The Sky is falling – Saturn dealers learn more info
Autoblog reader Max tipped us off to a thread on the SkyRoadster.com forum in which a few new details about Saturn's
upcoming Sky roadster have been revealed. The information was released (or leaked) after a webcast involving Saturn's
network of dealerships and Saturn HQ. Here's what was learned.
- Pricing will be announced in January
- "Order generation" will start January 3rd
- "Images" (dealer term, not pics) in the first half of January
- Each dealer gets one Sky to keep in showroom, not to sell
- Black cloth interior standard
- Tan, Red and Black leather available
- Tan leather available with Midnight Blue, Forest Green, Black, Bluestone, Chili Pepper Red and
Polar White
- Black or Tan cloth top, no word on hard top
- Automatic and manual will be available simultaneously at launch
- Dealership allocation will be based 50% on retail sales, 50% on competitive market areas
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
the friendly grizzly 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Gads, that is a nice looking car! Just too bad I am about 80 lbs and 7" too big for it. They juyst don't make a sports car for a guy my size.
Darn.
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KC 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Is this simply a rebadged Solstice? If so, why does every GM brand feel the need to have a version of every car they build? Soon Buick and Cadillac will want a version of it a then they'll wonder why sales/demand has diminished.
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Scott 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Having 2 versions isn't too bad, it's having 4-8 versions that is unexcusable--and that's where GM needs to stay away from.
Most companies have 2 versions of a car:
Acura/Honda
Toyota/Lexus
Ford/Lincoln
VW/Audi
Dodge/Chrysler
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Sid Ghosh 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Adding to what Scott said, the Sky is VERY different in both exterior and interior look from the Solstice. It will also have more power (and probably a Red Line version) and be pricier.
This car is gonna be great.
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mj 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
The Solstice/Sky is an "ok" vehicle. If it were not for that it is produced by GM, it would have been panned. Personally I fnd the looks of the solstice distasteful. The sky is nominally better.
The market for the sky will likely be the "lifetime channel" crowd, which has been Saturn's saving grace. I do hold out hope for the new Saturn Aura, but then again I liked the L-Series, and would have considered buying one if they had been built better. So I am not folling myself.
I am glad they split the vehicles between Saturn and Pontiac .The Saturn can be the softer version, whilst the Pontiac the "performance" version.
And I, will continue to drive Miata/MX-5 s with better perforance, better mpgs, and I'll bet far superior reliability. (Not to mention superior comfort at least compared to the torturous Solstice)
On or about 2011, the MX-5 will receive its next update. The Sky/Solstice will be available only on the mechanic's special page on ebay right next to classic Fiero's (a very cool car that GM made a mess of)
In the car wars, I was a GM guy as a kid. Owning three GM's combined with the crap that they have produced in the past thirty years has made me a foreign -maybe Ford guy-a Ford guy because I have Volvos and Mazdas.
Everyone keeps talking up improved quality of US cars,, but my Tribute/Escape fell apart in 2yrs/37k miles. SO forgive me if I am not convinced after that troublesome experience.
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Jaymez 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
A Saturn more expensive than a Pontiac?
The Soltice is, perhaps, one of the ugliest cars I've seen from an American company. Only the Europeans can do uglier. The Sky, on the other hand, doesn't look too bad. Granted, I wouldn't buy one. It still looks decent.
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Brendan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Though I'd guess this reason would be pretty far down the list ...
The front of the Sky is better suited for mounting a front license plate. (compared to the Solstice)
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scott 3 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
This car will be tuned more for touring even on the red line. The New GXP Turbo Solstice will be more extream performance based per what GM has said earlier. They called said the Tuning [engine and suspension] on the Solstice would be more agressive.
The Saturn will have more Luxury and higher price but more standard option. Think of the Sky as the Lexus and the Solstice GXP as the
350 Z.
Only Opel will get a 3rd edition of this car and it will only be sold in Europe.
This is no different as most other car companies as pointed out by above.
Your only going to sell 30,000 2 seaters at best in one line so you need to spread the production out to get the plant to capacity and reduce unit cost.
All three cars will do very well and bring people into the showrooms that would not have come in just to see a Ion. The Sky will help sell a lot of Aura's.
