According to writer Mark Phelan over at the Detroit Free Press, Saturn’s days may be numbered as GM says they intend to “explore alternatives for the brand,” which may leave Saturn and its’ 211 dealers left in the lurch and facing an uncertain future, as many believe GM may close or sell Saturn completely.

Phelan points out that although Saturn has some of the industry’s best dealerships and most loyal consumers, as well as a highly praised vehicle line-up (the Saturn Aura sedan was named North American Car of the Year, while the Outlook and Vue, Solstice and Astra have all had great reviews), it managed to sell only 240,091 vehicles last year and in 2008, failed to do better, moving only 175,434 of their inventory off the lot and into driveways.

According to Phelan, GM chairman Roger Smith created Saturn in the 1980s to reinvent the way GM did business, touting it as being “A Different Kind of Car Company, ” and while Smith insisted Saturn be a standalone, self-financing operation outside the GM system selling only compact cars to avoid competing with GM’s other brands, the strategy really didn’t get a foothold until the Aura came on the scene in 2006. Phelan also points out that because Saturn decided to operate without the benefit of GM’s global resources, the line strictly relied on small cars which didn’t seem to generate the finances needed to launch any new models.

Phelan goes on to say GM belatedly remedied the situation by linking many Saturn product developments  to its Opel brand, a brand which moves approximately two million vehicles each year and in doing so, it eventually gave us the Aura, Astra and Vue.  While other models are said to be forthcoming, Saturn may find that it still faces numerous challenges concerning the future.   

According to Carl Galeana, one of Saturn’s original dealers and who owns both Detroit Saturn and Saturn of Warren dealerships:

“If it’s a failed brand, it’s because GM never knew what to do with it. GM has totally mismanaged this brand. They’ve starved us for product.”

Phelan agrees that shutting Saturn down completely would be both time consuming and expensive, and also believes that selling Saturn to another automaker is also probably not a good idea, citing that Saturn is so integrated into GM’s system that it has no dedicated manufacturing or engineering plants and the only conceivable buyers may be the Chinese or perhaps Indian automakers who could be looking for an easy way to enter the U.S. market.  Those who stand by Saturn do so hoping GM will make the decision that to keep Saturn in business makes much more sense than any other choice.

Says Galeana:

“Supplying Saturn with cars that are engineered and designed by Opel makes us a cheap brand to operate.  GM may find out that it makes more sense to keep it going.”

To read the entire article, “Saturn May Be the Latest Casualty of GM’s Cost-Cutting Strategy” please click here to visit the Detroit Free Press.

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