What Caused Saturn’s Demise?
Once upon a time Saturn was an emblem of what American carmakers could be: independent, creative, and straight dealing. Saturn offered customers basic transportation with good mileage and – a first at the time – a fixed price, no haggle policy. At its founding Saturn boasted that it was a “different kind of car, a different kind of car company.” Saturn represented not only a new company, but a new way of doing business and, as a result, attracted an active fan base.
But with General Motors’ announcement last month that it was closing its Saturn division, the independent era abruptly came to an end. So what happened?
The Penske Automotive Group was rumored to have been close to saving Saturn, but a last minute deal fell through. Published reports suggest that Nissan Motor Company’s board of directors nixed a deal to supply Penske with a line of new Saturns once Penske took over from GM. Also hampering a potential deal was GM’s view that spinning off Saturn into its own company under the auspices of Penske would only create yet another competitor with which GM would have to do battle.
In the end, Saturn start-up culture was no match for parent GM’s hidebound ways of doing business. Will Detroit have another chance to change its way of doing business? Doubtful.