New Look for Opel
Opel Antara GTC
By Bryan Nesbitt
Executive Director
GM Europe Design
American motorists may be interested in a zippy Opel concept we unveiled this week at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Opel Antara GTC is Opel’s interpretation of the crossover segment. It’s tough, athletic, and emotional.
This car is a perfect example of how Opel (badged Vauxhall in the U.K.) is exploring its design language as it applies to different segments. First, from a distance, notice the coupe upper and the SUV lower. This proportion is intended to visually communicate driving adventure.
Second, Antara GTC — which stands for Gran Turismo Crossover — is immediately recognizable as an Opel due to cues like the strong centerline peak combined with a proud grille emphasizing the signature Opel Bar and Blitz. Unique lamp graphics still retain the Opel flavor. Even details like the front fender vent and side exhaust signal power and performance.
Opel Antara GTC
Antara GTC also honors Opel’s traditions of versatility and functionality, with its center-hinged tailgate and pedestal front seats, all wrapped in a tranquil harmony of beige, mahogany and piano black. The Antara GTC Concept is pure Opel – modern, dynamic, emotional design with equal emphasis on versatility and driving excitement.
To this end, Antara GTC combines variable all-wheel-drive with a 212 horsepower twin-turbo diesel engine enabling dynamic handling and a top speed of over 210 kilometers per hour. (That’s 130 mph for you in the U.S.)
Opel will have a production version crossover vehicle based on this new concept on the road during the fourth quarter of 2006, and it will be called Antara.
Note: Autoblog called the Antara GTC “a breath of fresh air” and has 10 photos.
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I do hope that when you bring this over to the States as the next Saturn Vue that you strongly consider having a version with one of the Opel turbo-diesel 4 cylinders in it for U.S. consumption.
Greg
For the love of all that is good in the world, bring this over as a Saturn! In fact bring all of Opel over and rebadge them as Saturns.
With the price of fuel getting pretty stupid in Canada, Opel/Vauxhaul should be made available here. This thing looks awesome.
Brian: Bring the Antara to the US.
Very eye catching and sleek. The demand for a effiecient diesel engine will no doubt be a strong selling point. Take care in Europe.
The only problem I have with this is that a 2-door production version will most likely never see the light of day.
great concept though.
Excellent design! The coupe/SUV combo has been tried a number of times but to my eyes this concept could be the most successful. Wonderful proportions and use of chrome.
Can’t wait to see the production version. Will you be able to keep that coupe side profile on the 4 door VUE?
Bring it to the US! It seems that most of the european / asian / australian stuff looks better and more exciting than the stuff we get in the States.
Why is GM keeping the Saturn name, anyway? Ditch Saturn and use the Opels, either under the Opel brand or as different existing brands (they could use some spice). It’s not like Saturn has a reputation for outstanding cars or anything – it seems almost the opposite.
Great concept! But it should be 4 door for U.S. market.
Autoweek.com has an article about the Antara and has quoted Bob Lutz as saying that the Antara concept “will be identical to the future Saturn Vue. They can build it in a U.S. plant, and it will be identical.”
Since the article was published on 09/13/05 and has been online for three days and has not been pulled, I assume the quote is accurate.
Greg
How sad. That is my thought when looking at this concept vehicle. A couple of reasons for that comment that I have expounded on in this blog format in the past. One, GM has the product set in its portfolio to pull itself out of the North American morass. It’s just that the majority of those vehicles aren’t sold in the US. Second, GM has been extremely poor at monetizing any type of design leadership. Instead of incredibily attractive and functional products such as this, we get the tortured design of the Aztec. We should not be looking at a concept vehicle but a production ready product available in North America as well as Europe. I don’t buy the argument that North American markets and consumers have different tastes. Beauty and design exellence transcends cultures. The industrial design leaders capitalize on this fact with global brands and global designs. I don’t care if it’s a cell phone, a capuccino maker or a Lexus available in Asia, Europe and the Americas.
I’m not privy to insider activity at GM but there is something structurally different at GM North America than Opel/Vauxhall as it pertains to design. Either the bean counters are too close to the North American designers and have undue influence, the executives consider this market to be their baby so they meddle in design too much, the Europeans empower their designers to drive innovation, American engineers have too much control over designers or something. The designs out of Europe are consistently far superior. That is not necessarily a GM statement either. Mercedes, BMW, Renault, Volkswagon, Opel, etc, all are better designs across the board.
So GM Europe gets beautiful new designs and North America gets a new Impala. Not a bad design for what was historically a police car but surely not up for international design excellence.
If only GM North America was a place where design excellence and innovation were considered hallmarks.
Zander at Motorola, Jobs at Apple, Enzo at Ferrari. Synonymous with industrial design leadership.
