Newsweek: Saturn was Supposed To Save GM Instead, GM crushed Saturn. Here's how.

[Perian]

Link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/192458

Saturn was Supposed To Save GM Instead, GM crushed Saturn. Here's how.

It's hard to remember a time when the top man at GM was the most celebrated industrialist in America, maybe even the world. But that was the case on Jan. 8, 1985, when Roger B. Smith convened a press conference in Detroit to make what he billed a "historic announcement."

Smith was a man given to grand gestures. The pink-cheeked, squeaky-voiced executive, once branded the "cherubic chairman" by BusinessWeek, who had taken the helm in 1981, had already ordered a sweeping reorganization of GM's unwieldy structure. He'd also made bold investments in robotics, space satellites and data processing—buying whole companies, like Ross Perot's Electronic Data Systems, and Hughes Aircraft Co., instead of merely contracting for their services.

But on this wintry day in Detroit, Smith would make his biggest gamble yet: unveiling the Saturn, GM's first new brand in 70 years. More than just a car, it would be a stand-alone subsidiary—using innovative technology by workers and managers engaged in unprecedented joint decision making. "Saturn is the key to GM's long-term competitiveness, survival and success," Smith said. Its mission: "to develop and produce an American-made small car that will be fully competitive with the best of the imports … [and] affirm that American ingenuity, American technology and American productivity can once again be the model and the inspiration for the rest of the world."

Smith was making Saturn not just a car but a crusade, and the country rushed to join. GM was inundated with thousands of unsolicited job applications. Seven governors went on "The Phil Donahue Show" to plead publicly for the Saturn plant to be located

in their state. More than a dozen others trekked to Detroit to state their case in person. Smith eventually decided to put the plant in the bucolic Tennessee hamlet of Spring Hill—some 45 miles south of Nashville, and nearly 500 miles from the ossified traditions of Detroit that the chairman wanted to shake to their very core.

Twenty-four years later, Smith has passed away, and his dream is in shambles. GM is fighting for its life; its CEO, Rick Wagoner, was ousted by the federal government as part of a bailout effort that may yet involve bankruptcy and billions more in taxpayer dollars. The Obama administration is contemplating splitting GM in two, dividing the "good" from the "bad"—a plan that, if adopted, would essentially treat Saturn as a toxic asset to be sold off like so much subprime mortgage debt.

GM has 60 days to submit a new plan to the White House, but its first one called for Saturn to be phased out by 2011, unless a "Hail Mary" play by its dealers to buy the brand succeeds, or a better alternative can be found.

The plant in Spring Hill, once a place where giddy owners traveled from all over to meet the folks who made their beloved cars, no longer produces Saturns, cranking out Chevys instead on the days when it is on line at all.


Article continues at link.

[mgescuro]

I'll always remember my first car fondly.
1991 Saturn SL2.

If current and former Saturn owners are like me, they will follow Saturn, whether they become independent or remain with GM in some form or are absorbed by some other carmaker.

Saturn was more than a car. It was an experience and a lifestyle.
GM simply didn't know how to deal with it. Chevrolet played internal politics and managed to starve Saturn to death.

Saturn deserves a better life than this. And GM deserves to fail due to continued mismanagement, instead of recognizing what was really working at Saturn and letting it filter across the company.


Love this paragraph...

The Japanese were, in fact, a little worried. "We felt they had the opportunity to heal a lot of [GM's] wounds," recalls Gary Convis, a former senior U.S. manufacturing executive for Toyota, "and to be a very successful company." But when Honda engineers bought a Saturn and disassembled it, their fears abated. The dashboard had overlapping plastic panels that made it look cheap, and a harsh-sounding engine that stemmed from inferior motor mounts. The plastic-polymer doors, billed as a unique feature that wouldn't get dinged in parking lots, fit poorly. Again and again the surprised engineers exclaimed shinjirarinai, a term that means "unbelievable."

Unbelievable. But not unexpected.

[Z28x]

Originally Posted by Perian

Its mission: "to develop and produce an American-made small car that will be fully competitive with the best of the imports …

That isn't the Saturn of 2008, what made them change their minds?

Saturn had given up on small American cars in 2008 and gave up on the "fully competitive with the best of the imports" with the Ion.

edit: (ok, I guess the sky is small and American)

[StormHunter77]

Well, I'm a Saturn owner...second. I am a GM owner first. If Saturn goes, I will not buy another one, especially if it goes to a Chinese company. I LOVE my Aura, but I don't think I can look at it the same if Saturn goes to a foreign company. Mine was made in Kansas. They money I paid for it stayed in America. It's solid, well-built, and looks great.

Now if only I can get my warranty honored at one of the local GM dealerships since all of the Saturn dealerships shut down here. Anyone know of any amazing deals on an Acadia?

[FoMoCo Fan]

The problem with Saturn is that its mission statement became obsolete:
"Its mission: "to develop and produce an American-made small car that will be fully competitive with the best of the imports"

Saturn in 2002 no longer could
1) Build only small cars
2) Honestly compete with the imports, let alone the "best" of them
3) Have its sole raison d'etre as an "import fighter" - as long as GM had its other mainstream divisions, which needed even more than Saturn, to take on the Honda Toyota juggernaut.

[peterj2706]

I looked at Saturns a couple of times over the years. Each time I came away disgusted with the poor quality, fit and finish (except the Outlook and Aura - just too expensive vs. the competition). When I can stick my thumb between the front fender and door it just does not have a chance. I drove a new one once (my wife really liked the look), and it was already rattling, had a rough engine and the radio didn't work. After we noted how this was like the Vega she had before, she agreed and we shopped elsewhere.

This division has been a drain on GM from day one, and I imagine the dealers do want them to stay around. They were subsidised by GM on every car they sold. And since they were sold with no haggle pricing, I bet the dealers pockets were very full indeed. Good ridance, no one else will be dumb enough to pour money into that pit.

[member12]

I still can't believe that someone sees fit to keep Buick and Pontiac over Saturn.

Saturn is closer to a blank slate, much like Hyundai. With the right investment and a little patience, it would be tops.

Sure, GM invested in the brand in 2003 and later, but produced only re-badges (although very good ones) and expected to build rome in just a few years.

Originally Posted by peterj2706

This division has been a drain on GM from day one, and I imagine the dealers do want them to stay around. They were subsidised by GM on every car they sold.

And anyone who says that Saturn "drained GM" is full of it. EVERY one of their new products are badge jobs, cost shared with markets across the world. How much does it cost to make a Saturn? Not much...the car is already there, all it needs are the brand details.

It was political, and it shows how out of touch GM's board and management are. GM needs to look outside of the midwest and outside of what their failing rural and suburban dealerships are demanding.

Pontiac and Buick are epic failures today. Why are they alive at the expense of Saturn, since the brand name themselves are just as big of a problem as their inferior products.

[96_impala_ss]

The sad part is some of the things that dragged Saturn down, has also dragged down the other 10 GM divisions.

UAW, Internal competition for money, Me too dealerships, etc.

Was there really a need for a
Olds Cutlass Calais/Achieva, Pontiac Grand AM, and Buick Skylark when one could have done the job? The 80's model were blatant rebadges of each other. Sure in the 90's they were a little bit distinguishable but still.

Was there really a need to sell a Cavalier and a Sunbird/Sunfire? Besides the headlights the cars were the same.

Did Olds really have to "die"?

That could have been prevented. But we still see it now.

Why does Chevy have a Lambda when Buick, GMC, and Saturn already have it. Was it really that nessesary to put out 4 versions of the same car? I do get they have distinct features but was it really necessary? I mean to some people how do u justify a Acadia with a Enclave? Arent they both "luxury"?

Was there really a need to make Geo?
In reality what Geo did was help Toyota, Isuzu, and Suzuki. If i recall when they shut down Geo they had a hard time justifying a Prizm over a Cavalier. I believe they had to market the Cavalier as a "top of the line" compact.

How hard would it been to take the S10 platform and shorten it to make the Tracker than rebadge the Sidekick/Samurai? Really, was there even a point in selling the Tracker? I rarely see one of those anymore.

In all reality if they would have kept GM as the holding company with each brand being a division I dont think GM would be in this mess to begin with.
Chevy makes a profit they live on Pontiac nears bankruptcy, hey your on your own.
There shouldnt be a reason why the failure of one brand brings down everyone.

Im not against platform sharing, but I am against stupid decisions like rebadging the same car across all your brands, or insufficient funding of one brand and proliferation of money to another.

As far as Saturn, I think it lost its vision when Smith left. Saturn could have easily thrived if they had more money to update the SL2. Another thing i think is that if Saturn was like what Scion is now it wouldnt be in the position it is now.

My 2 cents on the whole thing.

[jry]

Tell ya what.
That new ad makes my wife and i sad. That line "we build cars that americans want" makes you want to cry.
Every time that ad airs, my wife says, "Saturns are great cars". Frankly, our L100 which is relegated to taking the dog around (he gets the whole back seat), being towed behind the bus and when my daughter needs good gas mileage on a long trip, is doggone bullet proof. It sits for weeks, starts up immediately and runs like a top. It doesn't get much service, other than oil changes. My son drives his Ion all over the place. Only problem was with the ignition switch. No biggie. To see Saturn fade away is harder to take than having Olds shut down (and i have owned a few of those, too).

[guitarlix]

One of the biggest mistakes GM's management morons made........and the list is pretty long.

Saturn should have stayed as an idea and philosophy, not a product. But leave it GM's helmsmen to muddle it all up.

[Orbit]

Closing Saturn will save GM some money, but doing so will lose even more customers, those committed to Saturn, but not to GM. Many Oldsmobile owners did not buy another GM product after that brand was shuttered. GM is also losing the positive image of Saturn concerning the dealer experience and customer relations. So even more contraction in GM's customer base. Just another in a very long series of bad decisions that has led GM to the end of the line.

[hunchman]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

I'll always remember my first car fondly.
1991 Saturn SL2.

If current and former Saturn owners are like me, they will follow Saturn, whether they become independent or remain with GM in some form or are absorbed by some other carmaker.

Saturn was more than a car. It was an experience and a lifestyle.
GM simply didn't know how to deal with it. Chevrolet played internal politics and managed to starve Saturn to death.

Saturn deserves a better life than this. And GM deserves to fail due to continued mismanagement, instead of recognizing what was really working at Saturn and letting it filter across the company.

Then go buy a saturn and quit your whining ffs

[megeebee]

"You can't escape your brand."


GM spent years and billions creating Saturn and establishing an identity for it in the market. They were, initially at least, very successfull. Saturn was the "Un-GM", GM brand.

Then over night, all of this was thrown away and Saturn recast as what I suppose Oldsmobile was meant to be. Saturn loyalists were left nothing they recognized, and the world at large still thought of Saturn as inexpensive small vehicles. The person who bought a $17K sedan in 2002 goes to trade it in and what does he find? $23-39K sedans, 2 seat roadsters, and SUV's. Next stop: the Honda dealer down the street.

...or Hyundai

...or Kia



There wasn't the time or the money for GM to wait it out.

[dracleath]

Originally Posted by megeebee

"You can't escape your brand."


GM spent years and billions creating Saturn and establishing an identity for it in the market. They were, initially at least, very successfull. Saturn was the "Un-GM", GM brand.

Then over night, all of this was thrown away and Saturn recast as what I suppose Oldsmobile was meant to be. Saturn loyalists were left nothing they recognized, and the world at large still thought of Saturn as inexpensive small vehicles. The person who bought a $17K sedan in 2002 goes to trade it in and what does he find? $23-39K sedans, 2 seat roadsters, and SUV's. Next stop: the Honda dealer down the street.

...or Hyundai

...or Kia



There wasn't the time or the money for GM to wait it out.

The whole idea was stupid.

There already was a brand for cheaper, mainstream vehicles.

It was called Chevrolet.

['Vette Dude]

Originally Posted by dracleath

The whole idea was stupid.

There already was a brand for cheaper, mainstream vehicles.

It was called Chevrolet.

The problem is, Chevy sucked and still sucks. Saturn is the un-GM, GM brand. It is the only GM brand that has every single vehicle perfecto. If GM would not have waited 10 years for the L-Series, Saturn would probably be selling 500,000 vehicles a year like GM originally wanted.