• by Fara Warner , December 11, 2006

General Motors Corp.'s Saturn division is shelving the Ion nameplate and will adopt the Astra nameplate from Opel, the company's European division, on three- and five-door hatchbacks it will import from Europe next year to round out Saturn's product lineup.

The Astra will share more than a name with the European car, which has been selling well against Toyota Corollas and Honda Civics in Europe. The Saturn Astras will be virtually the same vehicle as the Opels, except for a different grill featuring the Saturn logo.

Saturn already has shelved the Relay nameplate for its crossover vehicle. A new crossover will be named the Outlook. The "L" nameplate, shorthand for large car and itself an Opel import, was replaced by the new Aura last year.

The Saturn Astra was unveiled at a GM event in Detroit last week as part of GM's efforts to explain how it plans to use brands, marketing and design to continue the company's turnaround, which has been created mostly from a massive cost-cutting effort that has taken $9 billion in structural costs out of the company.

"We are just as committed to the revenue side of the business," said G. Richard Wagoner, the company's chairman and CEO, as he opened the event. "We're focusing less on the deal and more on the true competitiveness of our vehicles in design, fuel economy and technology."

In GM's new global structure, Saturn and Opel have been paired to collaborate on vehicles that can be sold both in the U.S. and abroad. "We realized that Opel and Saturn's positioning were so similar that it actually made sense," said Saturn's General Manager Jill Lajdziak.

She said Opel's European-inspired design also gives Saturn a better chance of reaching its target customers--import buyers who aren't normally drawn to GM products.

The new products, such as Aura and the Skye roadster, do seem to be making a difference at Saturn. Saturn's sales are up 3.6% in the first 11 months of 2006 to 205,689.

Lajdziak said a new body of advertising will come out next year under the tagline introduced in April: "Like Always. Like Never Before." Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco handles the account.

Saturn will continue to focus on events and grassroots marketing, such as art fairs and design events, she said. Also look for a greater emphasis on customer service, which was one of the original brand promises of Saturn when it was launched in 1990.

"We are going to take customer handling to the next level," Lajdziak promised.