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Saturn Announces New 2006 Midsize Sedan to Replace Defunct L-Series

Saturn L200 and L300 Sedan Dropped Last Month Due to Slow Sales

Saturn wont have to wait as long as some analysts predicted for a new midsize replacement for its now deceased L-series sedan, a so reported The Detroit News yesterday, Monday, August 9, 2004.

GM directors confirmed plans to develop and produce its new midsize Saturn on the same architecture as the new Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6. Targeting 2005 as the year to launch the 2006 model year vehicle, Saturn will

GM has confirmed the new midsize Saturn will be built on the same architecture as the new Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 (shown). (Photo: General Motors)

be without a midsize sedan, the most popular and most competitive market segment in the U.S. auto industry, for at least a year.

The new Saturn will be built in GMs Fairfax, Kansas facility, pending negotiations with the local government for tax incentives, which now produces the

The new Saturn will most likely be built in GMs Fairfax, Kansas facility, which currently builds the Malibu and Malibu MAXX. (Photo: General Motors)

Malibu and Malibu MAXX, the latter a 5-door liftback version of the midsize Chevy. The Pontiac G6 plant in Orion, Michigan may also be available for Saturn production providing volume levels require expansion, but with G6 sales expecting to be strong, and sedan, coupe and hardtop convertible variants of the car expected, the plant could be fully utilized building the Pontiac alone.

Manufacturing Saturns outside of the nameplates Spring Hill, Tennessee plant and Wilmington plant near Newport, Delaware

Saturns upcoming Relay minivan was the first to be announced with steel body panels instead of the polymer panels the brand has become known for. (Photo: General Motors)

is part of a recent GM trend to more fully integrate the import-fighting brand into the domestic automakers fold, with hopes to increase build quality. Saturns upcoming Relay minivan was the first to be announced with steel body panels, replacing the polymer panels that all Saturns have featured as a unique buying proposition since the brands inception. The Relay will be built alongside the Buick Terrazza, Chevrolet Uplander and Pontiac Montana SV6 in GMs Doraville Assembly Plant near Atlanta, Georgia.

In the next 18 to 20 months, GM will announce plans to increase Saturns product offensive twofold, from its current three model lineup to six. Some analysts expect a sport coupe based on the Curve concept to be one of the production announcements.

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