Another One Bites the Dust Again

It's no surprise to anyone that the car industry has been in a slump these past couple years. Automakers have tried everything from redesign to rebates to get people onto their lots. We have seen hybrids take over the roads, SUV's disappear and well-loved brands cease to exist. There have been a lot of changes for sure and GM was another on the list when they announced that production of Saturn would end and they would phase out the Pontiac name.

While Saturn has been a well-known brand for GM, in the 20 years it has been around it has never been profitable for the company. This stems from an original brand image problem when Saturn was first introduced. Saturn became synonymous with cheap and poorly made cars. Whether or not that was true, the reputation stuck. While GM improved the models over the years, consumers never really jumped on the Saturn bandwagon.

When Saturn was first introduced back in the early 1990's, it was supposed to be "a different kind of car company". The idea was to attract young buyers with efficient, affordable, trendy cars that could compete with the ever-growing Japanese brands. Unfortunately, developers were slow to promote the new brand and found it difficult to find and attract these buyers they were hoping for. In the end, it looks as though it was just never meant to be for Saturn.

Former race car driver Roger Penske had been in negotiations with GM to buy the Saturn brand and reintroduce it to the world. They had planned on allowing GM to manufacture Saturn through 2011 and then let Penske and the Saturn brand run on its own two feet. After deals with Penske fell through, GM was left with no choice but to shut down the brand. The Saturn brand will most likely be completely halted by the end of 2010.

Another blow to the GM brand is the phasing out of the Pontiac name. When GM was initially forced to rework their infrastructure because of government intervention, they wanted to phase out the Pontiac name. GM was hoping to keep certain well-marketed models under the Pontiac brand name but sell them at Chevrolet dealerships. After reviewing the entire plan, it became obvious that there was no hope for Pontiac. The brand has not been profitable for the company for the past few years so GM was again, left with no choice but to shut down production. Like Saturn, GM believes production will come to an end by December 2010.

While these were hard decisions for GM to make, it did provide them with a bit of hope. By shutting down two unprofitable brands within the company, they are able to devote the rest of their resources to developing and promoting their other brands - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. It's always difficult to see a huge brand name go under but it is much better than the alternative. What we really can't afford to see is an entire American icon fold under economic hardships. Americans need industrial staples like GM to push through this hard time and serve as a beacon of hope for the future of American industry. So, while we say goodbye to Saturn and Pontiac, let's hope this is a push in the right direction for GM to get back on its own two feet and help pull America out of this economic slump.