re new saturn argument in article c p m o noose ecn purdue edu rjwade rainbow ecn purdue edu robert j wade writes ok how about this to argue about why does the sl have a much lower base price than the sc it s over k cheaper i forget the exact amount doesn t it cost more to have the extra doors windows locks motors etc that are in the door perhaps it is just a marketing deal people want the door so they will pay the extra k ok here s what i understand the sl sl sl sw sw was meant to compete with the following cars honda civic toyota tercel sl sl toyota corolla sl sl nissan sentra mazda protoge subaru loyale impreza isuzu stylus geo prizm ford escort mercury tracer mistubishi mirage plymouth dodge colt their core competition is the civic corolla and sentra most of the other models are in the same class but aren t the first cars you would think of i threw in the escort tracer because it has a good amount of japanese technology and has similar reliability stats i didn t include domestic small cars such as the cavalier sunbird shadow sundance tempo and topaz since i think saturn is going after cars that have at least some degree of japanese roots the sc sc was meant to compete against the following cars toyota paseo honda civic si civic coupes del sol si nissan nx nx mazda mx isuzu impulse geo storm ford escort gt if you look at the prices of these cars they re more expensive than they re door counterparts the is good reason for this it is a more upscale and trend driven market even though many of these models are based on sedan platforms their interior etc is good enough to warrant slightly higher prices here are some of the platform derivations i can think of tercel paseo sentra nx nx civic del sol mx not sure on this one stylus impulse storm to illustrate a tercel starts at around while the paseo starts at around even a door tercel will cost less than a door paseo now you might be saying that the tercel doesn t offer the power that some doors offer what i mean is that there is no dr tercel with a comparable powerplant as its sport coupe derivative let s take another example the isuzu stylus xs and impulse xs storm gsi both have the same powerplants a l hp engine but the smaller dr coupes are generally more expensive again this is because the two door sport coupe market is a more fashion oriented and trend setting segment people are willing to pay more money for this type of car in short even though the sc sc may be smaller hence less car it s market orientation dictates a slightly higher price than its mechanically equivalent sedan sl sl version i hope this clears things up a bit mihir shah