Come on guys and gals. GM’s issues are self inflicted. It becomes even more obvious when you see product like this that could be on the streets in the US.
I’m glad that Saturn is basically becoming the Opel of America.
The No-haggle pricing and the fact that its not an old GM brand gives Saturn a chance to become a successful alternative to Japanese and Korean brands.
Now, how about that 10 Year Warranty?
For all of GM.
BRING IT OVER for Saturn! Saturn is supposed to become the new hip affordable brand, right? This thing would perfectly complement the AURA and SKY.
Plus, DO make sure that you include a diesel version. I’m tired of having to go to the German manufacturers for diesel cars, GM can make diesel cars, they’ve done it before. (I have one, a diesel Eldorado; still runs!)
“Unique lamp graphics.” I agree a close-up of the headlights and tail lights reaveal a stunning stalk and beehive architecture. So this is my question.
Will those headlights see the light of day, unchanged, as is, un fiddled around with in Europe and in the U. S.? Or will GM’s headlights and back lights continue to take a back seat to Nissan and Infinity?
Here is the tricky part, don’t design it twice leave it as is when it is produced in Europe and in America. That is where GM can save money. Stop designing everything twice, no dummied up, half baked production version.
I think you will have much success if that picture is the final version.
The beauty is in the details.
If it comes to NA will it have the same engine or will it be dumbed down.Will it have a diesel? Also will it have a 4 dr model and where will it be made. These are important questions.
That’s 5 consecutive Fastlane articles completely unrelated to domestic GM product.
BORING!
How about telling us about something new and cool that’s coming out of Detroit, like say a newer, cheaper, non-Canadian, fully independently suspended, CAMARO?
That’s what we’d like to hear about.
There’s a lot of GM fans out there that are about ready to drop out of the GM fan club if we don’t hear about a new 4-seat RWD vehicle that the enthusiast on a budget can enjoy.
Thanks!
looks like a SUV version of a Mini….
Please bring this over for Saturn keeping the diesel as an available option.
While your at it, please make sure as you bring other Opels over for Saturn, that you leave the smaller engines and diesel variants with the better gas mileage available.
I love the concept. It looks great and the AWD combined with a diesel is an excellent combination. Well done! I’d love to see it here on our shores. Perhaps a sedan on the same platform would also be an option? Mercedes and VW have are both having some success with the diesel and GM sure could use an (affordable) AWD sedan in its product line.
I like it.
Brian:
First, let me congratulate you on finally getting hired at GM. I read in a business magazine a few years ago that GM, in it’s infinite wisdom of ‘really knowing what’s correct’ turned you down for a job before you went to Chrysler. That’s funny.
Second, I find this and every Opel I have seen very appealing. If Opels have that great BMW steering feel, then I would buy one in a minute. Conversely, if they have the crappy, numb, GM steering feel (mentioned in nearly 100% of auto reviews), well, no matter how great it looks, I will NOT pay money for that. Get it?
Opels have the looks, they have some utility, now let’s make sure they have the driving dynamics.
What has this concept as new?? In GM is not new that type of car. Saab showed the first SUV 2door with sport cues, the 9-3x and GM ignore it…..now the industry are trying to adopt this type of vehicle..
“American motorists may be interested…” Hell YES! Bring over the whole kit and kaboodle, lock, stock, and twintop. Opel should never have left. Opel, since it has more diversity in models, and enough panache to be considered as alternatives to pricier German imports, could easily outsell Saab here in the states.
This Opel is nice, but I am still much more intrigued by the Chevy Nomad concept car (based on the Kappa platform) that was unveiled two years ago. I do think that a 2-door wagon crossover is a great idea — very functional and yet still sporty. So, my vote is for the Nomad concept car, or an SSR-derived 2-door sports wagon.
Rad dude! Antara is one of those ‘gotta have’ headturners GM needs right now.
GM made a good decision to start rebadging Opels in America as Saturns, not to mention Holdens and Daewoos in Asia/Pacific as well. From a cost standpoint it makes sense.
However, that may tend to dilute the brands too much. GM’s strength is in the number of brands it controls. However they are being poorly marketed.
Saab/Opel should align with Buick/Pontiac to manufacture vehicles with a European flair.
Then Holden/Daewoo could align with Saturn to develop the ever popular Asian line. Saturn was originally supposed to desimate the Asian imports. Makes no sense to change course now; you will only confuse and alienate potential buyers.
That would leave Cadillac/Chevrolet to maintain production of American class automobiles.
Then everyone would be happy, including me.