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Corey W. 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
The Sky is a great looking car, they should leave it at two, Pontiac and Saturn. Making the Saturn more expensive than the Pontiac would be a mistake. And if they have to, develope a coupe only version for Chevy. There's nothing wrong with platform sharing or rebadging, there always going to be a demand for same platform but differnt styling. GM just doesn't know when to stop. One platform should have no more than 3 applications, and the design and options should be unique to the brand.
BTW, Cadillac doesn't need a version of this car, maybe just a lower priced version of the XLR.
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Pinkerton 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
With the looks of the Solstice, building the Sky is a great idea. IMO the Pontiac looks cartoonish and bulbous.
#1 - You might be surprised. Two-seaters often have more leg room than big cars with back seats.
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Juanes 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
This car relly looks cool. But its looks reallt small for big people.
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2Suave 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Sat in a Solstice and thought its driver's seat (which has NO height adjustment!) was much too low.
Don't order one of these things unless you sit in one first. I'm about 5'11" with average build and should not have been bothered by this.
SKY is really much the same car, but different enough style to be more than a re-badging exercise. I saw the SKY but wasn't able to sit in it--roped off from viewers unlike Solstice at the San Francisco Auto Show.
I think both the SKY and Solstice are beautiful cars. Saw one Solstice on the road already--classy-looking thing, indeed!
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the friendly grizzly 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#9: I am 6-2, 290, shoulders that reside in separate ZIP codes, short legs, and long torso. I would probably have the top of the windshield right across my field of vision.
Mix all that in with my bad knees, and this is a car I can't even think about driving. Ahh, to be young again!
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Rene Curry 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I think GM will want to price it higher than the Solstice because it is better looking and it will have the no haggle price. They can always claim the low sticker price for the Solstice even though you can't get one for that price.
BTW, I would want one if I didn't have kids in college. I would probably take the chrome saturn grille out and add some sort of eggcrate grillework. Then debadge the Saturn name anywhere it exists!
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Richard Warren 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
While it's not a bad looking car this still does not answer the question of why Saturn even still exists. 20 Billion original investment about a 1 billion in loss every year. Now a convertible, at best based on last years production numbers this would result in somewhere between 15 to 30,000 sales max, my bet is about 20,000 cars, not worth the cost involved in development.
Of all the divisions GM should cut, it's this one.
This car should have gone to one of the other divisions, Chevrolet comes to mind.
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BF 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
"14. Posted Dec 5, 2005, 8:10 AM ET by Richard Warren
While it's not a bad looking car this still does not answer the question of why Saturn even still exists. 20 Billion original investment about a 1 billion in loss every year. Now a convertible, at best based on last years production numbers this would result in somewhere between 15 to 30,000 sales max, my bet is about 20,000 cars, not worth the cost involved in development.
Of all the divisions GM should cut, it's this one.
This car should have gone to one of the other divisions, Chevrolet comes to mind."
Well not really. You see, Saturn is not seen by the public as a damaged brand. Saturn has a history of high quality and Saturn delaerships and the Saturn buying experience routine rate very high for satisfaction. Saturn is also seen as a maker of safe cars. The problem is that the saturn production line to give buyers a progession of cars over the years....so the young car buyer has few options at a Saturn dealer after being pleased with his Ion or SL. Two, boring product.
The Sky, Aura, Outlook, a new 2008 Ion and the refreshed 2006 Vue all will help.
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Richard Warren 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
#16 less than 170,000 cars a year does not constiute a vibrant, active division (company) imagine if this care had been given to Chevrolet with a market of about 2 million buyers a year, just from a numbers and exposure view they would sell more.
As to damaged goods, Saturn is damaged goods, look at it's sales, it's move away from the way the cars were designed, just look at the sales figures. Hell, even VW which has been taking a hit for poor quality is selling more cars.
And why rebadge or re-engineer an Opel, simply bring Opel back.
AdCan you imagine if say 50 Billion dollars had been spent on the divisions what type of product they might have? How about a 50 Billion dollar investment in the Opel franchise coming to the US.
For those of us who have watached and participated in the auto business, Saturn never made sense, it did for Roger Smith however.
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