• by Karl Greenberg , June 1, 2007

Saturn may be rolling out a fresh line-up of vehicles this year, but consumers visiting Saturn dealers this summer will be surprised by the pair of cars parked next to Saturn's Aura sedan: Toyota's Camry and Honda's Accord.

The effort, a retail version of the overtly competitive "Ford Challenge" campaign by its cross-town rival, lets consumers shopping Saturn's Aura test-drive the Camry and Accord, as well, when they visit Saturn.

The effort, called "Side by Side by Side," launches June 11, runs through July, and will be supported by national TV, print, direct mail, and point of purchase materials. Chevrolet is mulling a similar effort in support of its redesigned 2008 Malibu, on sale this fall.

Scott McLaren--formerly advertising manager, now managing both advertising and retail integration--says retailers will get national and regional media support from GM, but will have to acquire the cars themselves through retail purchase or rental. But he says most of Saturn's 435 dealers are on board. "Very few have suggested they may opt out," he says.

He says the TV ad is intended to suggest Saturn's glow of confidence, that the automaker can put not one but two competitors' cars against its own, in its own dealerships.

"If you look at the mid-sized sedan segment, our purpose has been to conquest sales--to reach consumers who might have defaulted to Toyota and Honda," he says.

By year's end the company will have also launched a new small car, Astra, a high-performance version of its Vue crossover, as well as a 2008 version of its hybrid-engine Vue.

In February, Saturn also announced an "at home" test-drive program that lets consumers test-drive Saturn vehicles at their convenience at their homes or offices, as well as a live-chat feature on its Web site that lets consumers speak with or chat with product specialists.