The Antara would offer North America a unique combination of performance, 4WD and fuel economy – there is no vehicle in that niche now. All 4WD vehicles here are too heavy and too high. They all drink a ton of gas and have no handling capabilities. A sporty 4WD will do well. Try it in Canada first, like Mercedes did with the Smart Car.
i agree with scott. i do hope that turns out to be wrong…if GM does ruin it with two more doors, i hope they at least give us a two door as an additional trim option.
Would you please give some thought as to what Buick should be and write about it in your next article? Don’t look at it as an “American Lexus,” study Buicks of the past and there you will find its heritage and future. Buick has more history than Lexus could ever hope for. Buicks = style, comfort, power, refinement. GM used a couple lines for the Buick Park Avenue not too long ago: “Reach back. Leap forward.” There’s your direction.
I’m not a big fan of re-badges. But this re-badge would make sense. I would like to see this for NA with very minimal changes. Is this based off of the new platform for crossovers for the US? This looks sweet. You probably don’t bring Opel to the US because it would compete with the other brands. But I would like to see this being the basis for some crossovers for the US, again with very minimal changes. This could be just the product to compete with the Murano and FX.
Looks like Opel has saved Saturn.
I hope that Holden will now save Pontiac.
And I hope GM will save Buick, because this is going to save GM.
Just today I read another negative press article in the Economist magazine about GM.
But I am GM’s eternal optimist and it is not only for the great future product journalists are raving about under the dome.
My optimism is about this.
The success of the HHR is proving my dream. Back in college while studying in Europe my professor and I caught a British Taxi Cab, it was 1997. I told my professor in that car that America (GM) was going to be making cars like this again with the high roof, flat floors, high beltline, elegant and thin window profile and the broad shoulders of the truck and hood.
I believe that it will be Buick to start this phenomenon, Buick bucks the trend of lower and longer.
When I saw the HHR I said to myself, GM has almost got it. It was like a video game we grew up on, everything we knew about the video game world was 2D. All of a sudden we were introduced to 3D. Now Mario, Pac-Man and Centipede were alive, breathing and jumping all over the screen.
GM you almost got it. You need to make 3D cars again. The HHR is the start but it needs to be bigger and more luxurious and fancier to be a Buick and, of course offered in sedan form.
Imagine these 3D Buicks just like the Buick 8 of old for example, trimmed out in luxurious leather and wood trimmed interiors.
Now that half the public has abandoned the low to the ground cars it’s time to think big.
I say, make the Velite because this sets Buick up nicely in style. Then raise the roof the seating position…make 3D cars again.
I say, if a person of average height can see the the roof of the car while standing next to it, it’s not a Buick.
If a person driving in a Honda Accord can look eye level at the other driver and see inside at all your business, it’s not a Buick.
If your driving next to an 18 wheeler and all you see is rubber. It’s not a Buick.
If grandma has sat down so low in the driver’s seat that she can’t get up, it’s not a Buick.
I hope the success of the HHR will give you the confidence just to try it.
GM if you make cars like this, like this again.
I use to garden for someone who restored old Rolls-Royces. One day he pulled one of the 8 he had restored. We washed it. I recall the two tone paint scheme, the high stance and elegance and romance of the automobile. We took it for a drive.
GM, if you make Buicks in 3D again, you will be selling Rolls-Royces to the public at a fraction of the price.
Opel Antara GTC, un SUV Coupé
Bryan Nesbitt, Director Ejecutivo de GM Dise√±o Europa, cuenta en el blog de la compa√±√≠a porque se han decidido a lanzar el Opel Antara GTC (Gran Turismo Crossover), que es su interpretaci√≥n de lo que debe ser un SUV, atl√©tico y emocional. Esto es…
Great looking SUV. I have liked the design direction of Opel ever since the new Astra. This looks like another exploration of that design theme.
Bring this to the US. This is a vehicle I can easily see the Japanese or the Germans offering in the US–but not the Domestics. That’s a shame.
Do not say that “Americans have different tastes”. Considering the kind of products GM gives the US and Europe (and Australia), I take that as an insult to Americans.
You know, what edward hayes said about Buick, he has a point.
Make all Buick’s tall, in a classic look kind of way. be bold, thats the only way Buick will be able to distinguish itself.
I’m looking at all the Opel’s the GM’s got going on over in Europe and wondering why not bring the name and cars over here to the States? If GM needs one thing, it’s a car that people will want, wheather it’s American or not. Opel seems like the perfect Import beater to me. It has perfect curves, looks are on the cutting edge, impressive motors with good gas mileage, and it looks like they are all based on models already available here, like malibu’s and the solstice…so why not spend a few dollars to bring the name here….wouldn’t imagine it would cost to much and it would probly bring in some much needed profits and praise to GM’s product line. Just my two cents.
Actually, you should take the Opel blitz trademark, straighten out the lightning bolt and turn it into Saturn’s ring.
