• Detroit Free Press , Thursday, December 4, 2008 11 AM

General Motors will "explore alternatives" for Saturn, the niche brand that Mark Phelan says "was born in hope and hype nearly 25 years ago." GM chairman Roger Smith created it in the 1980s to reinvent the way GM did business, but most observers expect that it will be closed or sold.

Saturn's newest vehicles have garnered positive reviews but they're not connected with consumers. The Saturn Aura midsize sedan was named North American Car of the Year, and the Outlook and Vue crossovers, Solstice roadster and Astra compact have all won plaudits. But Saturn sold just 240,091 cars in 2007 -- about 30% fewer sales than the Chevrolet Impala alone accounted for - and sales are down 20.9% so far this year.

Tom Walsh, Phalen's colleague at the Freep, writes: "Is it just me, or does anyone else think the new General Motors Corp. survival plan sounds less like a strategic playbook and more like a desperate no-huddle offense in football, with the quarterback scrambling and changing plays on the fly?" In making the assessment, Walsh tosses in GM's announcement that Saab is for sale, that Pontiac will become a niche nameplate and "'Oh, and the corporate airplanes are all being sold.'"

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