Saturn Enthusiasts Hopeful Brand Will Survive
Some of the most loyal car owners in America are those people who bought into the Saturn name, especially the very first owners of the S Series model line. Those compact cars were built at a Spring Hill, Tennessee factory and held high the banner that Saturn was, indeed, a different kind of car company.
Fast forward to 2009 and Saturn is no longer independent, but operating as one eight GM brands in America. Along with Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer and Saab, Saturn has to battle for fresh products, marketing dollars and customers. In GM’s current position, all three of those are sorely lacking.
GM To Shut Down Saturn
But the battle for Saturn may soon be over, perhaps as early as 2011 if GM’s restructuring plans unfold in the way that they want them to. In that scenario, GM would shut down Saturn, putting an end to a line of cars that is still admired by loyalists across America. GM has slim hopes that the brand will actually be sold off, but in the current economic climate, those hopes are likely to be dashed.
One scenario not being pushed by General Motors, rather being considered by Saturn’s dealer network is to once again take the brand independent.
Follow Me To Spring Hill?
No, the dealer group would probably not be able to reclaim the Spring Hill factory nor would they have access to GM’s vast engineering, technological and design departments. Instead, a revived Saturn could source cars from other manufacturers, perhaps turning to China to supply fresh product.
Why would dealers be interested in reclaiming Saturn? For the simple reason that Saturn dealers operate independently and would completely lose access to other GM products. In other words, they’d be left out in the cold if GM abandoned Saturn, potentially forcing hundreds of dealers to declare bankruptcy, putting tens of thousands of employees out of work.
Saturnalia, the Enthusiast Site
Reporting on these events is Saturnalia, a Saturn Fans site that I have tracked in the past, especially during the early part of this decade when I leased a 2001 L-Series. This group of enthusiasts has a petition on their site which is to tell GM to save Saturn, something that apparently is falling on deaf ears.
Without direct control over production, would a Saturn truly be a Saturn? Finding fresh product is one thing, but the work that must be done to ensure that a quality product is built according to spec can be daunting. Still, it’ll be interesting to watch how all of this unfolds, perhaps signaling an interesting change in the life of a different kind of car company.
Trackbacks
- The Auto Writer - MyBlogLog
- Saturn Enthusiasts Hopeful Brand Will Survive : reddit.com
- Taking Saturn Private Is One Option : The Auto Writer
- will saturn shut down their car line? - Dogpile Web Search
February 19th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Saturn is the only thing profitable at GM and to close it is a suicidal move on the part of GM.
as a loyal saturn driver / owner, I will continue to repair and restore my sl1 as long as it lasts. thank god it was made in springhill, and is a great quality vehicle, still.
RE Ausetkmts last blog post..Barbie’s Having a Birthday Party – and you’re invited
February 20th, 2009 at 6:40 am
Suicidal may explain it, RE! But, the patient is extremely ill and in need of taking desperate action. Personally, I think getting rid of some other brand would have been a better move, but GM is already closing or selling Saab and Hummer and scaling back on Pontiac.
Your SL1 and cars like it should last a long time and they’ll be no shortage of parts and support for the vehicle. Maybe a “new” Saturn would return to its roots and build a car like it again, this time without GM support.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Saturn cars are the worst ever. I went last summer to see the new sky, and I could not believe how badly made the car is. cheap plastic everywhere, tiny, tiny trunk as the top goes in the back. Cup holders in bizarre places. Pop the hood and you can behold the idiots and idiocy that is going into these pieces of junk. Black electricians tape is holding every wire in place; it looks like a backyard ghetto mechanic dropped the motor in. My mouth was agape. I have never been in an American car dealership before and have only driven german or asian cars, except rentals which were all rubbish.
The quality and mindset of American cars needs to change or go bankrupt.
Same with the union wages, I mean $63 bucks an hour or $120,000.00 a year to screw on parts???? (Canadian wages)
What a bunch of crap, the market and all the gains of the last 25 years are going down the tubes.
February 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Richard, I’m not too familiar with the quality on the Sky so I’ll take your word for it. The Saturn Aura, on the other hand, is a very good midsize sedan and has the history and awards to back that up. Maybe because it really is an Opel, but it is one car I would definitely buy.
GM is hit or miss with quality, while Chrysler is basically deplorable. Ford, on the other hand, has taken quite strides over the past several years, offering cars which are designed and engineered better and hold up longer.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
GM should be cutting brands. the first brands that should be completely shuttered and not sold are Hummer and SAAB, hopefully they are closed by 2011. Saturn then should follow in 2012 with a complete closure.
The reason why Buick-Pontiac-GMC should stay is because they act as one brand, under one dealership roof, with shared manufacturing and could actually be successful going forward. in the yr. 2000 each had substaintially higher market shares but have deviated from their core branding and message.
It will not cost GM a lot of money to close Hummer/SAAB/Saturn because their dealership footprint is extremely small. combined they have under 1,000 dealerships which minimizes lawsuits and allows dealers to be successfully bought out by the company. when Oldsmobile was shuttered in 2000 the brand has 2,800 dealers which made it significantly harder and more expensive to close.
Using that logic it should only cost GM $700 million dollars to completely unwind those three brands, which is a mire pittance when compared to the $ 30 billion dollar infusion it is about to recieve from the U.S. government to sustain their operations.
To sell Saab/Hummer/Saturn would be a big mistake, it would strengthen their competitors and not help to alleviate the over-branded U.S. market. competitiors will shift production and produce lower cost vehicles and use U.S. dealerships for their entry to the U.S market, this will overall be a major negative to GM in the long term.
It is costing GM more to keep those three brands than it would cost to buy out dealers and shutter those non-essential brands that combined only account for 1.8% of the U.S. market as of 2008, while the Nissan brand alone accounts for 6 times more market share, the writting seems to be on the wall for this one.
Buick right now seems in trouble, as well as pontiac but both brands can be saved by being relegated to importing successful international automobiles. Buick becomes an importer for some high end Opel cars to the U.S., while Pontiac could import most of the Holden Austrailia line under their Pontiac banner to the U.S. this would allow the entire Pontiac/Buick/GMC line to exist with little to no investment or upkeep from GM, which would allow GM to be able to focus on turning around/creating new products for both Cadillac and Chevrolet.
Internationall there are opportunities for consolidation as well. GM should absolutely retain Opel as they are integral to the company and will provide products and logistics for other divisions, my main recomendation would be to eliminate Vauxhall and rebrand it as opel, having that one brand for just Britain is a drain on the company and is an unneccesary cost that can be avoided. this will be a benefit to strengthen the Opel brand as well as cutting costs.
The same logic is used for allowing Holden Austrailia to take over the Daewoo division rebranding the entire division as Holden Worldwide, significantly slimming down their overlap and investment costs and capitalizing on the Holden name and logo.
these steps will get GM on the right track to completely reinvigorate their business and return to their core values while removing brands that severely drain cash from the company as well as massive overlap. by taking the above mentioned steps they will be better positioned to grow their market share in the U.S. and internationally and will be better able to understand and respond to market shifts and changes in consumer tastes. GOOD LUCK GM!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Did Gm deserve the bailout? You Ask me I would say NO.. why? When Honda and Toyota were out inventing new cars, GM was busy boasting about its pride and Showing off its hungry hungry Daughter the Hummer