The Saturn dealerships should switch from red and white to yellow and grey color schemes.
Since the Aura is basically a Vectra…
The Ion should be the Astra. (especially awaiting the VXR)
The Vue should be the Antara.
The Relay should be the Zafira
Just _look_ at the Zafira:
http://tinyurl.com/atzuv
http://tinyurl.com/7qesb
So it’s “emotional”. Just what the heck is THAT supposed to mean?
For God’s sake, design cars, then SELL THEM! have confidence in your vision. Don’t wait for good designs to be committee’d to death.
So when does it go on sale? 2007? 2008? 2010?
While GM fiddles,the ship goes down…
I agree with an earlier post that said GM has the good designs, but they don’t sell them here.
Why reinvent the wheel?
Steve G wrote:
“I’m glad that Saturn is basically becoming the Opel of America”
That is what many of us would LIKE to believe. But I remember when Opel was called the “German Chevy.” Back then, that was a compliment. Like Chevrolet once was, Opels were affordably priced, skewed to the young, were a little edgier in design – took more risks (like the 80’s Kadette, which was WAY out there for its time) than the relatively conservative Ford Escorts and Fiestas and VW Golfs and Polos.
If Saturn really IS to be “America’s Opel,” it begs the question, if Chevrolet hadn’t forgotten its historic role – had not lost its way – would there be a need for Saturn?
Saturn as America’s Opel? I don’t see it happening. Saturn was supposed to be for GM what Scion is for Toyota. But as usual, GM blew it.
Scion is Toyota’s youth brand, with models that feature hipper, edgier designs than mainstream Toyota. Scions feature all the stuff that young buyers look for – reliability, low price, zippy and fun to drive, modern “look-at-me” styling, whoop-a**s audio systems and oodles and oodles of “kewl” available accessories for customizing – wheels, ground effects, paint schemes, bolt-on performance upgrades, even MORE whoop-a** audio, etc. And they want a fun, non-threatening sales experience.
Toyota has succeeded brilliantly with Scion. Saturn, however, instead of the American Opel, has – after a promising beginning – devolved into the American Trabant. (The Trabant was a plastic-bodied, stodgy and very, very cheezy East German car that people bought only if they could afford nothing else.)
Scions are cheap, but they don’t SCREAM their cheapness the way Saturns do, from every exposed screw head, every Tupperware surface, every mile-wide body panel gap. Everything about Saturns say “Fisher-Price.” I know a cash-strapped friend of mine who consciously chose a cherry 3-year-old Honda Civic Sedan rather than spending the same money on a brand-new Saturn Ion.
The sad part is, the Saturn Ion is actually a better-built, better engineered car than it looks to be. By contrast, other manufacturers of low-end cars, like Honda, VW, Hyundai, and yes, OPEL, have built reputations for building cars that look and feel more EXPENSIVE than they are. So one has to ask, why would any sane car builder strive to make a car that looks CHEAPER than it is?
Saturn indeed should aspire to become the American Opel, but Saturn designs are too pedestrian, and their execution is way too rough and unrefined. GM needs to learn that people who need something bigger than a Chevy Aveo but can’t afford a new LaCrosse, or even a new Cobalt, don’t want – OR DESERVE – to be punished for it. Saturn buyers, like all new car buyers, want to feel like a million bucks when they get behind the wheel of their new ride.
Please don’t refer to designs as “zippy”… other then that the product looks great.
Bryan,
I’d have to agree that this is a bold and beautiful concept (although it does need 4 doors). Saturn would do well with such a nice looking SUV.
p.s. If you want to kill its chances of success in North American, keep describing it as “zippy”.
Edward Hayes wrote:
“GM you almost got it. You need to make 3D cars again. The HHR is the start but it needs to be bigger and more luxurious and fancier to be a Buick and, of course offered in sedan form.”
YES!!!
Bill Mitchell – one of the last truly great engineering/design geniuses to work for GM, along with Harley Earl, Zora Arkus Duntov and Larry Shinoda – once said – and often RE-said – that a good car design had to “look good from the top,” referring to the 3/4 view from above.
Among other things, Mitchell gave us the 1969 – 1981 F-Body Camaro/Firebird, one of the precious few designs from that era anyone remembers – or even WANTS to remember – from that artistic and pop-cultural black hole of the Seventies.
The 1969-70 Camaro just looks right, from the side, from the rear, from the oblique and from the 2nd-floor motel balcony. Every curve reveals something new from every point of view from which one can look.
Later on, GM marketing droids forced tacky plastic body cladding, pseudo ground effects, screaming chickens and other tawdry horrors which by the end of its run destroyed the integrity of the original design, but the pure original is a true and lasting work of art.
