LexFather

amie LaReau
Automotive News
May 12, 2008 - 12:01 am ET


DETROIT — Saturn's problem with potential buyers? It's worse than a lack of consideration. Buyers are barely aware of Saturn.

That means that Saturn has to revamp its marketing to build awareness of the brand and its new vehicle lineup, says Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America.

Over the past 15 months, Saturn has launched a complete line of vehicles including the Aura sedan, which won 2006 North American Car of the Year. Yet Saturn sales are down 15.4 percent through April.

“If you look at the purchase funnel, you ask, "Do we have a consideration problem on Saturn or a conversion problem?'” Clarke told Automotive News. “The fact of the matter is we have a basic awareness problem.”

In GM research of coastal markets, consumers who saw pictures of Saturn vehicles could not identify them, Clarke said. So Saturn's advertising must start over with something “a little more basic” than the current “Rethink” theme, he said. Saturn will emphasize traditional mass media and social media.

“Just as if you're introducing a new brand,” Clarke said. “We'll probably spend about the same amount of money, but we'll repurpose it so that it's more focused on awareness than consid

LexFather

So basically the GM president is saying "I suck at my job"

1. Saturn does have one of the better lineups out there, attractive, reliable and good value for the money
2. I RARELY see Saturn marketing
3. People would rather stick to boring/bland/disgustingly ugly Honda/Nissan/Toyota than give Saturn a chance.
4. Saturn has no focus or direction. What does Saturn stand for? I have no idea.

They just need some new management b/c Saturn has some great products. THey just need to let people know about them.

P.S-Putting Camry's on your lot for people to compare IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Sens4Miles

With gas prices soaring to $5/gallon, I bet if GM didn't kill off Saturn's EV1, people might know the brand still exists today in 2008. just a hunch, though

Sens4Miles

Well, they could have been known for putting out the original mass produced electric vehicle and be the standard to which all others follow (ala Toyota and their Prius). But alas, they decided to crush and destroy them and sell their technology to an oil company (Chevron-Texaco) for profit. Poor Saturn.

Lexmex

Acutally the Opel inspired models (actually they are Opels) are some of the best quality GMs out there (remembering my Mexican experience with vehicles like the Astra), so this could help them. However, I agree, comparing it to a Camry is the wrong way to go.

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

Saturn went from cheaper cars to now quality Opel cars....of course the customers are going to be confused. They should have kept Oldsmobile and made that an Opel outlet for the US market and kept Saturn for a Scion competitor or something.

Threxx

Some of the Saturns are Opels, and some of the Opels are Saturns... it doesn't just go in one direction.

Iceman

Saturn is a classic example of turning a diamond into a turd and then wondering why the shine has worn off.

Back in 1991-1994 when Saturn first debuted, it offered a radical departure from anything GM (or the other domestics) were doing. The cars were an amazing alternative to the imports, with competitive build quality, reliability, styling, and pricing. Add to that the innovative features like polymer bodyside panels, the quality touches like timing chains instead of belts, and the clearly superior dealership experience... Saturn was truly a renaissance.

It took less than five years for the GM bureaucracy to destroy what was unique about Saturn. They demanded immediate return on their investment (which was, admittedly, huge) by jacking up the prices, cheapening the product, eliminating much of what made the customer experience special, pissing off the workers, and rolling future product into the same bargain-basement platform sharing model as the rest of GM.

Today they seem to think that Saturn can be the U.S.-market arm of Opel, but their entire approach is muddled. The product line is confusing (and confused), which is why the marketing doesn't work. How can an advertising company come up with a cohesive campaign when the product mix itself is disjointed? What does Saturn stand for? What makes it different in today's marketplace?

The GM CEO is right in that he needs to look at Saturn like it's a completely fresh start. Unfortunately, I doubt he means it and so his underlings won't do what it takes to truly reinvent the brand.

gengar

Anyone else think this is just another artifact of GM's overbranding? I mean, doesn't GM still have more than a dozen brands?

mmarshall

Iceman said almost exactly what I was going to say....he just beat me to it.
(and don't forget Saturn's unique spin-off transmission filters in the 90's, either).

