Slate & Saturn- Similar Histories so far

[ScooterAsheville]

I remember Saturn. All sorts of La La Land PR (which GM specializes in) about how revolutionary the body panel tech was. A lot of people loved their Saturns, and then the joint venture died on the vine.

People always forget that OEMs have to make money. That's why Slate will live or die. Not because they do or don't make a nice little BEV truck. But because it does or does not make money.

 

[AZFox]

People always forget that OEMs have to make money. That's why Slate will live or die. Not because they do or don't make a nice little BEV truck. But because it does or does not make money.

The two are closely related.

 

[bloo]

You think Slate and Saturn are similar because people on an internet forum are asking similar questions now as they were nearly 30 years ago? And that they are supposed to be lower priced vehicles?

About the only thing they have in common is 4 wheels and a name that starts with an S.

This is some low quality bot F.U.D.

Well... the plastic body panels, too.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

>> The two are closely related.


Well, I would say one is a prerequisite for the other. But only one of several prerequisites. You can (and many do) make appealiing product and fail. And this is historically the 99.9% result in the auto industry, as any auto historian will gleefully tell you in a five hour long talk on an endless list of auto industry startup failures.

 

[bartflossom]

Speaking of plastic cheap car startups, anyone remember the Dale?

 

[Kopsis]

I was around when Saturn started 40 years ago. Were you?

I was. And growing up in Michigan with family in the auto industry, I was probably more keenly aware of it than many.

The big difference between Saturn and Slate is that Saturn was never really about the cars. GM divisions at the time were still firmly entrenched in manufacturing "the Detroit way". Attempts to push them toward Japanese manufacturing (and sales) methods repeatedly hit massive resistance from both unions and division corporate leadership. Saturn was meant to be a wakeup call: If you won't adapt, you'll have to compete with a division that does. Once it served its purpose of scaring the other divisions into modernization, GM had little incentive to keep it alive.

 

[Sandman614]

People always forget that OEMs have to make money. That's why Slate will live or die. Not because they do or don't make a nice little BEV truck. But because it does or does not make money.

I don't think people forget this. I think people forget that profitability doesn't have to happen on day one. People on here seem to act like if Slate doesn't turn a huge profit on every vehicle and immediately sells every single one they produce then it will be out of business by the middle of 2027. Tesla operated at a loss for a decade, look at it now.

 

[E90400K]

I don't think people forget this. I think people forget that profitability doesn't have to happen on day one. People on here seem to act like if Slate doesn't turn a huge profit on every vehicle and immediately sells every single one they produce then it will be out of business by the middle of 2027. Tesla operated at a loss for a decade, look at it now.

Yeah, but Tesla was over-valued by Wall Street (still is IMO), was creating revenue via carbon credit sales and there was near zero competition in the marketplace. Had there been 5 or 6 of the legacy automakers sucking up all that over-valued investment dollars along with Tesla, Tesla too would have died on the vine. It's a completely different investment environment now.

Slate is going to need deep pockets to rely on years 1 and 2.