Mitchell was also memorably and vocally comtemptuous of the then very influential “creased and folded” school of automobile design promoted by prominent European designers like Fabrizio Giugiaro of Bertone and later, Ital Design. He HATED “flat cars.”
The most famous (at least in America) Ital Design efforts of the time were Volkswagen’s first “Wasserpumpers,” the original Golf, Passat and Scirocco. Giugiaro believed that good design means respecting the materials with which one is building; steel for car bodies comes in flat sheets and shouldn’t have to apologize for it. Car bodies are shells of thin steel, not solid sculptures from clay, he reasoned. He treated bodywork like Origami, the Japanese art of folding paper.
The trouble is, Giugiaro with auto design was sort of like Picasso with Cubism or Stravinsky with Primitivism. After Picasso, nothing further could be said – the movement was born and died with him. After 1913’s “The Rite of Spring,” nothing new could be said in Primitivism; until his death in 1971, Stravinsky wrote not a single other piece in this genre. And after the masterful aforementioned VWs, the original Aston Martin Lagonda, the Lotus Esprit and the DeLorean sports car, and other products from the period designed by him, he took the “car-as-origami” genre as far as it rationally could be taken; there is a limit to how many ways one can fold paper to make a practical auto body, and he explored them all!
Ford decided likewise that there were limits to their reactionary “rounded-blob” school as well, so they went BACK and superimposed “folded-and-creased” upon more rounded forms, coming up with what they termed “New Edge,” the statement that metal can also be subtlely bent, not just severely folded. The Ford Focus remains after six years, a clean, fresh-looking and appealing design, at least in my puny opinion.
But much of GM design since the 1980s has consisted of simply taking a file and a sanding block to Giugiaro, rounding off the corners and edges. The end result is the new Impala, which looks for all the world like a warmed-over 90s Chevy Lumina, one of the few cars with even LESS personality than a Honda Accord. Does the market really NEED a new Lumina? I’m confident the Impala is a better car than the old Lumina, but the Lumina was a snooze when it was new. So what makes GM think the Lumina look has become more scintillating with age? As the great philosopher Homer (Simpson) has often said… “DOH!” What a disappointment!
The Malibu is a rebound to “creased and folded,” but unlike the best Giugiaro designs, the proportions are wrong. From a practical and purely engineering point of view it is a very good car, but it looks graceless – out of balance – from every angle. If I am going to hang myself on the hook for 48-60 months, I want to LOVE it – every time I look at it, every time I slide into the seat, every time I turn the key and pull out of the garage – well past the last ticket in the payment book. The Malibu has an artlessly blocky, unrefined, almost – forgive me – Soviet look to it. It has all the proletarian charm of a Moskvitch or Lada.
Largely the same can be said about the new Cobalt (especially the sedan). From most angles, the car just looks WRONG! GM boasts that it benchmarked the last-generation VW Jetta when designing the Cobalt. Well, they didn’t benchmark the A-4 Jetta’s good looks (I haven’t made up my mind on the new A-5 Jetta – not a good sign).
And since when has benchmarking a competitor’s LAST generation product become a selling point for your NEW one? As good a design as the A4 Jetta was, VW HAS MOVED ON! Why hasn’t GM? Instead of benchmarking, why not just build the best car you can for the intended market? Instead of playing catch-up ball, why not aim for the bleachers for a change?
Consistent winners of races often say they don’t look a who’s gaining on them, they just keep pushing ahead for the finish line. Of course, in the auto business, there IS no finish line, and the competition is ALWAYS gaining on you. So why use THEM as your yardstick of success? The best possible outcome of benchmarking is that you will catch up to your competition’s PAST efforts. It assumes that you are chasing a stationary target.
Chevrolet seems to lack any design identity. I see so many influences – poorly expressed influences at that, but little expressions of its own. Cadillac has found their voice, and their sales as well as their “buzz” are proving that people are noticing and responding to it. And I am finally seeing good signs of life at Pontiac, but Chevrolet is still a moribund and confusing hodgepodge. I can’t find any over-arching design theme or philosophy carrying through the Aveo, Cobalt, Malibu and Impala car lines – except for maybe the bow-tie logos on the grilles.
I only see it in the Chevrolet truck and SUV lines and their “specialty” products like Corvette, SSR and HHR. Well, not EVERYONE is in the market for a truck or SUV – especially now, with fuel prices going nowhere but up. And not very many of us drop 40 to 60 grand on our vehicles – more of us are doing it than should as it is.
I think the HHR is DEFINITELY a step in the right direction. It reflects GM at its prior best. I think it is also important that the HHR is truly a mass-market product. Making an appealing car is much easier if cost is no object. Hitting a home-run with a low-end car, where cost is definitely an object, is a much greater accomplishment.
