Saturn Sky: In the dealerships!!

[Pontiac Ninja]

2007 Saturn SKY: The Wait Is Over
March 08, 2006
by Matthew C. Keegan
www.dailyindia.com

After months of nonstop hype, the 2007 Saturn SKY is now entering dealer showrooms. This two seat roadster marks an important turning point for the Saturn brand long identified with building nondescript, but dependable vehicles. With an MSRP of $23,690, the SKY is certain to sell for several thousand dollars over the dealer's sticker price as demand is expected to far exceed capacity. Let’s examine the Saturn brand and the car behind the hype to see if the SKY was worth the wait.

Since Saturn’s first cars became available in 1990, the brand has attracted a loyal following of owners who liked the company’s simplicity and consumer friendly dealer network. Indeed, Saturn’s “no haggle” pricing revolutionized the relationship between dealer and customer changing the typical adversarial business transaction into a partnership benefiting buyer and seller alike.

So, the SKY has caught your attention, has it? Who could blame you? Pictures of the SKY have been circulating heavily online for months and it is certainly an attractive vehicle.

The SKY was priced and designed to compete against two other roadsters, the Honda S2000 and Mazda’s Miata. Although the SKY is technically a sister car to the Solstice, it appears that it is better suited to compete against the Japanese brands as the Saturn roadster comes fully equipped and incorporates a sleeker body design. Taking nothing away from the Pontiac, the SKY is definitely the more competitive of the two.

For Saturn, the SKY improves the brand’s image immeasurably. Much in the way that the Corvette is a “halo” car for Chevrolet the SKY will be the same for Saturn. Production will be limited to just 10-12,000 vehicles annually and purchasing a SKY will likely mean buyers paying well over sticker price for their car. Indeed, some reports are indicating dealer mark ups as high as $5000 in the face of stiff demand.

I know many people here love the solstice and or sky so I thought this would be a good read. But still under producing by so much to allow for up to 5K dealer mark up?!?!

[Kdawg207]

Saw a dealer plated one on the Staten Island Expressway...snapped a camera pic i can post soon

Nice Modena right in front of it too....snapped that as well

[AMRAAM4]

I like how GM purposely under produces so they can milk every cent out of a car they finally did a good job creating and people may want.

Unfortunately the dealer is going to benefit most from the markups. They also had to underproduce so that the Solstice wouldn't get BURIED!!!

[Pontiac Ninja]

Originally Posted by Kdawg207

Saw a dealer plated one on the Staten Island Expressway...snapped a camera pic i can post soon

Nice Modena right in front of it too....snapped that as well

Yeah post it up!

Originally Posted by AMRAAM4

Unfortunately the dealer is going to benefit most from the markups. They also had to underproduce so that the Solstice wouldn't get BURIED!!!

thats true. I do remember reading some random things about the sky/solstice that pointed to them wanting the Solstice to take off better the then Sky, considering its Pontiac Vs. Saturn we are talking about here.

[AaronGTR]

I saw one last friday morning getting onto I-75 north. Wasn't a personal car though (still had manufactorers plates). I still think the solctice looks better though. The back end of the sky is ugly in comparison, especially the stupid squared off exhaust tip, and the front looks like a cheap attempt to look like a C6 'vette.

[Cormaster]

Saturn doesn't need a roadster if you ask me. The Solstice was the concept, why can't GM just let Pontiac have something Unique for a change? Mazda doesn't have a sister car to the Miata, and Honda doesn't have an Acura version of the S2000. I do think the Sky looks better than the Solstice, but thats what aggravates me because it just makes it seem like GM is TRYING to push people away from pontiac!

[bigbenSC]

Haha! No haggle pricing now includes dealer's charging over sticker? Saturn has lost its biggest selling point!

[02andahalfgt]

Originally Posted by Cormaster

Saturn doesn't need a roadster if you ask me. The Solstice was the concept, why can't GM just let Pontiac have something Unique for a change? Mazda doesn't have a sister car to the Miata, and Honda doesn't have an Acura version of the S2000. I do think the Sky looks better than the Solstice, but thats what aggravates me because it just makes it seem like GM is TRYING to push people away from pontiac!

