The Same Kind of Company and the Destruction of Saturn

Remember the late 80s/early 90s, when Toyota and Honda were kicking Detroit's butt (and Japan was buying Rockefeller Center and generally eating our lunch)? And remember GM's awesome response?



"A different kind of company, a different kind of car," went the great tagline for a wondrous new brand perfectly in tune with the times. Finally, here was an American response to the reliable and economical vehicles made in Japan. Companies pray for the kind of brand loyalty Saturn achieved.

And it wasn't just hype. Saturn really was a different kind of company. The unions worked with the corporation to find a competitive formula for the cars to be manufactured in Tennessee. The dealer network was set up with an understanding that many consumers hate car culture and prefer no-haggle pricing to the games car salesmen play. The cars were well-made, fuel-efficient crowd-pleasers. You couldn't ask for a car company better positioned for the 21st Century.

And what did GM do with this extraordinary brand and its well-reviewed debut product, the fuel-efficient S-Series compact sedan? They almost immediately abandoned it to become a lonely orphan. The S-Series languished for a decade with nothing more than cosmetic changes, and the next product, the L-Series, was introduced in 2000 with a thud. Brand? What brand? Later models got worse gas mileage and haplessly competed in the luxury market. GM was clearly too busy building Hummers to worry about Saturn.

Now, with GM on life support, the best idea it has had in the last 30 years for itself and for all of us appears about to be terminated, and that's a crying shame. The destruction of Saturn makes you wonder what planet the people running GM are on. Because what GM needs most right now is to build, what was it, oh yes, a different kind of company and a different kind of car.