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General Motors Saturn Brand Undergoing Major Transition

GM Moving Non-Brand, Non-Marketing Functions of Saturn into GM System

DETROIT--It is highly likely that Saturn will lose its tradition of having specially dedicated assembly plants, such as Spring Hill, Tenn., as General Motors Corp. introduces new products in the future, acknowledged Bob Lutz at a press conference on December 2.

"As we move away from this expensive luxury of having Saturn as a completely autonomous auto company, which frankly the customer couldnt care less about,

Saturn will lose its tradition of having specially dedicated assembly plants, such as Spring Hill, Tenn., as General Motors Corp. introduces new products in the future. (Photo: General Motors)

we will move forward to integrating (Saturn) into the broader general Motors system," said Lutz, Product Development and Chairman, GM North America.

As new products are introduced, there is an opportunity for future non-Saturn

First conceived in the early 1980s, Saturn was set up as a nearly independent car company with its own new plant in Spring Hill. (Photo: General Motors)

products to be built at Spring Hill, Lutz said, but added there are no such plans yet.

When Saturn was first conceived in the early 1980s by former GM Chairman Roger Smith, as the companys Japanese import car fighter, it was set up as a nearly independent car company with its own new plant in Spring Hill. This was done even as GM closed other facilities, vehicle platforms, chairman and president, special contract with the UAW, and dedicated

The 2005 Relay midsize van shares its platform with three other GM vans and will be built along the same line in the GM Doraville Assembly Plant near Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo: General Motors)

sales and public relations departments.

Unlike many other grand experiments that were tried and failed under Smith, which accelerated GMs slide from about 40 percent of the United States market in 1980 to its low ebb to less than 29 percent today, Saturn has survived in a quasi-independent state.

That independent status continued when GM introduced the 2000 Saturn L-Series sedans and converted its Wilmington (Del.) Assembly Center to be a Saturn-only facility.

But now, new Saturn products such as the 2005 Relay midsize van shares its platform with three

Hopefully all that is good about Saturn will permeate GMs other brands while all that is bad will be improved upon by common component sharing. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, American Auto Press)

other GM vans and will be built along the same line in the GM Doraville Assembly Plant near Atlanta, Georgia. Whats more, the Relay foregoes Saturns polymer body panels (that "bend and flex") for conventional steel.

Now, GM is taking the non-brand and non-marketing functions of Saturn, such as its design, engineering, procurement and supply departments, and is moving them into the GM system, Lutz said.

Whether this news is a sad ending to the GM divisions independence or an exciting new beginning is difficult to say, but no matter what the final outcome General Motors has learned much from Saturns unique development that will help every division in various capacities. Hopefully all that is good about Saturn will permeate GMs other brands while all that is bad will be improved upon by common component sharing.

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