So you don't think GM should produce the Sky/Solstice because they're sister cars, but when they bring back the Camaro you insist they make a Firebird...... Brilliant! /Guiness commercial

The Camaro was the concept, why can't GM just let Chevy have something unique for a change? The irony is so thick in here right now.

[videoman]

I think its more of a cost cutting tool. Since both styles of cars ( solstice/sky ) or (Camero/firebird) have the same chasis and general body type, they are cheaper to produce together. The other benefit is that if one consumer doesn't like the camero, maybe the firebird will appeal enough to make a purchase. The down side is that there is of course more of a cost to produce to seperate models and to market them as well. If they both fail to appeal to the overall market enough to be counted as a flop, then it hurts alot more than if you only produced one model.

Personally, I prefer the firebird design over the camero.

[Pontiac Ninja]

Originally Posted by 02andahalfgt

So you don't think GM should produce the Sky/Solstice because they're sister cars, but when they bring back the Camaro you insist they make a Firebird...... Brilliant! /Guiness commercial

The Camaro was the concept, why can't GM just let Chevy have something unique for a change? The irony is so thick in here right now.

nahhh, he just likes Pontiac, that seems to be the common theme man.

Originally Posted by videoman

Personally, I prefer the firebird design over the camero.

I like this guy!

accept he can't spell CAMARO

[Panacea]

Uhh, isn't the Solstice built by GM, and the Sky a rebadged Opel? Quite frankly, the Sky looks 10x better than the Solstice.

[Cormaster]

As far as I know both the Sky and Solstice are on the kappa Platform. I have to admit though...that chevy nomad concept they have on the Kappa is pretty neat.

Anyway my thing with the sky is just that it is an upscale solstice and that aggravates me because now it takes away more that makes pontiac "unique" If the solstice was the upscale model, I probably wouldn't complain as much.

[SectoidBob]

Saturn is really getting their stuff together, and it's about time too. Ya know, i haven't seen too many re-badgings that are THAT good looking, so i don't care if they picked it up from mars, i still like it.

And now for some rumor-mongering: I heard somewhere, that Chevy's going to take this platform, drop a 3900 into it and call it the Stingray.

[Cormaster]

Originally Posted by SectoidBob

Saturn is really getting their stuff together, and it's about time too. Ya know, i haven't seen too many re-badgings that are THAT good looking, so i don't care if they picked it up from mars, i still like it.

And now for some rumor-mongering: I heard somewhere, that Chevy's going to take this platform, drop a 3900 into it and call it the Stingray.

haven't heard anything about that, but I have seen a Chevy Nomad Concept on the platform. Its pretty neat really, but I don't know if they could market it.

[Roush GT]

^ anyway, i had a chance to see the solstice and sky at the autoexpo in cinci... and I was much more impressed with the sky.

[nascarnate326]

I like the SKY alot better. Looks like a little mini c6, and I like that. I dobt it will steal anything away from the vette, those people usually want to go semi fast. Even the redline version of the sky, wont be a performance monster compared to the c6. At the auto show the sky had the most people around it, besides the camaro/challenger.

That nomad looks like a shoe from the side. The magnum already has what market there is, and thats available with a HEMI. Sorry nomad.

[Cormaster]

yeah but the magnum weighs 4000 pounds. The Nomad weighs under 3000..

I dunno they might be able to market it. I mean its basically a compact car with rear wheel drive. that would work I bet

[Pontiac Ninja]

Originally Posted by SectoidBob

And now for some rumor-mongering: I heard somewhere, that Chevy's going to take this platform, drop a 3900 into it and call it the Stingray.

Here is an article on the stingray you are talking about. maybe I should make it a new thread?! lord knows I need to start more It's bases on the solstice platform and will be ANOTHER 2-seater from gm! how many do we need?!

