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Saturn's Status Has Customers Wondering

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It’s difficult enough for car dealers to contend with a struggling economy that has hit them hard. But Saturn dealers also have to deal with the future of their products and their company.

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By BILL ROGERS

Highlands Today

Published: March 29, 2009

SEBRING - It's difficult enough for car dealers to contend with a struggling economy that has hit them hard. But Saturn dealers also have to deal with the future of their products and their company.

"The perception is we're leaving or going away," said Ferron Jackson, sales and leasing consultant with Saturn of Sebring.

The information regarding the company has impacted walk-in traffic tremendously, according to Jackson. He said the dealership is seeing only three or four people a week now compared to 15 to 20 a year ago at this time.

"You may have read that General Motors delivered a plan to the U.S. government that outlined the corporation's plan for long-term viability," Saturn Division General Manager Jill Lajdzlak wrote in a letter to customers that was distributed last month. "In that plan, GM stated that Saturn would work with its retailers to investigate options for the future of the Saturn brand."

One of the options could be a spin-off of an independent Saturn Distribution Corp.

Saturn already exists as an indirect subsidiary of GM. It is the entity with which the retailers currently have their franchise agreement, Lajdzlak said. An independent Saturn would still have retailers and get current products from GM through 2011.

There are a couple of options the company has, according to Jackson.

"We have foreign automakers that are interested in buying the brand, which would own the brand and all of its distribution network, or our dealer network which is the FOT - the franchise operations team," he said. "Our dealer network may be the one that buys us anyway."

Jackson said there are 400 Saturn stores in the United States.

Jackson said people are wondering what's going on with Saturn.

"We're still here, to this point we're still here," Jackson said. "Most of our buyers that have the cars have received these letters, so they kind of got a peace of mind with it. Half of them they are just sitting there like 'I'm not worried about it; you guys will be here there is nothing to worry about.' The other half that are semi-concerned those are the ones that are really fighting for us. They are wondering what they can do."

The plan as to what will happen to Saturn is to be made known to dealers April 18.

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