I had the pleasure of working with General Motors several years ago, back when the 
Saturn division was being developed. The brand had such promise, and it really delivered on that promise. The goal almost two decades ago was to show consumers that an American automaker could build economical small cars as well as the Japanese could. The result was a car that is fuel efficient, safe, reliable and affordable. The Saturn brand has won too many awards to count over the years as the best value for Americans. Along the way it’s also instilled a unique passion in owners.
So although GM recently announced plans to shed Saturn as part of its corporate 
restructuring in conjunction with taking more than $17 billion in emergency loans from the US government and taxpayers, don’t count them out yet. Saturn dealers and GM managers are working on a potential plan that would spin off Saturn, maintaining the current dealer network. Eventually, they would field a new line of non-GM vehicles under the Saturn name.
Beyond the 208 dealers, there’s also talk of a group of investors or even another automaker (perhaps from
China
) wanting to buy the Saturn brand.
Amidst so much bad news about the auto industry, it’s fascinating (though no surprise) that 
the brand that might survive all of this is the one that’s got the wildly devout owner base.
Who knows what will ultimately happen? In a perfect world, I have no doubt whatsoever that Saturn would come out on the other side. The financial and logistical realities of the situation leave me uncertain as to what will happen. But either way, it reinforces my belief that a strong brand that consumers identify with cannot be underestimated.
What are your thoughts on what will happen with Saturn? What do you think it is about Saturn that inspires such passion?
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