Saturn Corporation: Difference between revisions

Saturn

Saturn Logo
Company type	Division of GM
Founded	January 7, 1985
Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan, USA , United States
Products	Automobiles
Parent	General Motors
Website	www.saturn.com

Saturn is a division of the General Motors Corporation and a brand of automobiles. It was established on January 7, 1985. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, it manufactures automobiles in the United States. GM began manufacturing Saturn cars in 1990, largely in response to the success of Japanese & German small-car imports in the United States, such as the Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen.[1] Starting in the 21st century, Saturn is becoming the US brand for Opel vehicles, similar to Vauxhall Motors in the UK.

Saturn was named after the Saturn rocket that took American astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 70s, and not after the planet Saturn, even though a logo with an image of the planet is used. ^[1].

Saturn's motto was initially "A different kind of company, a different kind of car," [2] but it has changed that several times throughout its history. Drawing from experiences gained through its NUMMI and CAMI Automotive joint ventures with foreign manufacturers, GM organized the Saturn Corporation differently from their existing divisions, attempting to emulate the Japanese management techniques, which emphasize quality control and high product reliability. At Saturn, union workers would have more control^[2] and involvement in the plant.

The Saturn Corporation also created its own distribution network from scratch, which was both independent and different from those used by older GM divisions. There was much emphasis put on the quality of customer service, with insights drawn from travel and hospitality as well as consumer retail industries, rather than traditional automotive sales.^{[citation needed]} The uniqueness of Saturn's distribution network was emphasized by referring to what would usually be called "dealers" as "retailers", and conversely "retail facilities" in lieu of "dealerships". Such "retail facilities" served non-competing "market areas". They are noted for their no-haggle pricing, where the cars are sold at their exact sticker price, their no-pressure sales environments, and professional sales staff.^[3] The Saturn Corporation strove to build a community spirit among their customers by hosting annual "homecoming" events at its former Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing plant, as well as day-to-day special events in retail settings.

Saturn values were initially communicated through image advertising created by the Hal Riney advertising agency.

The Saturn Corporation began in December 1982 with a group of 99 people from various areas of the automotive industry. Everyone from production and assembly, design and prototyping, sales and finance, as well as the corporate "white collar" positions, were represented in this group called "the 99." Originally, there were 100, but one dropped out, thus it become "the 99."

In 1993, Saturn announced its first profitable quarter, and later, its first profitable year.^[4][5] However, there is no evidence that GM has ever recouped its large investment in the company.^[6][7] In any case, the company struggled so much that, in the new millennium, it was decided to integrate the company into the GM infrastructure in 2003, with Bob Lutz aiming to bring the brand closer to its GM European franchise, Opel.

Saturn's headquarters, retail employee training facility and primary manufacturing facility were originally located in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This location was chosen in 1985, after a highly publicized nationwide search for a site. The Spring Hill manufacturing of Saturns was ceased after the end of production of the Saturn Ion (2003-2007) and first generation of the Saturn VUE (2002-2007) at the end of March 2007. Saturn VUE production was moved to Mexico for the 2008 Model Year, where the 2nd Generation Saturn VUE is now being built. The plant has been retooled, and it is scheduled to assemble the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.

Saturn was originally established as a fully-owned, but independently administered subsidiary of General Motors, with the GM executive Bill Hoglund at its helm. In 2006 Saturn became a Division of GM. It was hoped that lessons learned from Saturn would trickle down to the rest of General Motors - to make it more competitive against foreign automakers and to improve labor relations.^[8] During the 2000s, Saturn has been gradually losing its autonomy. New models, for example, do not utilize polymer side panels, and they are derivatives of other GM models. Production has since been moved to other GM plants, such as in Delaware. Production of Saturn vehicles at the Tennessee facility ceased on March 30, 2007.^[9] Initially, the Saturn Corporation was headed by a president who consulted with a Union local counterpart and reported to the GM Board of Directors. As the role of Saturn changed within General Motors, the chief executive role was shifted to be a Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing. Since 2005, Jill Lajdziak, previously a VP of Sales, Service and Marketing, has been the General Manager of Saturn, who reports to the Vice President of the GM Small Car Group.

