GM Announces Aggressive Prices on Saturn Cars

General Motors Corp. on Thursday announced an “aggressive pricing strategy and warranty package” for its long-awaited Saturn compact cars, with base prices for the new line starting at $7,995 and ranging up to $11,775 for a sporty, two-door coupe.

The least expensive model, a four-door sedan, will get 37 miles per gallon of gasoline in highway driving and 27 miles per gallon in the city, GM said.

“The market has been waiting for Saturn for some time, and these prices put us at a distinct competitive advantage against imports,” GM president Lloyd E. Reuss said Thursday night at a meeting of Saturn dealers in Nashville, Tenn.

GM will unveil the four new models publicly for the first time next Thursday at Saturn’s final assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tenn. All four are powered by a new 1.9-liter, four-cylinder aluminum engine.

To counteract consumer resistence to an unproven model, Saturn will offer a warranty package that includes a three-year/36,000-mile warranty with no deductible and a money-back “charter buyer” guarantee that allows original buyers of 1991 models to return them for a full refund within 30 days or 1,500 miles if dissatisfied.