GM Daewoo to Begin Selling Roadster ‘G2X’

[skybuy]

GM Daewoo to Begin Selling Roadster ‘G2X’

GM Daewoo Chief Executive Officer Michael Grimaldi, right, poses with models beside the “G2X” roadster in a photo session after the press conference launching the new model in Yeongjong-do island, Incheon, Thursday.

/ Korea Times

By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

YEONGJONG-DO, Incheon _ GM Daewoo Auto & Technology said Thursday that it will begin selling its new ``G2X'' roadster, the famous Saturn Sky with a different badge, from next month. GM Daewoo aims to sell more than 400 units of the vehicle a year.

With young local motorists pursuing both speed and style as their main target, the G2X (Go to Extreme) is a two-seat sports car, which was first unveiled in South Korea at last year's Busan Motor Show.

Saturn Sky is the world's renowned roadster manufactured by Saturn Corp., a sister company of the U.S. auto giant General Motors. GM Daewoo, South Korea's third-largest automaker, is owned by GM and its partners.

``Now our customers here will see the most exciting new product in GM Daewoo's short five-year history: the hot, sizzling, new G2X,'' GM Daewoo Chief Executive Officer Michael Grimaldi said in a launching ceremony on Yeongjong island, west of Seoul.

GM Daewoo said that the re-badged version of the Saturn Sky roadster will be sold with the G2X mark in the South Korean market starting Sept. 1 for 43.9 million won ($46,600).

The G2X features a 2-liter, V4, 264 hp engine with turbocharger. Gasoline direct injection accelerates the roadster to 100 km per hour from a standing start in just 5.5 seconds. Only a five-speed automatic transmission is available, for now.

``The G2X is a classic roadster with abundant power and breathtaking acceleration. Hence, it will offer true sports car performance and an exhilarating driving experience,'' Grimaldi said in a statement.

GM Daewoo officials said the introduction of the G2X is a good example of GM Daewoo's synergy effect as a family member of GM. Lee Hyun-il, executive director for marketing, said the company has a sales target of 400 units per year.

But the newcomer has already found itself in a controversy over its price _ it sells for $46,600 in South Korea, almost double the price of $26,000-$29,000 in the United States.

Another controversy is over the ``nationality'' of the model. Though it will carry the badge of GM Daewoo, industry sources point out that the G2X should be categorized as an ``imported'' vehicle.

``We cannot disclose the concrete cost structure. But we think the price is not that high when dealer margins as well as various taxes and tariffs are taken into account,'' a GM Daewoo official said on condition of anonymity.

[Rick Tinley Park]

Hey the rest of the world is catching up!
We've been waiting for this to happen for almost a year.

[mbeardsley]

If they are only selling 400 a year, it seems like a waste of time and money to me.

When you add in all the "setup" costs (dealer training, advertising, etc), I don't see how they can make much profit off of 400 cars.

I guess they see this as sort of establishing a "beachhead" for future models.

[SkyMan 08]

Is that an official press release, if so they don't know squat ...

The G2X features a 2-liter, V4 264 hp engine ,with turbocharger. Gasoline direct injection accelerates the roadster to 100 km per hour from a standing start in just 5.5 seconds. Only a five-speed automatic transmission is available, for now.

[07Redlinedriver]

it sells for $46,600 in South Korea, almost double the price of $26,000-$29,000 in the United States.

How is that almost double the price?

[07Redlinedriver]

Maybe for that price, the girls come with the car...

[Blue Sky]

At the Mecca Tour in May we saw daewoos being run down the line.

Blue

[plausibledenial]

Originally Posted by mbeardsley

If they are only selling 400 a year, it seems like a waste of time and money to me.

When you add in all the "setup" costs (dealer training, advertising, etc), I don't see how they can make much profit off of 400 cars.

I guess they see this as sort of establishing a "beachhead" for future models.

I think you're right in that it's even more of a halo product for Daewoo than it is for Saturn. Even if all the cars do is get people paying attention to Daewoo, then they've done their job. It's an image thing, and I'm guessing that they'd even be prepared to take a financial loss on the cars if there is an perceptual gain in the brand's visibility and placement in people's minds.

Saturn splashes the Sky on alot of their marketing, but they only sell 10K of them a year. With all the setup costs you mentioned, it doesn't make sense to do all that just to sell a few cars. But someone posted an article this morning from the NYT saying that Saturn's sales have been up the most of all the GM brands. The Sky's purpose is to make the consumer say 'hmm, that's a Saturn?' or something similar, and get them into a Saturn showroom. From there, they see the Vue, or the Aura, or something that better fits their needs, and off they go in that. Really, we just advertise for Saturn - good thing that it's a damn fun job.

With that said, does Daewoo have a no-haggle policy? Because if not, I'm guessing the markups on those 400+ cars are going to be steep.

[Kustomkaps]

Originally Posted by 07Redlinedriver

it sells for $46,600 in South Korea, almost double the price of $26,000-$29,000 in the United States.

How is that almost double the price?

Usually it's the taxes. While the USA generally puts a fair tax on the import cars coming here, Asian countries will put a hefty tax on our cars going there. Also, there can be fees concerning "craftmanship" and "safety" issues where the our cars are taken apart for inspection in the other country prior to allowing it to be sold. They then tack on the costs involved in 'inspecting' to the car prices for the public.
We don't live in an even world of markets.

[OPEL-GT]

found a few g2x links on you tube

and though you might like to watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHUz...elated&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiWPN...related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4gs0...related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAQU...related&search=


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mQTz...related&search=



Enjoy

[whitefang]

Great video!

[OlSkyDriver]

Originally Posted by mbeardsley

If they are only selling 400 a year, it seems like a waste of time and money to me.

When you add in all the "setup" costs (dealer training, advertising, etc), I don't see how they can make much profit off of 400 cars.

I guess they see this as sort of establishing a "beachhead" for future models.

Anything in South Korea that cost 43.9 million won, is not going to fly out the door. So if they do sell all 400, they will be doing real good.

[Sunny Ragtop]

The youtube.com video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiWPN...related&search=
makes me want to buy one...Oh yeah..I ALREADY DID!!

[Mickey]

the thing about koreans, they will buy it and treat those cars so well like us here in the states. In my opinion they will sell there especially to the teenagers and 20-30 year olds there.

[SkyBaby]

WOW...... great looking car.... SkyBaby

[OPEL-GT]

more advertising for G2X

Sanders - a member of the GT forum in Germany recently posted the following G2X commercials.

YouTube - g2x car animation

YouTube - car animation

though I would share with you guys.

[Lil GTO]

could there be some translation errors or typos?

maybe it is supposed to be 400 a month - or 4000 a year.