![]() Unfortunately, Kat Koonce said, GM has abandoned what made Saturn different. The first Saturn came off the Spring Hill assembly line on July 30, 1990. and a highly personalized consumer experience, including no-haggle buying and "Homecomings," a sort of family reunion for Saturn owners at the Spring Hill campus.the use of plastics instead of metal for many body parts.a separate agreement with the United Auto Workers that embraced more teamwork between union and management.an innovative new plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.Saturn was conceived in the early 1980s as a separate-standing division of GM, with then-unheard-of features: Saturn salesNovember 2008 deliveries: 8,130 They have brought numerous relatives and friends "into the Saturn cult," said Nick, whose dream is to own a Saturn dealership. She and her husband, Nick, met at a Saturn owners' event, their wedding was a Saturn owners' event, and they have owned six Saturns between them. She became such a familiar figure at her local Saturn dealer and so knowledgeable about its lineup that she was hired as a sales consultant. Koonce said she fell in love with Saturn before she was old enough to drive. That's a far cry from the half a million GM had hoped to sell each year when it introduced Saturn. Saturn sold slightly more than 8,000 cars in November and has delivered about 175,000 this year. ![]() Koonce, of Dayton, Ohio, used to feel that way, too.īut Koonce now says GM might as well kill off the brand, because that would be preferable to the slow death she sees as inevitable. "The best experience I've ever had was with Saturn, bar none," she said. Pearson said she has owned many makes of cars, including foreign nameplates, and Saturn's treatment of customers beats them all. And you become part of that family," Pearson said.Īll three Sky owners from Hixson had stories to tell about a sales consultant who went the extra mile or a service call that exceeded their expectations. "This is the only car I've ever owned that you can be driving down the interstate and people pull up beside you and take a picture of it," her husband, a retired 20-year Army veteran, said with amusement-tinged pride.īut it's not just the cars - including the original S series sedans and coupes - that turn people into "Saturnistas" it's also the pleasant buying experience and over-the-top customer service. Our next vehicle, when we buy one, will be a Saturn," Brenda Holloway said. They were joined by George and Brenda Holloway, who drove their 2007 Sky almost 100 miles from their farm in Centre, Alabama, to join in the parade. ![]() CNN/Money: What's really killing Detroit.CNN/Money: Obama: Change needed atop industry.Obama teams weighs options on auto industry.Big Three bailout deadlock may end soon.Fellow Hixson residents and Sky devotees Connie Terrell (red 2007 RedLine) and Pearson (dark blue 2007 standard edition) were there, too.Īll three have owned other, more sedate Saturns than the Sky, which praises for "sharp styling, low price and everyday comfort" and Car and calls a "mini-Corvette" at around half the price. Pollard drove her black 2008 RedLine (that's Saturn's name for a turbo) Sky in Sunday's Christmas parade in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, northeast of Chattanooga. See how Saturn owners are devoted to their vehicles » That leaves Saturn, along with GM's Pontiac, Saab and Hummer brands, with a dim future. General Motors hasn't officially announced the end of Saturn, but in a restructuring plan submitted to Congress, the automaker said it would concentrate resources on four core brands - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. She created the Sky Club of Chattanooga, dedicated to the sporty two-seater. "I just can't stand the thought of them doing away with Saturn," said Dianne Pollard of Hixson, Tennessee. General Motors has raised the prospect of eliminating the nameplate as it tries to restructure to regain profitability. The women are exactly the kind of customers General Motors was looking for when it introduced the Saturn brand two decades ago as "a different kind of car company." The brand's slogan is now one word - "rethink" - but its fate may soon be summed up in another - "done." Judy Pearson shows off a photo album of her Saturn Sky roadster the way a grandmother might show off one of her grandchildren - pictures of vacations and happy times together.
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