The HHR is an important design because it enables GM to RE-discover what originally defined GM design greatness, a necessary step toward GM design finding its fresh legs to carry it into a brighter, and industry-leading, future.
[If long and narrow hoods are coming back, wouldn't it make sense to go back to what BMW has staunchly stuck with all along when everyone else, even Daimler-Benz, went to V-6's? How about INLINE SIXES?? Wouldn't a 3.0 liter I-6 be SWEET in a HHR? Just an idea...]
I also would love to see a diesel version available… even better if one could be put into the existing Vue. (I’m not a huge fan of Hybrids- I’m not convinced they’ll make economic sense for a long time.)
Secondly, I agree that four doors is critical- if nothing else, a Saturn-style “four-door-coupe” version should be available.
Finally, doesn’t Opel make some innovative mini-van products that could replace the warmed-over, rebadged Relay?
Brian-
The new Opels are very nice.
I really think that GM is missing the boat with Opel.
In my opinion, since a lot of new Saturns will be Opels, I think that GM should phase out the Saturn name, and replace it with Opel (an all of the Eurpean panache that the name carries) , and BRAND these new cars as Opels.
This will give GM a premium European brand on US soil..a brand that is not quirky, like Saab, but more mainstream.
Please take my thought to GM. I think that it is worth exploring !!
By playing up the brand’s panache, having proven diesels, and eurpoean flair, you may woo a lot of people to GM dealerships who would never consider a Chevy, Pontiac, Buick or Cadillac.
JIM
Hi everyone, and now, this goes for GM:
As the world’s biggest automobile seller, you have a responsibility with people and with the envoronment, so it’s time to get those hybrid vehicles out of the labs and begin selling them, they’ll be a clever replacement for conventional motors, but don’t make the mistake of the past, focus on offering fine affordable but good-quality vehicles, carrying the General Motors’ heritage and meeting today’s need for goooood mileage and low emissions. Apply these strategies and a rebirth will come, new plants will be opened, no more brands cut off, etc. etc.
I personally admit that I respect brands like Toyota, Nissan, VW, etc, because they’re making an effort and that’s giving results.
I’m impressed and encouraged at the latest GM designs and especially the Opel and Saturns. Do not let the bean counters take over again. Spend the extra few bucks a car and make the production versions as aggressive looking as the concepts. I love the Aura concept’s fenders but it looks like they got cut out of production version. This latest concept has some great details that I hope don’t get cut. The Astra just has to come over as the Ion replacement. I wouldn’t change the next Astra much as my bet is it will be the next Ion. How about an AWD Astra and maybe a WCC Rally competitor ! If you build it, they will come.
It is amazing how many people on here reply with the “please bring it to north america” when Bob has already stated it will be coming with a Saturn badge on it built in North America. The perception gap in the market is huge even with people who visit this site!! It is great you put this up to get direct feed back thought so you know what you are up against. Keep up the great work! You are going in the right direction on all fronts. One of the next steps needs to be a real minivan for Chevrolet. I am talking about a real minivan, all new, one that will beat and compete with the best in the market. It has to be a GFD though… in the words of the AUTOEXTREMIST! Peter D. Cheers!
A little off topic but I’d like to see the HHR modified (extended) to seat 7 or make a pickup bed on it for versatility. I do like the idea of Opels here but please build them here, NA needs the jobs and not leave the appearance that only the Japanese are creating jobs here. However it would be a good idea to bring a few rebadges over to test the market.
In regards to JIM’s earlier post:
Opel is not a premium brand. It’s about like calling Saturn a premium brand. You can try, but nobody will believe it. Just ask Volkswagen how the premium thing is going. Just because a car is from Europe does not make it a premium car. Opel should remain in it’s segment. A segment that it seems to compete in very well I might add.
Saturn does have something that Opel does not. A reputation that is actually pretty good. The dealer experience is second to none. Not only in sales but in service as well. It’s a place that people might go to try and avoid the numbers games that are played by most dealers these days. Then they discover that the cars are actually nicer and better built than they thought. Though I do agree that switching to metal bodies will make for more uniform panel fit, so that the uneven gaps can be eliminated. Still, the panel gaps on my ION are actually better than they were on my old ‘88 Sunbird. So they aren’t horrible by any means.
Building the new Vectra at the Saturn Plant that’s been making the old Vectra/L-Series is a no brainer. Likewise, making the new Astra/ION (or whatever) at Spring Hill is also a good idea. Though if the entire Opel line is coming here, I have no idea where the new Corsa and Tigra will be made for the US market.
Chris:
Opel is not a premium brand, you are right. But in Europe, “branding” works differently than we Yanks understand it. Opel sells vehicles that we would see as “Chevy” level as well as vehicles up into what we would see as “Cadillac” level, and Europeans see no problem with this.
