By Jim Brennan

UDMan

What started out as a division with a cult-like following ended up another irrelevant brand within the GM hierarchy. This is the story of how GM fumbled a golden opportunity to reinvent itself over the last 20+ years.

Almost twenty years ago, a new division was launched within the behemoth General Motors empire, and its purpose was to bring back disenfranchised buyers who refused to shop at Chevy, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Buick dealerships. The division was named Saturn, and it was going to be run differently than any other GM division. The premise of the Saturn brand was very simple, they did not share anything with GM; the cars were exclusively Saturn, the power train was exclusively Saturn, the manufacturing plant was exclusively Saturn, and the dealerships were stand alone Saturn stores. You could not find one GM logo connected to the entire brand when it was launched, right down to the keys. But one thing that stood out in the consumers mind was how they were treated at the dealerships with its no-haggle pricing policy and low pressure sales tactics. So how did a division with so much promise become the also ran within GM in less than 20 years? Read more of my piece at Automotive Traveler.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Penske cited “concerns directly related to the future supply of vehicles beyond the supply period it had negotiated with GM.” GM then announced plans to shut down the brand. Full story at the New York Times

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

It looks like the acquisition of Saturn by the Penske Group will be finalized this September. It looks like all the dealers will remain independent, but will have to sign a new dealer agreement with the new owners. So, why is this of any interest to the CarDomain reader? With the closing of the GM Facility that produced the Saturn Sky (along with the Pontiac Solstice), I though it would be prudent to see what the new Saturn product offerings might look like. So come along with me on a voyage of discovery, and see if the magic crystal ball is working.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Pure Speculation: Saturn's New Models After the Roger Penske Takeover" »