Newsweek: Corvette Stingray Based On Solstice/New Impala News

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11677325/site/newsweek/

Hold the obit! Motown finds some new life by reviving its monster hits of the motorway.

By Keith Naughton - Newsweek - March 13, 2006

GM chief designer Ed Welburn sweeps into his Chevrolet design studio and it's as if he were stepping back in time. On one side of the cavernous white room, designers huddle over a silver retro remake of the Chevy Camaro. A few steps away, stylists scurry around a future Chevy family car that ripples with sinewy muscles from a bygone era.

Papering the walls of the studio are photos of classic iron from Detroit's halcyon postwar years—the chiseled '65 Chevy Impala, the jet-age '65 Ford Galaxie, the long-nosed '65 Plymouth Fury. Welburn slowly walks around the work-in-progress family car, inspecting the latest nips and tucks. Suddenly, he notices an 18-inch clay model on a table nearby that offers an alternative take on the car with a gull-winged rear end. "Oh, my God," the normally soft-spoken designer shouts. "That rear is unbelievable! It links all the way back to the late '50s."

Detroit, desperate for a few hits, is driving in a new direction: back to its glory days, when its swaggering sedans and pumped-up muscle cars were the monsters of the motorway. Motown's hottest sellers—the hip-hop Chrysler 300C, the in-your-face Ford Fusion, the vintage Chevy HHR—all share an open-throttle American esthetic. Sales of a half-dozen new American-roots models are up 21 percent so far this year over the final two months of last year, and they're selling without the typical big Detroit discount. The stars of this year's auto-show circuit are remakes of classic American muscle: the Camaro and Dodge Challenger, which, just like back in the day, are gunning for the hot new (or is it old?) Mustang. "There's enormous good will for the glory days of American cars, when they really were American and didn't try to be Japanese or German," says GM car czar Bob Lutz. "We all recently discovered that was a gold mine we had left fallow for a couple decades."

Detroit could sure use some gold. Years of chasing the Japanese have left Motown facing its own mortality. GM could be surpassed by Toyota this year as the world's No. 1 automaker. Ford, which once posted BEAT CAMRY signs in its design studios, has shrunk from 25.5 percent of the American car market in 1998 to just 18.2 percent today. For two decades, the Big Three spent billions copying Toyota's factories in hopes of matching its topnotch quality. Yet for all the gains Detroit has made, it still can't catch up. Last week, Consumer Reports named all Japanese cars as its top picks for 2006. But Detroit's back catalog of hot cars is emerging as the one clear advantage it has over its foreign rivals. And it's not just sports cars. The Dodge Charger steroidal family sedan could sell more than 120,000 copies this year. "The Japanese can't manufacture this kind of heritage," says Peter DeLorenzo, editor of autoextremist.com. "But if you have it and can bring it forward, it can be a game changer."

More sequels will soon be spinning out of Detroit. GM is said to be working on a faithful re-creation of the '67 Chevy Impala and an edgy Stingray convertible based on the Pontiac Solstice. Ford, dinged in recent years for its blandmobiles, is getting its mojo back with an audacious rear-wheel-drive family car based on the Mustang that's coming at the end of the decade, knowledgeable industry sources say. Ford also is believed to have greenlighted the Fairlane van, a modern interpretation of the '50s-era wood-paneled wagon. And Chrysler is sprinkling the bling from the 300C all over its next-generation minivan, insiders say. Motown execs promise the bad old days of Camry clones and Audi imitators are gone. "For a while, we were doing pretty bad cars," admits Lutz. "I suppose we had to give the public a chance to forget those so that we can go back to the '60s, when everybody loved us." If Detroit can rekindle that love affair, it just might have found its salvation.

[SectoidBob]

I have not seen the Nomad before. . . I kind of like it, in the same ugly duckling way that i BMW Z3 coupe/hatchback/thing. It also kinda reminds me of a stretched, rounded VW Golf GTI.

I gotta agree though. It's probably unmarketable.

[rennation]

my dad brought one home for 2 days and lemme say they are nice, especially from the rear