Indeed, Mercedes and BMW make vehicles that are much “lower end” than most of us would think of as worthy of their names; Mercedes are very commonly used as taxicabs; and BMWs are the usual police cars.
Most Americans would never buy a $70,000 Honda – certainly not a Chevy. But Europeans might. To get around this, Honda in the U.S. sells its high-end cars as Acuras, the same cars that are badged as Hondas elsewhere.
As for Saturn versus Opel, I don’t think Opel – despite being “not a premium brand,” deserves to be compared with Saturn. There are low-end Opels, to be sure, but there are also very posh, very highly refined Opels that are simply light-years beyond anything that has ever worn the Saturn badge. To underscore, the former Cadillac Catera sport sedan was a re-badged previous-generation Opel Vectra.
Yes, the Saturn dealer experience is very good; that is probably the main reason Saturn sells ANY cars at all. [If Saturn's CARS were as good as their dealers - or their competition - I doubt anyone would buy anything else.] The cars aren’t bad; they just are so incredibly uninspiring, so AVERAGE! “Average” is OK if “OK” is all you want. But fortunately, one doesn’t HAVE to put up with just “OK,” even in this low-priced range. There are some really good products out there that are reliable, stylish, fun to drive and very affordable, such as Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, even the new Chevy Cobalt, all of which have better assembly quality, more appealing designs, more refined drive trains, better quality interiors and just a better, more enjoyable behind-the-wheel experience.
The ordeal of buying a car is something that nearly everyone complains about, but that ordeal IS SHORT! In hours – or at most, days – IT IS OVER! THEN you have to actually live with the da**ed car! Day-in, day-out, FOR YEARS! I have to ask myself, “Is it worth it to me to wear a hairshirt of a car like the Saturn Ion, just so I can get a more enjoyable dealer experience?” Sorry, the equation just doesn’t balance for me. I’ll suck it up, grit my teeth and face my scum-sucking, dirtbag Toyota (or Ford, or GM, or VW) salesperson for a short time, knowing that my reward will be a much better car that I will actually LIKE to drive and spend time in.
The thing is, my Toyota and VW dealers (dealers from whom I bought my current cars) are just not that bad! The “ordeal” was just not much of an ordeal at all. I think many dealers are feeling the pressure of increased competition for customers, so they are gradually cleaning up their acts. So Saturn’s main edge – their dealer experience – is becoming less important as dealers in general continue to improve.
Saturns are perfectly good appliances, but at what any new car costs these days, that just isn’t good enough for me. And from the sad look of Saturn sales figures, I don’t think it is good enough for many others, either.
looks great! But I hope GM listens to her customers in Asia – Opel could be a great name here – but some of its interiors are outdated, poor design & it does not have a basic door alert feature found in most cars today. E.g on the Opel Zafira MPV-the turbo button is located so close to the gear stick that it is almost always activated accidently on starting…there is no safety beep or alert when the door is not shut properly..a very basic feature that is missing (though it surprisingly has an old fashion mechanical switch found close to the swivel of each door …but they are not sensitive at all). Have been telling the Opel/GM folks here for years…but they sent nice response..I doubt if they brought it up at all. If only GM listens..before you bring this new model to anywhere, just compare it with any American or Japanese models…dont be surprised how primitive it still is. Could it be a surprise that all German models sells so well except the Opel?
If GM does re-align its brands as suggested, then 2 consequences follow:
1. some senior management positions overlap
2. a number of production facilities become redundant
With these redundancies, brand re-alignment would likely lead to civil war in the boardroom and layoffs on the order of what happened in the early 90’s.
There are ways to mitigate these effects, but no matter what they do there’ll be a lot of unpleasantness.
I’m not saying that the current strategy is right, but it’s understandable.
Build it! please! america needs a new mold-breaking design and configuration to regain market share.
Looks great! Bring it over here as is and slap a Saturn badge on it. Just make sure you put the right engine in it and not some underpowered, noisy, old-school 4-banger that doesn’t match up with competitor’s best offerings. This innovative vehicle would upgrade the Saturn portolio nicely with the upcoming additions of the Aura, Sky and the Lambda-based crossover. Just don’t wait until 2008 to make it happen – do it now!
Brian,
Great looking concept. I like the work you do. I saw you on the speed channel talking about Pontiac. GM has the stuff to really energize its brands.
Why not have this concept badged as the new Pontiac Vibe or a Saturn? Will there be an AWD version? How about one that appears more coupe like to top the Scion?
