Saturn FAQs

[Saturn team]

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We appreciate the many comments we have received from ImSaturn members, and we want to do our best to answer your questions and to keep you update on developments with the Saturn brand.

Q. UPDATE (4/28/09): In his press conference April 27, CEO Fritz Henderson said Saturn production will be phased out by the end of 2009. What does that mean?

A. In our need to move "faster and deeper" with restructuring, GM is accelerating a resolution for the Saturn brand. That means GM will be reviewing expressions of interest from potential investors until June 1, 2009, and will work to have an agreement in place with the winning investor by the end of this year.

Q. What does that mean for Saturn owners?

A. You can still get your Saturn vehicle serviced by any Saturn retailer. Your warranty will be honored, and, as noted in question 3 below, and you can find the retailer nearest you by visiting Saturn.com. If there is no Saturn retailer nearby, or if it is an emergency situation, you can bring your Saturn to any GM dealer for warranty repairs. If you have trouble securing warranty service at a non-Saturn GM dealership, please contact Saturn Customer Assistance, or call 1-800-553-6000.

Q. If GM sells Saturn, who will make Saturn cars?

A. That will be up to the buyer of the Saturn brand, not GM, to decide. We have told potential investors, however, that we are looking for a partner to provide vehicles that are right for the Saturn brand: fuel-efficient, safe, and affordable.

Q. Would a new buyer have cars ready for 2010?

A. Depending on the deal negotiated, GM would consider offering contract manufacturing for the new owner of the Saturn brand.

Q. UPDATE (4/17/09) What’s the latest update on Saturn? Is the offer by Black Oaks Partners/Telesto legitimate?

A. Since mid-February, a sub-committee of Saturn retailers has been studying the feasibility of alternative options for the future of the Saturn brand. Steve Girsky has been working with them on this process.They have identified multiple parties who are interested in the possible sale or spin-off of Saturn. The group led by Black Oaks Partners is one of those groups. We cannot provide information on other interested parties, and it is simply too early to speculate about any eventual outcome.

UPDATE (3/31/09): See Jill’s email to owners

UPDATE (3/9/08): Newspaper Report: Retailers May Save Saturn Brand
There have been many media reports recently about the future of the Saturn brand. One of the most comprehensive articles appeared on March 8 in the Nashville Tennessean.

UPDATE (3/7/09)Well-known consultant retained by Saturn retailers: The Saturn Franchise Operation Team (FOT) sub-committee that is evaluating the potential spin-off of the Saturn Distribution Corporation has retained the services of advisor Steve Girsky, of S.J. Girsky and Co. Girsky will act as an independent business consultant to the sub-committee as they study options for the potential operation of the Saturn brand as a standalone enterprise.

“The spin-off of an independent Saturn would break new ground in the auto industry and would give the brand a new chance to build on its tradition of innovation,” said Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak. “Girsky’s extensive expertise will be a tremendous asset to the FOT sub-committee as this process continues.”

UPDATE (3/2/09)
Below are a few answers to some of frequently asked questions.

1. Why is GM phasing out Saturn? While Saturn has been a strong brand with loyal customers, it has continued to be unprofitable for the manufacturer under the current business model. Saturn retailers, however, have historically been profitable. That is why Saturn is investigating the potential sale of the brand.
2. If Saturn goes away, what happens to my warranty? Will I be able to get replacement parts? Absolutely nothing happens to the warranty. General Motors stands firmly behind its warranty obligations for every vehicle it produces. GM is also committed to maintaining the availability of service parts.
3. The Saturn retailer where I bought my vehicle has closed. Where should I take my vehicle for warranty repairs? You can take your vehicle to any Saturn retailer for warranty service. To find the nearest Saturn retailer, visit Saturn.com. You can also call the Saturn Customer Assistance center at 1-800-553-6000 if you have other questions.
4. If Saturn is sold, who would design and manufacture its products? That would be negotiated between the new owners of the brand and potential vehicle suppliers.
5. If Saturn never turned a profit as part of GM, what factors will allow it to make money as an independent entity? While Saturn has not been profitable at the manufacturing level, Saturn retailers have traditionally earned a profit. Saturn has a number of unique attributes that could make the spin-off a realistic alternative, such as the size, distribution and unmatched quality of our retail network.
6. What can I do to show my support for Saturn? The best thing to do is to remind your friends and family that Saturn is still open for business. Remind them that we have a great line-up of new fuel efficient vehicles and assure them that Saturn and GM will stand behind all warranty obligations.

Please leave a comment below if you would like to submit a question that we have not addressed.

[Denny]

Would love to see the affiliation with Opel continue, either under the Saturn name or perhaps the return to North America of the Opel brand. I think Saab would be a good companion as well. Saturn-Opel-Saab? (OK, perhaps not a good acronym...) Automobiles providing quality, style, value, and a dynamic driving experience, all with a European accent. And perhaps some high-mileage diesel engines, too!

[Chris Schmidt]

GM continues to kill off some of their best brands just as they are gathering steam. They did it with Oldsmobile and now with Saturn. At least the Dealers KNOW what they can do and how to do things. I would stick with the Saturn Brand as long as there were some American Control or Content. That is important to me. Might sound odd coming from an Astra owner, being that car is not made here.

With GM's thought of bringing the Opel banner under Buick, I think they have missed their target demographic. I highly doubt that a Buick Customer would even consider an Opel Model under any re-badging. Opel and Saturn are the best fit and it has worked on both sides of the Atlantic.

I wish Opel and Saturn the best!

