seem to be only successful in designing retro cars.