Even though General Motors starved the brand for new products, those who bought Saturns back then loved them.

Sure, buyers enjoyed the no-haggle deals and the fresh approach to selling cars. They loved it when dealer employees clapped as they drove their cars away for the first time.

But what they really loved was that the cars were good, possibly the best cars GM has made since the 1950s when it ruled the American market.

So, it’s always surprising to me when I read some pundit dissing the brand as did Paul Ingrassia, former Detroit Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.

The cars were pretty ordinary, causing Honda engineers to scoff when they disassembled one. But the engineers couldn’t see Saturn’s emotional appeal, reinforced with advertising about labor-management cooperation amid the down-home values of Spring Hill.

The problem with that statement is that the cars were actually fairly sophisticated. The original Saturn SL had one of GM’s most advanced engines. The car’s interior was as good as any small car from the Europeans or Japanese at the time.

But the real reason owners loved those cars was because they were tough as rhino skin. I know many people who drove their SLs for years before finally trading them in. Many of those folks will tell you that their Saturn was not just the best car they ever owned; they’ll tell you that it was the best thing they ever owned, period.

One of the constant topics people out here in the real world talk about is how companies make products  poorly, ensuring that people will eventually have to come back to replace it. Build the perfect toaster and you’ll never have to buy another one.

That may have been Saturn’s problems. Those original SLs were not fancy, but they were so well built, GM most likely wasn’t able to make much on them. They were built so well, there were no reasons to replace them.

Since those original SLs were finally phased out in 2003, Saturn hasn’t been the same. Instead of being a special, separate entity within GM, the brand was folded into the company, becoming a division no different than Chevrolet or Pontiac.

The cars weren’t as good either. The SL’s replacement was the goofy Ion, which wasn’t anywhere near as good as the SL. The LS sedan was panned. Saturn’s latest round of cars, including the Saturn Aura and Outlook are better. But for every home run, GM still whiffs on others including the  Sky (drop-dead gorgeous, but plagued with ergonomic issues) and the Astra (European transplant with too much of the Old Country left in the recipe).

There are plenty of folks out there who would flock back to Saturn if it were to build cars with the spirit of that old SL. Is it realistic to sell an overbuilt car and peddle it from dealerships where the employees clap as you make your way out the door? That’s a hard question to answer.

It looks like we’ll never find out if folks want a car like that after Penske Automotive backed out of its deal with GM

Roger Penske

Penske Corp. announced Tuesday that it was dropping its plan to buy Saturn from General Motors. The company said that its agreement with another automaker to build cars that Penske would sell as Saturns had fallen through. The company did not name the automaker, but The Associated Press reported that Penske had been in talks with French automaker Renault.

But the same positives that attracted Penske in the first place still exist for Saturn. The brand’s famously unique dealerships and excellent core of loyal customers are still attractive to an automaker looking to sell more cars.

Auto companies everywhere are struggling to sell enough cars to keep their factories humming. Here’s the double-edged problem those automakers face when deciding whether to take on production of Saturn vehicles for Penske:

• If Penske partners with an company that is already selling vehicles in this market, the automaker risks cannibalizing its own sales to help Saturn. Say for example, Penske works with VW. VW builds a rebadged Jetta as a Saturn. Buyers considering the purchase of a Jetta might opt for the Saturn model instead.
• Penske could partner with an automaker which does not currently sell vehicles in the United States, such as Renault. The problem with that is that the automaker would have to go through the process to certify those vehicles for sale in the U.S. market, then hope it sells enough to justify the expense.

Although Penske says it has broken off negotiations, its likely that discussions continue behind the scenes. It appears Penske may have been negotiating with just one automaker, but others who did garner initial interest from Penske might contact the company to inquire about stepping in.

It all depends on who sees an opportunity to make some money and who thinks they have what it takes to make this unusual relationship work.

Penske

With Roger Penske’s takeover of the Saturn brand apparently moving forward (Motor Trend via Automotive News), a legitimate question is what Penske plans to do with General Motors’ ringed-planet brand.

Penske says he is on track to complete the purchase of Saturn by the end of September. He says he wants to keep Saturn’s vaunted dealer network in place, and plans call for GM to continue supplying most of the existing models through 2011. One model that won’t continue is the Saturn Sky, the Pontiac Solstice clone that ended production July 30.

But what happens after that? Before announcing that it would sell the brand to Penske, GM said it would likely continue to build many of Saturn’s cars. But in a June 7 question-and-answer session with USA Today, Penske said his team would be looking at automakers from around the world who could supply products for the company and that could become partners with Penske. Penske suggested that this could be a great opportunity for foreign automakers looking to establish a beachhead in the U.S. market, which brings to mind the Chinese automakers who have been looking for an avenue into the market for several years.

Saturn Sky Red Line

I wonder if it is possible for Penske to get access to the Kappa platform that underpins the Sky/Solstice. There’s nothing wrong with the car’s bones. Where the Sky and Solstice falter is in details and execution. With the proper framework, goals and design, a renewed Sky could make a lot of sense. GM’s own Bob Lutz has already said that future enthusiast cars will likely be smaller and use smaller engines with turbos and superchargers. That is exactly what the Sky is.

This is not the first time Penske has come to Detroit’s rescue. Penske received big kudos for heading up Super Bowl XL efforts in 2005, helping Detroit come across with glowing reviews from many skeptical pundits. He’s also a marketing whiz, and he knows a good deal when he sees one. So, it makes sense that Penske is cooking up some interesting new ideas for the brand.

What Penske is doing with Saturn is unlike anything else in the auto industry. Typically, auto companies like to keep tight control on everything from design to manufacturing of its models. By all accounts, Saturn is likely to obtain its cars from established manufacturers, including GM. But surely Penske’s people will play a major role in what those cars look like and feel like.