With GM's bankruptcy soon to be sorted out, I was glad to hear the Saturn division will be sold off and already has 16 bidders. Glad for Saturn, that is.

I was in business school when Saturn was launched. As a result, I did several papers and projects revolving around this new entry into the automotive marketplace. And I couldn't help but root for them.

It was a sharp departure from the rest of General Motors. In fact, the startup was reminiscent of the way Steve Jobs launched Macintosh from Apple. He gave them completely separate facilities, flew a pirate flag over the building, and proudly gave the division great independence and resources for innovation.

Saturn was created in the same spirit. They would be manufactured in Spring Hill, Tennessee, as far from Detroit (culturally) as a car company could get. They would have more independence of design, not having different chassis molds placed on the same frames as other GM brands. Theirs would be consumer-friendly dealerships, staffed by regular folks. And they pioneered no-haggle pricing.

Even back then, we (students and automotive media alike) predicted that Saturn would perform in time if only GM would leave it alone. They didn't.

Now, by being sold off, Saturn has a fighting chance to regain its original spirit and find a profitable place in the newly defined automotive market. And I wish them all the best.

Labels: marketing