To Boost Sales, Saturn Rethinks Itself—Again

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Saturn has been trying to stir word of mouth, rather than rely on mass media. Last year, Saturn built an online chat room staffed 24/7 by product geeks. Saturn dealers ran ads inviting Aura shoppers to test-drive Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords at the dealerships as well. This year, the brand is sponsoring Bon Jovi's concert tour and major running events such as the Boston Marathon. Mall displays don't just have static cars on display, but a product expert to talk them up almost like perfume pushers in department stores. There is a microsite that will be launched later this year, rethinksaturn.com, where the theme will be explored in other ways.

Driving Awareness

Saturn has been important to General Motors because it has long been the brand that drew would-be Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) buyers to at least look at a GM model. But that strength waned in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the automaker let the Saturn showroom stagnate. Today, Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac are drawing increasing numbers of import buyers and shoppers on the strength of improved product designs and quality.

Saturn, in fact, has had trouble making its case to consumers who check the Internet for quality rankings. The brand, long known for high customer service, has been below average in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, behind GM's Chevy and Buick, and well behind Ford (F). It lags the industry average even further in Power's long-term dependability ranking. Even the one Power ranking where it is among the leaders, in sales satisfaction (how well customers are treated at the dealership), Saturn's own research shows consumers can take such leadership to mean there are flaws in the products that need to be compensated for.

For GM, which has invested a lot of money in Saturn's new lineup, the time is now for the brand to show real sales progress, which will be tough in a falling car market and recession. But a fresh communication push will have to drive more awareness of some of GM's best new models. If not, the automaker, with seven other brands to feed, may start to really "Rethink Saturn."

Kiley is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Detroit bureau .