The Saturn Astra represents a quantum leap forward for GM in the small car market. For a mere $100 million, which is chicken feed for a new product, the General traded in the uninspiring Ion for the European juggernaut Opel Astra. Many thought GM was merely buying time (literally) until a truly global Astra appears in 2010, since we've been told for years that it was too expensive (see: Focus) to retro-fit a Euro-car for the US Market. Maximum Bob has turned that paradigm upside down, as he explained that the spared development costs have netted GM savings of about $900 million. Of course, GM would probably never shell out $1 billion for a small car with a volume of 45,000 units per year, but since the General makes products all over the globe, it makes sense to sell the best cars and trucks wherever it can. If it helps keep your factories at full capacity while saving $900 million at the same time, than that's cool, too. Hey, if this is the new reality of automakers going global, we're all for it. Now Ford, bring on that Mondeo already!
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Syco @ Dec 18th 2007 10:15AM
The 3 door version is actually pretty nice, a little underpowered for my taste, but not bad overall. I would much rather buy this then the new Focus.
Pete @ Dec 18th 2007 10:21AM
If it helps keep your factories at full capacity while saving $900 million at the same time, then that's cool too.
Do you guys on this blog take your jobs seriously? Is this even a job/source of income? What's the deal with terribly obvious grammar mistakes?
This being the most reputable automotive blog on the internet I just expect more.
Guenther @ Dec 18th 2007 10:33AM
I'm sure the redline will be along shortly.
Bob-o @ Dec 18th 2007 10:47AM
Pete, as much as I agree with you, it's a blog (a commercial one, but still a blog), not an actual publication. It falls under the loosely defined principle that "we aren't responsible for our statements because it's an opinion of one blogger, not a corporation". This is unlike what happens in an actual publication where editors and lawyers scrutinize material before it's released publicly. Therefore, the writers are given the task of editing themselves, and we can clearly see that some of them weren't born to be editors...
Clyde Frog @ Dec 18th 2007 11:23AM
What grammar mistakes? The fact that 95% of all recent college graduates cannot speak or write proper English drives me crazy but I didn't see any obvious mistakes here.
Syco @ Dec 18th 2007 11:48AM
You should check your grammar waaaaa! If you really want to be productive on this blog, state a point relative to the topic and stop whining about nonsense.
naggs @ Dec 18th 2007 3:29PM
seriously, gramer dont matter none
if you can understand what he was saying then that is good 'nuff
get over it, its a blog on the interwebz not the NY times
Jay @ Dec 18th 2007 4:56PM
Yeah, jeez, Pete. Change your tampon, why dontcha.
patrick @ Dec 18th 2007 10:16PM
GM still = Stupid conservative bean counting nimrods.
This should have been an integral part of their business plan from the late 80's on.
American corporations, for the most part, is full of Good Old Boy networks and until they are gone we'll always be suffering at the hands of a foolish few.
iSpec @ Dec 18th 2007 10:21AM
I'll take the i30 Sport which will be here in a few months.
http://www.bobaedream.co.kr/board/data/data_view.php?code=national&No=89082&page=1&select=&content=&r_no=33&search_gubun=&s_pagescale=&search_day=&Answer=11
J.Crew @ Dec 18th 2007 10:25AM
Hell, I would by the loaded three door over all of the small cars out right now excluding the high performance versions naturally - Si, GTI, MS3, SS, and SRT. It is great on gas and handles like a champ...so I have read about and watched on TV.
Ben H. @ Dec 18th 2007 10:28AM
Also take into consideration the costs of supporting such a global vehicle with parts/service. This is probably why Ford does not want to spend the money on the Euro Focus/RS. They'd also have to re-engineer some parts to meet N/A regulations.
Looks like GM is doing it the correct way.
TriShield @ Dec 18th 2007 10:30AM
I have driven the Astra in Australia and here recently and it's a seriously nice little car. Very light, very nimble, and performs quite well. It's much better to drive than the Asian compacts (it makes the Civic feel positively huge) and it's nearly as good as the VW Rabbit which it's closest to.
GM doesn't turn a profit on every Astra sold in the US but it did save them money in development costs and plant downtime. It's the same reason the Holden Commodore is coming here as the Pontiac G8. Holden needs the export business badly, if the plant isn't humming at capacity the operation loses money and loses the mothership back in the US money.
George @ Dec 18th 2007 10:33AM
I'm not a Lutz fan but this is a smart move. It probably wasn't his idea...
whofan @ Dec 18th 2007 6:23PM
I am, Bob Lutz is the best thing that happened to GM.
J.Crew @ Dec 19th 2007 1:06AM
I agree with you whofan... Lutz is the mojo that got GM focused, pissed off, and swinging for the fences again. Anyone who doubts this does not have an open mind to the big picture and scope of the automotive industry. I still hope GM can snag Bernhard as his replacement if and when that day comes. Bob is the fuel in the GM gas tank... full throttle baby!!
MemphisNET @ Dec 18th 2007 10:37AM
Pete, did your dad not hug you enough as a child? Is this really the highlight of your day? I don't usually call people out, but do you really have to be a prick?
Anyway, good on GM. The i30 is pretty slick, but can it be moved in the same volume or marketted effectively?
Tagg @ Dec 18th 2007 10:44AM
While it may be cheaper for GM they had the capacity to do this, something Ford does not have in Europe. They could build it here (U.S.) but then it would cost alot to re-tool the factory to produce the Euro-spec Focus here and therefore difficult to price it.
Ford sells many more Focus('s) than Opel sells Astra's and just doesn't have the capacity to build them for export. Even the plants in China are at full tilt so they even build them for export outside of Europe.
I am sure we will see plenty of "bring the Euro Focus here" without any idea of how tight the capacity is for Ford.
Ford is working on building 2 or 3 new factories in Europe to solve this.
Bob-omb @ Dec 18th 2007 10:51AM
If it saved $900 million, then how come the cheapest Astra with auto and A/C is $18,000? With no haggle pricing, that's just too much. No reason to buy it over a Mazda3 hatch.
nagmashot @ Dec 18th 2007 11:45AM
Easy anwser.. $ buys in Euroland... $ is nothing worth thats US consumer problem if they want stuff from Europe