Saturn's Rocky Road To Recovery

In a matter of weeks, GM's Saturn brand will be sold to Penske Automotive Group at a firesale price. Introduced in 1985, Saturn was thought to symbolize GM’s bold innovation, but turned out to be a giant money-loser and the “biggest fiasco in automotive history since Ford brought out the Edsel,” according to former GM director Jerome York.

Saturn's woes may have been masked by the industry's generally dismal performance during the current downturn. According to Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2009 report, “the economic crisis made 2008 the automotive industry’s worst year since 1992.” The report lists only one American automobile company in the top 100: Ford at number 49. But even Ford lost a swoon-inducing 11% of its Brand Value, and all automakers but luxury brand Ferrari saw declines.

Roger Penske, the fix-it man behind Hertz's truck-leasing rebound, GM's diesel operations and Daimler's micro-car recovery, is a contrarian who sees Saturn as "a potential jewel to be plucked from the scrapheap of GM’s bankruptcy.” He righted Daimler's Smart car prospects by handling sales, marketing, and service through his organization. He’ll manage Saturn much the same way: through independent dealerships, selling new models and servicing the three million Saturns already in circulation.

But will Penske be able to recapture the Saturn brand’s original “friendly vibe” and reputation for high owner loyalty? And does Saturn have anything left to compete with the Hyundais and Kias of the world—brands that now attract former Saturn prospects? BrandTags suggests Penske has his work cut out for him: Saturn's tag cloud is dominated by attributes like "cheap," "plastic," "crap," and "boring"; few positive attributes ("different," "reliable," "quality") appear anywhere near the top.

The Best Global Brands study suggests automakers' best strategy relies on innovation and environmentalism, with most makers working to improve fuel-efficiency and introduce hybrids and microcars to meet consumer demand:

The car industry is reinventing itself to remain or become profitable despite exploding R&D costs to produce smaller, greener, and more efficient cars. In the near future carmakers will have to continue to form alliances or consolidate and reorganize their brand portfolios to meet the challenges of tough markets characterized by perennial overproduction and more cost-concious car buyers looking for niche products.

Once, this was the very equity that was supposed to make Saturn "different." That Saturn is given any chance at all to turn things around testifies to the industry's confidence in Penske:

“My guess is that Penske has a shot at it,” says David E. Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. “But I’m not sure I could say that about anyone else except Roger.”