GM's struggling brands: Room for hope

If Hummer is GM's Terminator, Saturn is GM's Peter Pan. It's always traded on its reputation for friendly sales and service and fuel-friendly cars.

Saturn has been working on changing that image...a little. Without doing away with the "No haggle, no hassle" sales policy, the cars themselves have gotten a lot more aggressive looking.

For now, Saturn has what GM calls an "awareness problem." The type of cars Saturn dealers sell now, like the sporty Sky and the large Outlook crossover SUV, just aren't vehicles people expect from Saturn, says GM spokesman John McDonald.

But even the critically acclaimed Aura sedan, which shares its underpinnings with the popular Chevy Malibu, hasn't been flying out of dealerships. Tellingly, GM's recent sales incentive push included the Aura, but not the Malibu.

Tom Libby thinks this is one brand GM should lose. "I think they should merge Saturn with Chevrolet," he suggests.

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