This is not the typical type of car I like to write about but I've done so to illustrate a point or two.
Years ago, I found out that my boss, let's call him "Bob", was about to lose his job several days before he was actually fired. In the days leading up to his dismissal, Bob worked harder than I had ever seen him work before and honestly, had he worked as hard as he did that last week or so I have to think that he probably would have kept his job. He was also pleasant to deal with too; he wasn't the mean, lazy snake that everyone despised. He was so great to work with that I almost felt bad for him for what was about to happen to him. Almost. Even on the morning he was let go he was working like a mad man when he got the call that the big boss needed to see him. Pow. We met for lunch a week or so later and I asked him if he knew that he was in trouble and he said he knew things weren't exactly rosey but he didn't think he'd lose his job. He didn't see it coming. Seeing the situation somewhat from afar I found what he said hard to believe.
Long before General Motor's Saturn division introduced this car to replace their L-series sedan for the 2006 model year, they were in trouble. Big trouble. When Saturn was dissolved after the 2009 reorganization, I would find it hard to believe that those in charge didn't see it coming but you know that there are those who didn't. I feel especially bad for the factory workers who were doing a great job assembling this neat little car.
Introduced in 1991, throughout the 1990's, Saturn had carved out an off beat niche and had cultivated a loyal customer base akin to what Volvo and Saab once had. The Saturn charm was their marketing of a pleasant, no hassle buying experience above and beyond anything else. Everything else was same old Roger Smith era, 1980's GM. The plastic bodied Saturn SL was crap.
As sales plunged, subsequent attempts to offset sagging sales, the "L-Series" and "Ion" for instance, failed to find a substantial enough customer base to keep the division solvent. Then, when GM was rebadging the terrific Opel Vectra for use as a Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6, they repurposed it for Saturn as well. Saturn, which billed it'self as a different kind of car company, was all of a sudden just like everything else GM was pushing out. And of you didn't know any better, you thought that Saturn's efforts as their ship was sinking were about to pay off since this was (or is) a really good car.
Too little, too late. Just like "Bob".
Years ago, I found out that my boss, let's call him "Bob", was about to lose his job several days before he was actually fired. In the days leading up to his dismissal, Bob worked harder than I had ever seen him work before and honestly, had he worked as hard as he did that last week or so I have to think that he probably would have kept his job. He was also pleasant to deal with too; he wasn't the mean, lazy snake that everyone despised. He was so great to work with that I almost felt bad for him for what was about to happen to him. Almost. Even on the morning he was let go he was working like a mad man when he got the call that the big boss needed to see him. Pow. We met for lunch a week or so later and I asked him if he knew that he was in trouble and he said he knew things weren't exactly rosey but he didn't think he'd lose his job. He didn't see it coming. Seeing the situation somewhat from afar I found what he said hard to believe.
Introduced in 1991, throughout the 1990's, Saturn had carved out an off beat niche and had cultivated a loyal customer base akin to what Volvo and Saab once had. The Saturn charm was their marketing of a pleasant, no hassle buying experience above and beyond anything else. Everything else was same old Roger Smith era, 1980's GM. The plastic bodied Saturn SL was crap.
As sales plunged, subsequent attempts to offset sagging sales, the "L-Series" and "Ion" for instance, failed to find a substantial enough customer base to keep the division solvent. Then, when GM was rebadging the terrific Opel Vectra for use as a Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6, they repurposed it for Saturn as well. Saturn, which billed it'self as a different kind of car company, was all of a sudden just like everything else GM was pushing out. And of you didn't know any better, you thought that Saturn's efforts as their ship was sinking were about to pay off since this was (or is) a really good car.
Too little, too late. Just like "Bob".
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