Saturn is known for its company-wide "no-haggle" sales philosophy. Saturn dealers (called "retailers" by the company) are encouraged to sell vehicles at listed MSRP price. Early in 2008, GM offered the rewards credits from the GM Card which they only offered for the other GM brands^[10]. Customer satisfaction with dealer service is among the highest of any car brand in the US.^[11] The company also won praise for its environmentally conscious manufacturing processes and for its innovations such as using flexible plastic side panels on its cars to avoid minor dents.^[12] However, in 2005, the Saturn Relay became the first Saturn vehicle without polymer side paneling. The Saturn Relay was built in the Doraville, Georgia production facility, which also manufactured Chevrolet Venture and Chevrolet Uplander minivans. The lack of polymer side paneling in Saturn Relay production has carried over to all new vehicles produced from the 2008 model year forward.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• 1985
  • "What Kind Of Car Is That? It's A Saturn!"
• 1989-1994:
  • "A Different Kind of Car Company" (US)
  • "We've reinvented the automobile." (Canada)
• 1994-2002: "A Different Kind of Company, A Different Kind of Car."
• 2002-2004: "It's Different in a Saturn"
• 2004-2006: "People First"
• 2006-2007: "Like Always. Like Never Before."
• 2007-present:
  • Formerly "Rethink American.", later "Rethink." (US)
  • "Like Always. Like Never Before.", later "Rethink." (Canada)
  • "Passion for the Road." (Spanish-speaking US slogan)

The company's products used a dedicated platform called the Z-body and a dedicated engine, the 1.9 L Saturn I4 engine, and a dedicated plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. All of the original Saturns featured dent-resistant plastic body panels which were also touted as allowing the company to change the look of the vehicles readily. However, in practice, the company did not take advantage of this capability often.

Saturn S-Series cars were produced from 1991-2002. There were 3 Generations of S-Series Cars. First Generation S-Series cars were produced from 1991-1994. For the 1995 Model year, Saturn implemented a "First Generation" exterior, and "Second Generation" interior. The exterior of the 1995 model year looked the same as the first generation cars, but exhibited larger gauge faces on the instrument cluster, and a redesigned middle console. First Generation engines were rated at 85 Horsepower for the Single Overhead Cam Engines, while the Dual Overhead Cam Engines were rated at 124 Horsepower for the entire run of S-Series cars (1991-2002). In 1996, the Second Generation S-Series Sedan was introduced and remained virtually unchanged for the rest of the vehicle's production run. In 1997, the Second Generation of the Sport Coupe model was introduced with a more "Scooped" headlight front. The S-Series was produced in three variations: Coupe (SC), Sedan (SL), and Wagon (SW). The Wagon was introduced for the 1993 Model year and was produced until 2002.

The first real change came with the 2000 Saturn L-Series mid-size car. It shared the GM2900 platform with the Opel Vectra, along with its engine, and was built at a GM factory in Wilmington, Delaware. The Saturn Sky is now being produced in the Wilmington factory along with the essentially identical Opel GT and the closely-related Pontiac Solstice.

Today, the company shares GM's Delta, Epsilon, Lambda and Theta automobile platforms, along with the company's Ecotec - including the new 2.4L LE5 I4, Turbo 2.0L LNF I4, and DCVCP 1.8L I4 - with the V6's being the High Feature LY7 3.6L V6 and High Value LZ4 3.5L V6 engines. Saturn cars are built at GM plants throughout the world. The Saturn Vue used a Honda engine in the past, and the plastic body panels have been discontinued on most current vehicles.

In past years, Saturn sales have been declining, and the Ion production lines were halted for two weeks in 2003 to allow dealer inventory to reduce. The L-Series was canceled after production of the 2005 models, and the Ion was canceled after 2007.

The current Saturn models are as follows: Sky roadster, Aura sedan, Astra hatchback, Vue small crossover SUV and Outlook large crossover SUV built off of the GM Lambda platform (replacing the Relay minivan). GM decided that Saturn and Opel shares numerous models that differ only slightly. For example, the 2008 Saturn Vue is almost the same as the Opel Antara, the Saturn Sky is a copy of the Opel GT, while the Opel Astra has already brought over as the Saturn Astra to replace the current Ion as the entry-level car, and the Saturn Aura is similar to the Opel Vectra. The Saturn Astra is built in Antwerp, Belgium and imported to the United States as a Saturn.

The company offers two sub-lines of vehicles: "Red Line" Saturns are performance-oriented, while "Green Line" cars will be more environmentally friendly. The Vue and Ion Red Line models, launched in 2004, have been joined by Vue and AURA Green Lines for the 2007 model year and a Sky Red Line the same model year. Saturn's Green Line vehicles utilize mild hybrid technology.

• Saturn official website
• Saturn official social network
• Saturn official Canadian website
• Detailed year-to-year model changes
• Saturn Corporation at Curlie

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saturn.