Q.What is Saturn's role and importance to General Motors?
A.Our mission as a brand remains very much the same. Very early on our mission was to attract conquest sales, to attract those consumers who may not consider another GM product. That is still our mission today.
More than 70 percent of Saturn sales represent conquest business.
Q.What does being different mean today?
A.I think different means we occupy a unique space in the market.
Q.What has been the response to advertising the thirty-day return/exchange
program?
A.What you are referring to is our 30-day exchange program. While the program is well accepted, a very limited, about one percent of consumers, chose to exchange their vehicles after purchase. The reasons vary - from wanting a different color or equipment to upgrades.
Q.How many vehicles does this affect per year?
A.About one percent of consumers exchanged their vehicles since the program began.
Q.How do dealers feel about not having a midsize car for another year?
A.It's not an ideal situation because it impacts retailer's volume. The good news is that it is temporary. We will introduce an all-new midsize vehicle based on the Epsilon platform during the '06 calendar year. Several new products will help to make up for the lost volume. We recently introduced the Ion and Vue Red Line performance vehicles. We will make a number of improvements and enhancements on the Ion sedan this fall, as well. The Relay crossover sport utility van will be introduced in late-fall.
|
