A Camry, Accord for Every Saturn Showroom

A Camry, Accord for Every Saturn Showroom

Beginning today, General Motors' Saturn division will have in its showrooms a Toyota Camry and Honda Accord to test- drive against the Saturn Aura .

"This is a statement of confidence,” Scott McLaren, Saturn’s field and sales advertising manager, said in an interview with AutoObserver. “The Aura stands tall as the 2007 North American Car of the Year. We think this is the best light for it to be shown to the consumer.”

The side-by-side-by-side test-drive officially runs through July 31, though Saturn dealers, who are responsible for obtaining the Camry and Honda for their showrooms, can continue it, said McLaren.

Chevrolet is considering a similar program for the fall when it launches the redesigned Malibu. Chevy is contemplating having a Camry, the nation’s best-selling car and the Malibu’s prime competitor, in its showrooms for test-drives against the Malibu.

National advertisements promoting the test-drive program begin today. They will be accompanied by a host of other materials, from digital placements to direct mail pieces to point of sale tools.

While Saturn dealers risk having shoppers preferring the Camry and Honda over the Aura, Saturn isn’t worried. Getting buyers into the dealership, where they are pampered in a way that Toyota and Honda customers are not, will be a strong selling point.

“This takes the shopping experience from three dealerships to one –- and that’s ours,” said McLaren. “We’re making it easy to experience the Aura to people who might have just defaulted to the Camry and Accord. Plus they will have a taste of the Saturn experience, which we think will win them over.”

Saturn has done a number of innovative things of late to promote the brand, which has been introducing new models at the rate of one every four months for the past two years, and specifically to promote its Aura.

In January, when the Aura won the North American Car of the Year award, Saturn passed the trophies around to Saturn owners and featured their experiences and the award in its advertising. In March, Saturn launched an at-home test-drive program whereby a consumer could request a Saturn be brought to his/her home, workplace or other location by his/her local Saturn store for a test-drive. Saturn.com is hosting live online chats 24/7 to promote the brand’s new models.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.