GM had a great winning formula in the 90's with the plastic-bodied S-Series cars (I owned one), and gradually started ruining the division in 1999 with the L-series. It's been downhill ever since.

The Astra, however, seems to be built pretty well....I looked a a couple at the DC Auto Show. I plan to do a mini-review of one shortly for my own curiosity, even if I don't get any review requests for it.

Bercasio

iTrader: (1)

Well all GM execs are a complete bunch of failures(especially Bobby boy "No Clue" Lutz). I used to work for Saturn and let me tell you kids, when attending the Saturn seminars it was a complete joke. For example when you sit down at your seat there is a notice saying to leave your egos at the door and avoid talking about negative comments of the Saturn brand. What kind of seminar is that to start a welcome gesture?!?!?...even worse the reps are a bunch of tarts with poor product knowledge of these vehicles. And the amount of crap being talked about the product which is totally pointless. They even bring in a up front comparison of a Honda Accord and Toyota Camry on stage and talk all negative comments of these brands more so knowing the Saturn line. Funny thing is I hear in the crowd whispers sayin..."actually I prefer Japanese"...LOL!!! I enjoyed the free food though!!! The bottom line is GM fully neglected the Saturn brand for the last 10 years and continue on till this day. They allow other brands(Chevrolet, & GMC) to cannibalize Saturn with rebadged models and next to nothing marketing. Saturn created the EV1 10 years ago, was a great hit. Then killed it due to political crap that GM was tied in(mainly with California, Texaco & Chevron) Today GM makes another poor decision by bringing back an electrical vehicle to debut in about 2 years but instead of making headlines of the "Awareness of the Saturn brand"...they choose to put it under Chevrolet....cannibalize once again. Even though Chevy is more of a brand awarness in U.S...but it would have cost less to remarket Saturn if there was the Saturn Volt to begin with. Because Chevy brand would be able to sell it self, regardless of what model it maybe. But again what's new with GM? A bunch of suck-outs...period.
p.s. if any body on this site works for GM, I honestly hope you fools take this to heart. Alot of potential in the Saturn brand, you guys just clearly do not know what you are doing. You guys are a waste of time and money!!!

UDel

I worked over the summer at the GM plant in Wilmington DE plant making the L series in 1999. They were pretty serious about that car being a competitor to the Accord, Camry, Maxima and I remember there being heavy demand for it in the beginning. One of my jobs was parking the cars in different areas around the plant to either be worked on or sent off so I had alot of seat time. I would say for a GM product it was their best sedan quality/design wise at the time but that was not exactly saying much and had alot of European influence in tuning, handling, the engine was a Opel design, unfortunately it was not enough to sway many Toyota/Honda buyers. The cars had pretty good pickup especially the v6 version. I felt it was a pretty decent car but nothing spectacular.

Some of the Saturns out now are pretty nice yet are marketed poorly and most people don't even consider them but they still need improvement. I think GM should make Saturn vehicles unique and not share anything with other GM models and have a better marketing campaign. I think they would sell better if they made it well known they are heavily based on European models better tuning and materials and very different from typical GM sedans/coupes.

Jujharoo

I feel the same way about Jag, Saab, Volvo, and Lincoln when it comes to luxury cars. They are easily overlooked.

mmarshall

OK, Udel, if you worked on the L-Series, then you will remember that it was the first Saturn product since the company's founding to deviate from Saturn's all-plastic body panels and spin-off transmission filter policy.....which, IMO, were both great ideas and helped make the company what it was. The L-Series was essentially a rebadged mid-size Opel platform, and the Saturn version had plastic front fenders, front, and rear doors. But, unlike previous Saturns, the L-series had steel rear fenders and quarter-panels. The Opel-designed engine/transmission also did away with several previous Saturn drivetrain features, among them the ingenious spin-off transmission filter.

Every Saturn product since then has deviated more and more from the company's superb original platforms, to the point where no new Saturns have the plastic body panels any more or Saturn-developed drivetrains.

Of course, not everything about the old Saturns was great.......interior fit/finish, especially on the pre-1996 and post 2000 S-series, was defintiely subpar. It was OK but still not great from 1996-1999. And early Saturn fours were noted for being loud and unrefined at higher RPM's.

bagwell

ohhhhh, that's a zinger.....