GENEVA -- Saturn's future looks a lot like the present-day status of General Motors' British subsidiary, Vauxhall.
Vauxhall slaps its badge on cars created by GM's German subsidiary, Adam Opel AG. That's what Saturn will do, at least in the heart of its car lineup, GM executives said in interviews at the Geneva auto show.
The move is meant to bring European design flair and sporty handling to Saturn. But it's also a sign of GM's move to strip regional and brand executives of authority to modify global decisions in engineering, design and manufacturing.
Saturns still will be built in North America, not Europe. GM executives aren't talking about importing and rebadging vehicles produced at Opel plants overseas, but rather making the identical cars in the United States.
But brand bosses would lose some control. Robert Lutz, GM vice chairman and head of global product development, said that in much of its lineup, "Saturn will be like Vauxhall."
He added: "Now Opel cars will be done for three brands instead of two."
Not 100%
The changes will play out in the heart of the car lineup, with the next Saturn Ion subcompact likely to be a rebadged Opel Astra. Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe, said the 2007 Saturn Aura, which replaces the defunct L series mid-sized car in Saturn's lineup, is "clearly Opel-inspired."
The Aura shares the Epsilon mid-sized car platform with the Opel Vectra. GM Europe's design studio in Ruesselsheim, Germany, influenced the styling.
But GM CEO Rick Wagoner said the Opelization of Saturn is not total. The Saturn lineup also will include vehicles exclusive to North America, he said.
One example is the coming Saturn Outlook crossover, built on the Lambda architecture in Lansing, Mich.
Vauxhall derivative
When working with Opel, Saturn officials will participate in initial product planning, Lutz said. But they won't be able to dictate changes.
"Saturn would be involved early on, but I would say they're definitely the junior partner in the relationship," Lutz said.
"The Opel product is good. Does Saturn wish they had an Opel Astra (compact car) instead of a Saturn Ion?"
You bet, Lutz contends.
Lajdziak: 'We feel very good'
Jill Lajdziak, general manager of the Saturn brand, said Saturn and Opel will work together as partners and will make sure products will work in both regions.
"Obviously we feel very good about our relationship with Opel," Lajdziak said. "It's a good example of leveraging GM's global capabilities."
As for replacing the Ion with Opel's Astra, Lajdziak said that Saturn is looking at several alternatives for the Ion, but she declined to discuss those options.
No to regionalism
Lutz clearly has little patience for what he called "the ugly head of regionalism" that results in changes to vehicle designs coming in from another region.
He cited U.S. engineers' decision to soften the ride of the Opel Astra when creating two platform mates, the U.S.-built Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu. The result, Lutz said, was additional work and inferior vehicle handling.
"Part of it is job protection; part of it is the old regionalism coming through that 'we have our own standards in the United States, and we're not going to pick up what the Europeans do,' " Lutz said.
"We are going to be watching this like a hawk. Nothing gets changed unless it absolutely has to."
The benefit, Lutz said, is in cutting component costs and product development costs. If it can enforce its plan, GM can save as much as 40 percent on engineering costs of new vehicles.
Said Lutz: "This is the advantage of it being my budget and not a regional budget."
Leslie J. Allen contributed to this report
You may e-mail Dave Guilford at
dguilford@crain.com