I’ll give you a thought starter. Make the car able to transport two surf boards. Advertise and show it in Laguna beach and put it in the Abercrombie and Fitch Catalog. Make a Saturn, a Pontiac, and a Cadillac version of it. And on the Cadillac, call it something basic like the C3 AWD. “C” for Cadillac with AWD, start the Cadillac verion in black, silver, and burnt orange, and call the burnt orange the “California” give away 3 years of free XM satelite radio with every lease. Co-op cell phone minutes with ONSTAR. One the Cadillac have all the plug-ins for for a full beach side sound system in the back and a place to keep your cooler in the back. Put a built in speed pass for the gas station and a built in sun pass for toll roads. Give it an mp3. And don’t go outrageous with the price. Sell conversion kits for the Saturn version. Make the Saturn in green, white, bronze. Make the Pontiac in yellow, red, silver, champaigne, and blue.
It seems like you would be the guy to come up with a competitor for the Scion. Don’t let Toyota get away with it. If Scion and Hyundai can come out of no where with attention getters, surely GM can do even better. The marketing has to be more intriguing and the product should generate rumors like “have you heard” and “have you seen” the new . . . GM needs to find creative ways to get the message out on new products.
The Solstice will definitely wake up the public, but then it will need to be followed up with momentum to keep people’s attention.
Its a little reminescent of the Infiniti FX, but I think the front looks better on this one. Dune-buggy-ish, but I like it.
weirving,
I agree that Saturns marketing is sadly lacking. The last gen Vectra/L300 is really long in the tooth, and the Aura will be a welcome vehicle. However, As a Saturn Owner (2004 ION 5 speed) I have to take exception to your notion that these cars are appliances. The 2.0 Volkswagens and the sub 2 liter Toyotas are less powerful, and considerably less fun to drive than my Saturn. I did almost buy the Mazda, but the pricing at the time meant that I could get far more features in the ION than I would have been able to get in a Mazda3. The Saturn was simply a better value. I think that Saturn may have gotten the appliance stigma because of the SL being offered for entirely to long. That car was an appliance, and I honestly did not like them. The ION is nothing like those old SL’s which has upset many Saturn “Loyalists” and gives people like me a fairly small, light weight car with a modern DOHC engine that makes more power standard than almost anyone else. I discount the Cobalt because it shares the same platform and many of its mechanicals with the ION. Unfortuntly it is styled to close to the cavalier that it replaced. Why GM retained a style that was already critisized as being dated I don’t know.
As for the Cataera, it was a rebadged Opel Omega with a few unique toys that the Opel didn’t have.
I drive a Opel Astra, its one of the best cars in his category.
Look by yourself:
http://www.astra4ever.net
dont be surprised how primitive it still is. Could it be a surprise that all German models sells so well except the Opel?
I did almost buy the Mazda, but the pricing at the time meant that I could get far more features in the ION than I would have been able to get in a Mazda3. The Saturn was simply a better value. I think that Saturn may have gotten the appliance stigma because of the SL being offered for entirely to long. That car was an appliance, and I honestly did not like them.
this twin turbo diesel engine needs to go to america.
two or four doors and hatch.
badge it as a buick or an opel.
its amazing…
The ordeal of buying a car is something that nearly everyone complains about, but that ordeal IS SHORT! In hours – or at most, days – IT IS OVER! THEN you have to actually live with the da**ed car! Day-in, day-out, FOR YEARS! I have to ask myself, “Is it worth it to me to wear a hairshirt of a car like the Saturn Ion, just so I can get a more enjoyable dealer experience?” Sorry, the equation just doesn’t balance for me. I’ll suck it up, grit my teeth and face my scum-sucking, dirtbag Toyota (or Ford, or GM, or VW) salesperson for a short time, knowing that my reward will be a much better car that I will actually LIKE to drive and spend time in.
American motorists may be interested…” H**l YES! Bring over the whole kit and kaboodle, lock, stock, and twintop. Opel should never have left. Opel, since it has more diversity in models, and enough panache to be considered as alternatives to pricier German imports, could easily outsell Saab here in the states.
Any idea on price range for UK?
I knew it!!! Way to go GM!!! Great Job!
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/10/opel-prices-antara-crossover-at-34-000/
please see my earlier comment:
Posted by: mike at September 17, 2005 03:10 PM
I’ve got an even better idea than Jon, bring the entire Opel line over here and instead of rebadging them as Saturn, just Oldsmobile the Saturn name and rebadge the remaing Saturns as Opels.
Saturn seems to be doing a 180 from their original creed of one price no haggle with the premium markups that Saturn dealers are extracting from Sky Redline orders.
Opel needs to come to America…
Teh GTC needs to be sold as a Chevy in America. It could also be sold as a Cadillac with some tweaking…
i love opel soooooooooooo much & i hope to have this amazing car