Saturn Now Has Something To Crow About. They've Got Good Cars.
In this column's reappearance, Jamie Kitman witnesses the changing seasons as Toyota is set to usurp GM's place on top of the international automotive hill.
Friends, it's great to be back. What did I notice during my absence? Well, for one thing, the situation for our domestic automakers appears grimmer than anyone ever thought possible.
To the untrained eye, it must seem like the final furlong of the race. Toyota and Honda can't erect American plants fast enough, while the domestics can't shutter them quickly enough.
But, because this column has always been known for its positive outlook, I'm going to haul out the old crystal ball-the one that predicted the American makers' current malaise at the height of their profitability and as far back as 1997, the year after the Big Three's cumulative North American truck sales overtook those of their cars-and propose that this race ain't over yet, for several reasons.
First, we can expect General Motors and Ford, because they have no choice, to unlock additional value in their European operations as they help the home team build the cars (not trucks) most (but not all) Americans should be driving, just as their Asian outposts assist them now. Remember, North American Ford without Mazda goodness-the Edge, the Fusion, the Escape, the list goes on-is almost too horrible to contemplate. So one must be heartened to learn that Ford's new leader, Alan Mulally, has already identified some rather fine European Fords that could help erase American memories of Ford Freefalls, excuse me, Freestars, past.
GM has done a lackluster job of marketing Saturn in recent years, a profound irony, as superior marketing was the only thing that kept Saturn in business for its first dozen years, when its products were demonstrably inferior. A step up to merely mediocre products ensued early in this century, but the Saturn marketing magic had already begun to vaporize as the cost-cutters' axes started swinging anew. The brand's vaunted special relationship with its workers is finito now, and those wacky Saturn owner reunions in Spring Hill, Tennessee, are history. But at least with the new Aura and the upcoming Astra-German Opels both-the division actually has something to crow about besides charming dealers, pie-eyed customers, and no-dicker stickers. They've got good cars-too bad they won't necessarily be made in America, but you could say the same about any number of Hondas and Toyotas.
Bringing us to the next point of light, which is this: Growing big is one thing. Staying big is another. While it's tempting to look at the Japanese competition as omniscient and omnipotent, a more careful review of the facts reveals otherwise. Nissan has already encountered its first speed bumps in the Carlos Ghosn era, with profits and return on investment sliding precipitously. Hondas are still fine cars, but as they get more closely attuned to the tastes of the average American, a buyer who used to trill to the delights of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, fewer enthusiasts aspire to own them.
Which brings us to Toyota, poised to become earth's largest carmaker-making it, I predict, the new GM in more ways than one. Up to now, Toyota has gotten off easy in the media, not least because of the perception that it's a maker of green machines, when in fact it has recently chosen to build some of the hugest and most grotesque petroleum swillers known to man. ...next page >>