Posted on: Friday, January 7, 2005
GM tries to revitalize Saturn
By Jeffrey McCracken
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. will take the first step in an expensive effort to turn around its lackluster Saturn brand Sunday at the North American International Auto Show, when it unveils two heavy-horsepower vehicles.
The vehicles, a small, sporty roadster called the Saturn Sky and a midsize sedan called the Aura, are scheduled to go on sale in 2006, and may determine whether it's possible to revitalize the ailing Saturn brand, which has bounced between promise and disappointment for most of its history.
Saturn turns 15 this year, and the "different kind of car" company that was supposed to be GM's ultimate Japanese-vehicle fighter is trying to decide what it will be as it grows up.
Two of Saturn's more recent products, the L-300 sedan and wagon and the Ion coupe and wagon, have both sold far fewer than predicted. The L-300 sold so poorly it was killed late last year, while sales of the Ion were disappointing.
Though it won't be unveiled this weekend, Saturn also plans to roll out a midsize utility vehicle in late 2006. That will give Saturn six cars and trucks by the end of 2006, compared with just three right now.
"These new products are very important to Saturn, very important," said Jill Lajdziak, Saturn's general manager, who has overseen two straight years of declining sales, including a daunting 22 percent drop in 2004. "We feel we are doing what the marketplace has wanted for some time, which is to grow the number of Saturn products people can choose from."
Early on, there was only one product a Saturn buyer could choose from — the compact Saturn S-Series, with its plastic body made from smiling unionized factory workers down in Spring Hill, Tenn., and sold by friendly dealers with their no-haggle policy.
When Saturn finally got another vehicle it was the L-series, a midsize sedan GM poured hundreds of millions of dollars into. The L-series, later renamed the L-300 after a redesign, was projected for sales of 200,000 a year.
It topped out in 2001 with sales of 98,000. It couldn't compete with Asian rivals.
"The L-series had to compete with the real power players of the industry, like the Altima, Camry and Accord and it clearly underperformed," said Mike Jackson, senior manager of vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide, an auto-research firm.
Eventually, GM was forced to cut production of the L-series from two shifts to one at the plant in Wilmington, Del., that built it. The L-series' run ended in late 2004, months earlier than projected.
The one hot vehicle at Saturn is the Vue, the brand's sport utility vehicle. Vue sales were up 6 percent in 2004 to nearly 87,000. Saturn also rolled out a minivan called the Relay in November — on its 14th birthday.
"I'm not sure a minivan works now for Saturn," said Spinella. "The perception of consumers now is that Saturn has no image. They maybe make nice, entry-level vehicles, but they haven't been able to move beyond that. It's kind of the problem VW had with the Beetle; you can't get that image out of people's minds."