[Rob]

I agree. I think the alliance with Opel/Vauxhall should continue. It has brought a very stylish small car to the US market. The new Insignia would be a logical next step for the Aura. The current Vue/Antara has brought a truely global vehicle to the Saturn lineup. A North American Corsa would be a good addition to the lineup along with the Astra sedan and wagon would set the return to Saturn's original mission and philosophy. Another step would be to take back the Spring Hill plant and bring some of the Astra production here to the States. The line was capable of building a sedan, a coupe and a wagon on the same line. It would be a natural progression to do that with the Astra line of vehicles. The production of the Sky/Opel GT could continue here in the States. Buidling off the current platform of the Outlook would still accomplish sales to those seeking a larger, family vehicle. With a Corsa, Astra, Vue, Sky, Aura and Outlook (variant), Saturn would be able to compete with not only Toyota and Honda, but up and coming Kia and Hyundai.

I think that retailers, employees of Saturn and those in the UAW membership that want to see Saturn continue what was started should seriously look into an employee buyout plan. That way all that are involved own a stake in the company and will reap the risks and rewards.

[Rob]

And I would also LOVE to see marketing equal to that of Cadillac and Chevy. There is nothing wrong with Saturn's current line up. Unfortunately, the only people that know this are those that work for Saturn and current owners.

The general car buying public does not know what Saturn offers, even with all of the awards and favorable press reviews.

[PSVUE]

What is GM's corporate version of why it could not make a profit manufacturing Saturns? Was it perhaps economy of scale factors such as lack of stores and lack of advertising? If the dealerships were individually profitable, why didn't GM ramp up the number of Saturn retailers years ago so that more total units could be sold and the manufacturing costs be spread over greater production? Rumor has it that Saturn for years was a victim of internal GM corporate politics. Comments? It's too bad because Saturn has never produced better quality vehicles than the ones currently being sold.

[Rob]

PSVue

Regarding your comment about internal GM politics, I suggest Jack O'Toole's book Forming the Future. It gives one person's perspective of the beginnings of Saturn and as he puts it, "the land of the adversaries" aka GM. It really is an interesting read and confirmed even more why I bought a Saturn in the first place back in fall 1993.

[Vette]

GM did not ramp up the number of Saturn owners because GM does not buy the dealerships. Dealerships are independently owned. Saturn will still survive it's strong number of supporters will see to that !

[PSVUE]

Yes vette I know they don't own them however GM certainly made an initial effort to support the establishment of the initial retail network and may or may not have had an ongoing effort to recruit more dealers. That of course is history, but the line of questioning may have even greater relevance to a new restructured Saturn. How extensive a retail network is necessary to sell enough cars that will cover the costs of manufacturing as well as fund a sufficient national marketing budget ? I don't expect you to answer that but I hope that someone working on the new Saturn business model is thinking that through.

[Russ]

Bye-Bye Jill, Bye-Bye Saturn, Bye-Bye GM (again). I knew I should have bought that Fusion to go along with my Freestyle and Mustang. I stopped purchasing GM's after my 2002 Tahoe because GM was not building with an eye to the future. Well, I drove the 2008 Saturn Aura and my wife loves it. I still say it is the best bang for the buck in the Automotive world. But they closed the dealership I bought it at 4 months later. This will likely be my first and last Saturn. I will NOT purchase a Saturn that sources cars from outside the US. I bought my Aura because it is MADE IN THE USA. GM and the UAW are not the problem. Americans buying Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, etc from a non-USA based company is the problem. When are people going to realize that just because some foreign brands are assembled here, the US content on average is much less than the 51% it requires to be able to say it is Made in USA. Sending the profit dollars back to the foreign parent company and fueling the huge US trade deficit is a big part of the trouble the US is in.

[Smartest Alex]

Saturn has made great strides recently to reinvent their entire product line. I am actually convinced that Saturn can survive and be reborn. Ive said on a GM blog before that saturn can become a viable full-line automotive retailer as the complete importer of Opel vehicles to the United states.

I would recomend re-naming Saturn as Opel with the Opel logo and allowing it to import modified versions of the successful european line up that Opel has in countries outside of the United States.

of course Vauxhall,Opel and Saturn all produce similar vehicles under three different name plates. so all three brands should be merged into either Opel or Vauxhall that way 3 brands become one and GM creates an international powerhouse brand that is diversified and united, instead of continuing to pursue a regional brand strategy.

The same theory could be applied to pontiac which is a uniquely american regional niche brand. if you took Daewoo,Holden and Pontiac and folded them into either the Holden or Pontiac brand name (preferably Holden) it would be a jolt to the pontiac line up by becoming the importer of all holden vehicles, while allowing GM to focus on their core of Cadillac and Chevrolet.

Chevrolet and GMC could further be folded into simply Chevrolet as they sell the same products through the same retail distribution channels, and Buick can remain as a niche in its current form. if sales do not improve for Buick, GM could consider a Phase out of the brand.

Not only do these steps reinvigorate Pontiac and Saturn, but they create internationally recognized and acclaimed brands for GM.

Along with the sale/closure of Hummer and SAAB, GM can successfully trim their brands from the current 12, down to five focused brands. from there it could further trim those brands to four if Buick is eventually shuttered.

The multibrand strategy no longer works and drains an excessive amount of capital from GM.

Heres how GM worldwide should look in the future Chevrolet, Cadillac, Holden,Opel, and Buick. the trimming of brands allows for massive savings and strength for the company going forward.

Jill, you should really submit these plans to your superiors as a way to save Saturn and GM as well.