Shoppers will be able to compare the Camry and Accord to the Saturn Aura and, shortly, to the new Chevrolet Malibu as well.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you want to test drive a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, starting next month you'll be able to do it at a Saturn dealership. General Motors is asking Saturn dealers to have one or more of the competing models in the showroom so customers can look at it, sit in it and drive it.

Of course, Saturn dealers can't sell you an Accord or Camry. But they hope that, when you see a Toyota or Honda sedan next to the Saturn Aura, you'll decide to buy the Aura.

"In that side-by-side comparison, we come out really well," said Mark LaNeve, head of North American sales and marketing for General Motors.

Later this year, Chevrolet dealers will be doing the same thing as they introduce customers to the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu, which shares its engineering platform with the Aura.

In focus group research, GM has shown potential customers new GM models next to competing vehicles with all brand identifications removed and, said LaNeve, customers have reacted well to the GM products.

Another advantage for GM dealers in having competing products on site is that customers may not need to set foot in a competing dealership before making a purchase decision.

"I think we can stand up to the comparison," said Wade Hoyt, a Toyota spokesman.

Auto salespeople always research the competition, he said, and prepare advantageous comparisons to offer customers considering another product.

"They talk down the competition all the time," said Hoyt, "so this is just taking it one step further"

According to industry newspaper Automotive News, sales for the Saturn Aura, which was voted Car of the Year by automotive journalists in January, 2007, have been disappointing for GM.

Part of the reason GM is willing to take this step, said LaNeve, is because the company has little to lose. Midsized sedan shoppers often don't even consider GM products, he said, instead going straight to Honda and Toyota dealers.
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are now the two best-selling cars in America.

"Over the course of a few years that became the default choice," said LaNeve.

GM has sold about 48,400 of the current version of the Malibu so far this year. Meanwhile, Toyota has sold 145,000 Camrys.

GM wouldn't even consider doing something like this with its SUVs, said LaNeve. GM currently holds about a 70 percent market share in large SUVs, so there would be little to gain from bringing Toyota Sequoias into Chevrolet dealerships to compare to the Tahoe.
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Ok if Saturn dealers put the top two best-selling cars in America in their own showroom for comparison purposes, they think the customer will reach out for the Aura instead? I don't even know where to begin with this.
This is one of the ballsiest stunts I've ever heard about from any business standpoint. I guess when you've hit rock-bottom like Saturn, you have little to lose.
I think this is absolutely hilarious and will likely break Saturn more than make them.
Saturn

It is balls, that's for sure.

Bold!

Like the article says, "What do they have to lose?" It doesn't sound like that bad of an idea to me.

Exactly. It's not like someone is gonna be shopping for a Saturn, look over and see an Accord, and be like, "Oh my God! What is that beautiful car? I must have it!!" Toyota and Honda kill everybody in the mid sized sedan market, so if you think your product stands up against it (which it can't possibly lol) then why not try it? The announcement of this alone being on the news is a lot of great free advertising.

I doubt it'll have too much impact, but its definitly a balls out move.

Saturn did quite well when GM let them be an independent entity. I loved my Saturn.

although a test drive might be better in a malibu, i'm pretty sure you could put 900,000 miles on a honda and never have a problem with it (as long as you rotate the tires and change the oil)

The Ford Fusion is killing the Malibu, Accord and Camry right now in all the independent testing. Funny how GM didn't put a Fusion in their showrooms.

i'm a new yorker and haven't owned a car for about 10 years. That being said, even if someone removed the decals of the cars in a show room, i'd be able to identify the honda versus the saturn. and i'd assume that if i was shopping for a car, i'd have done some serious research to look at all the different cars out there within that car class.

but it was said in the article that they are desperate. so good luck to them.

The Saturn doesn't have to be better than a Camry or an Accord, it just has to be not so much worse that someone would want to drive to another dealership.

And surely they know whether they are or not from reviewing independent testing data.

You could put a Saturn next to a steaming pile of elephant dung on a skateboard and i'm pretty sure i'd buy the dung.

BUT!!! Would you leave the Saturn dealership to go across town to the dung dealership

I think not!

What's so bad about Saturns? I knew a couple people who bought Saturns when they first came out, and really liked the cars. Do they suck now or something?

I don't know about you B, but if I'm going to invest tens of thousands of dollars into something, I better make sure I know what I'm getting. If you're too lazy to go across town to another dealership, then you obviously don't take car shopping too seriously.

Besides the fact that i don't like the look of them, a friend of mine has owned both a Vue and an Ion and neither seems to be very well made. Several major drivetrain components failed on the Vue mere weeks after the warranty period ended. I also don't think that their level of service is any better than their competitors, and being that it's something they've built their reputation on that doesn't really sit right with me. The only thing i've seen is that they invite her to the dealership for BBQ's every now and then.

Aren't we just making jokes about buying dung??

I probably don't even go to a dealership unless I have a good idea of the car I want anyhow. Rumor is, that's how most American's do it anyhow. We've done all our work online.

This is a neat promotion that will probably get them some press, but I doubt it changes many minds. It's not really any different than the fact that my local Nissan dealership also has used cars, so if I wanted to try a competing model, they have them on the lot AND they're for sale!!