Saturn will be around in 2008?
Sorry, but I don't see GM being too enthusiastic for the brand, and no sign of that changing...
I see your point, but I disagree to a point, as well. I think that as of today GM desperately wants Saturn to succeed. Otherwise, they'd have dropped Saturn, which has never made money, and kept Oldsmobile, which was making money on all but the Intrigue (as I understood it). (As an aside, that seemed odd to me... the Intrigue was the best of the platform in my opinion, both in looks and in ride/handling. If the bean counters would have let the engineers build a great engine, the car could have been a hit.)
GM has already given up on the original concept whereby Saturn would be largely independent. Guess it turns out that not enough people want small, economical cars for a company to exist solely in that market. So now we see platform sharing, which will reach its height with the minivan. The minivan is what would have been the next Silhouette, I suppose.
I'm reminded of the fact that GM kept the Corvair around a couple of extra years largely because they didn't want people to think that Ralph Nader killed it. He ended up extending it's life! (But people still assume he killed it.) They'll keep Saturn around as long as they can because they don't want it to be seen as a failure. The best way to keep it around is to go mainstream, it appears.
-Alan L.
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