I remember back when Saturn was being closed down, ther was an in depth article about the rise and fall of Saturn, I thought it was linked from “Truth About Cars” website but I couldn’t find anything
One part of the story describes how the japanese were shaking in their boots about the new competition, and then bought a satur, took it back to Japan, and took it apart, and kept muttering a japanese term best translated as “unbelievable” at the low-quality manufacturing of the vehicle. They figured saturn would never compete.
Jesus Christ, is this one of those shitty Google spam websites where the author gets paid per hit? The article was such gibberish that I could hardly tell if it was generated by a computer.
On the contrary, had it been generated by a computer it wouldn’t contain such spelling atrocities as “*effected *Saturn’s business in a negative way” and “may have *mad *a big difference”.
I work in market research. Saturn was a weird company because it had insanely high satisfaction ratings but one of the lowest repurchase intention brands. Drove Saturn nuts.
I bought a 2008 Vue, which was the year they went out of business. I’m one of the few people who actually got a deal on a Saturn (it was below factory invoice). I really liked the vehicle; it had a lot of room and a lot of power from that V-6.
too bad, because the reason was blindingly simple. the cars just weren’t very good. it’s all well and good that the dealer kisses your butt constantly, but when the car itself burns oil (bad valve seals/guides on the SOHC motor) or is rife with squeaks and rattles, y’ain’t buying another one.
I got 150,000 on my 2000 SL1 and the only thing I’ve done to it is replace a tie-rod end. The car has no personality except it just keeps rolling along. I’m thinking of rebuilding the motor when it dies.
I have owned 6-all have been great cars. Truly sad what happened to them-Roger Smith’s vsision died.
The Spring Hill Plant (Tenn.) was fully integrated-they made engines, transmissions and bodies. The all alminm cast engine block was a technical feat. However, the UAW did not like the Saturn labor system-it took too much power away from the nion shop stewards. It was really America’s lat chance to be competitive in automobiles.
The ironic thing-for what GM spent on Satrn, they could have bought Toyota-lock, stock, and barrel.
A type of vertical integration. Seldom a good idea. Toyota does some of this, but most manufacturers have moved away from this (and even for Toyota it’s hardly universal).
Actually the local was quite happy with it. They were getting bonuses that the main GM block wasn’t getting for years and years and years. Then Saturn’s bubble burst, and they weren’t getting bonuses while national was, and they decided they wanted to join the national.
Are you kidding? Aside from Chrysler and GM, America is very competitive in automobiles. Heck, with the bailout, GM is competitive again (for the short term; they should have gone through traditional bankruptcy).
My three Saturns were well-built and very reliable - hardly ever needed to do anything other than change the oil. But if I ever could say this, I certainly can here - YMMV!
Odd thing I remember: When Saturn came out they produce a very simple TV ad with the car and a single word ‘Hi’. It was oddly effective and the Saturn became very popular with Generation X.
By comparison, Subaru of America tried some harsh, pander-to-Generation-X ads with a guy screaming about how the Imprezza was ‘like punk rock’. The ads actually hampered the sales, badly.
The odd thing? The Imprezza is still around, the entire Saturn line is gone.
I knew Saturn was doomed with their last ad campaign where a guy walks into a Saturn dealership, sees the cars available, and goes back to check the sign. the staff then assure him he is in a Saturn dealership. The message seemed to be: We’re now just like every other car company.
Gah. The “Happy Saturn Family” schtick drove me nuts. Yes, I own a Saturn. Yes, it’s a car and does the things a car is supposed to do. No, I don’t want to go to a Saturn owners picnic. I don’t want to join a Saturn owners club.
We’ve owned 2 Saturns, and the second one, 10 years old, will probably be replaced in the next year. It’s not fun to drive. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t go Zoom Zoom. A Saturn was a basic, boring car that got you from point A to point B. Once Saturn forgot about that, and got absorbed back into the parent company, the cars were no longer worth buying.