Analog
Lifer
Yearning for some top-down motoring on a budget?
General Motors Corp. wants you to reach for the Sky and help revive its ailing Saturn brand. That's the name Saturn, the division created in the late-1980s to counter a raft of imports, has attached to its new two-seat roadster that goes on sale in early 2006.
In releasing the first sketch of the car today, GM also is signaling the styling cues that future Saturn models will carry.
"The new design of Saturn vehicles are heavily influenced by global design trends and conveys a sense of technical harmony," Ed Welburn, vice president of GM design, said in a statement.
Saturn, starved for new products through most of its 15-year history, is beginning to feast on a portfolio infusion. Its product line will double to six vehicles during the next two years.
The Ion small car has been revamped, and Saturn's first minivan, the Relay, made its debut this fall. A new midsize passenger car and a crossover vehicle also are in the works.
Joe Barker, a product analyst at Farmington Hills consultants CSM Worldwide, says GM's investment in new products for Saturn should quell talk of eliminating the brand, which has seen U.S. sales skid 20.7 percent this year.
"This kind of investment sends a clear message that Saturn is here, and GM has every intention of strengthening Saturn's future," Barker said. "They have a clear direction for the brand -- to elevate it just below Buick."
The Sky will be built in Wilmington, Del., on the same platform as the 2006 Pontiac Solstice, which makes its debut next fall.
Pricing on the Sky hasn't yet been released, but GM officials aim to market the Sky in the same range as the Solstice -- around or below $20,000.
Known as the Curve when it debuted as a concept car at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Sky production model borrows its name from another concept car, first shown in 2002, but has no resemblance to the original Sky concept.
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General Motors Corp. wants you to reach for the Sky and help revive its ailing Saturn brand. That's the name Saturn, the division created in the late-1980s to counter a raft of imports, has attached to its new two-seat roadster that goes on sale in early 2006.
In releasing the first sketch of the car today, GM also is signaling the styling cues that future Saturn models will carry.
"The new design of Saturn vehicles are heavily influenced by global design trends and conveys a sense of technical harmony," Ed Welburn, vice president of GM design, said in a statement.
Saturn, starved for new products through most of its 15-year history, is beginning to feast on a portfolio infusion. Its product line will double to six vehicles during the next two years.
The Ion small car has been revamped, and Saturn's first minivan, the Relay, made its debut this fall. A new midsize passenger car and a crossover vehicle also are in the works.
Joe Barker, a product analyst at Farmington Hills consultants CSM Worldwide, says GM's investment in new products for Saturn should quell talk of eliminating the brand, which has seen U.S. sales skid 20.7 percent this year.
"This kind of investment sends a clear message that Saturn is here, and GM has every intention of strengthening Saturn's future," Barker said. "They have a clear direction for the brand -- to elevate it just below Buick."
The Sky will be built in Wilmington, Del., on the same platform as the 2006 Pontiac Solstice, which makes its debut next fall.
Pricing on the Sky hasn't yet been released, but GM officials aim to market the Sky in the same range as the Solstice -- around or below $20,000.
Known as the Curve when it debuted as a concept car at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Sky production model borrows its name from another concept car, first shown in 2002, but has no resemblance to the original Sky concept.
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