Saturn sends letter to faithful owners describing spin-off plan
Yesterday we told you about Saturn’s proposed plan to become independent of General Motors. Today we have more details via a letter that Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak just sent to the brand’s faithful owners that warns of changes to come. Using the company’s “Different Kind of Car Company” tagline, she points out that Saturn has always sought to do things differently. Whether it’s no-haggle shopping, dent-resistant cars or luxury-car levels of customer service in a mainstream dealership, Saturn has been a pioneer on several fronts. Now the company is looking to blaze a trail on another path entirely. As part of GM’s Viability Plan, Saturn will only be supported with new GM vehicles through 2011. Unless the company gets spun off, GM will phase out the brand. That’s where the new plan comes in.
Saturn could go independent, with dealers taking over the Saturn Distribution Corporation. The SDC is the existing “indirect subsidiary” of GM that manages franchise agreements with dealers. Under this proposed plan, the dealers would essentially buy the Saturn name and continue to run Saturn dealerships. The catch is that after 2011 they would have to arrange to distribute non-GM vehicles in their showrooms. As Jill explains it, the goal would be to find “future vehicles that match the Saturn Brand: fuel-efficient, safe, reliable and affordable.” This could directly benefit Chinese or Indian automakers looking for a foothold in the U.S.
You can read the full letter from Jill after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Mike!
[Source: Saturn Events, | Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty]