1. Lijo George
Manoj
Mamata
Mahalakshmi
Malavya
Naveen S
Neha Sethu
Saturn
An Image Makeover
Presented by: Group 6

2. Introduction
• The Saturn Corporation was an automobile manufacturer
and brand, established on January 7, 1985 as a subsidiary
of General Motors
• It was GM’s response to the success of Japanese automobile
imports in the United States.
• Initially, the company marketed itself as a "different kind of
car company”.
• The Sole focus was on Customers, Employees and
Communities.
• The first Saturn cars were made “from scratch” .They did not
have any allegiance to GM’s Part bins or suppliers.
• It was very successful during its initial period.

3. • Despite its initial
success, GM’s division
always missed out on
“Profit”.
• 2000–08: Model Expansion
• By 2008 they were planning
to grow their portfolio in a
huge way
• Saturn repositioned their
brand with its rethink

5. Segmentation Variables
I. BEHAVIOURAL SEGMENTATION
It divides buyers into groups based on their
knowledge, attitudes, uses or responses to a
product.
GM has segmented the automobile market
,on the basis of
Usage – regular and every day usage
 Benefits - Safety, Fuel Economy, balanced
Drive benefits
 Loyalty status – strong

6. II. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
It divides the market into groups, based on variables such as
age, gender, family size, family life
cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generatio
n, and nationality.
GM has segmented the automobile market on basis of
Occupation - Salaried professionals
Family size – 4 or 5
Gender – both male and female
Age and Income.

7. III. GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
It divides the market into different geographical units
such as nations, regions, states, counties, cities, or even
neighbourhoods .
GM has segmented the automobile market on the basis
of
Market density - Rural, Urban & Semi-urban
Country and market size basis
Climate-Northern & Eastern parts are cold & dry &
winds with rains and the area of Western & southern
parts are warm & dry.

8. IV. PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Psychographic segmentation divides buyers into different
groups based on social class, lifestyle, or personality
characteristics.
GM has segmented the automobile market
 Social class basis like middle class
 Personality basis like compulsive
 Lifestyle basis like impulsive Experiences & mostly strivers.

9. Brand Year founded
Year began
making autos
Year joined GM
Markets served
today
Buick 1899 1903 1908
North America,
China
Cadillac 1902 1902 1909
North America,
Europe, Asia,
Middle East
Chevrolet 1911 1911 1911
Global, except
Australia, New
Zealand
GMC 1901 1901 1909
North America,
Middle East
Holden 1856 1908 1931
Australia, New
Zealand
Jiefang 2011 2011 2011 China
Opel 1862 1899 1929
Global, except
North America,
United Kingdom
Wuling 2002 2002 2002 China
Vauxhall 1857 1903 1925 United Kingdom

10. 10
Market Targeting of Saturn
Geographical
 Saturn was concentrating more on customers
beyond the domestic border
Demographical
 Age: They are focusing on young customers by
changing perceptions of the customers, with the
help of advertisement.

11. Market Positioning of Saturn
 To reposition the
brand image of
Saturn. GM decided
to undertake “rethink”
campaigning.
 The print and TV ads
are designed to
change consumer
perceptions of
Saturn.
11

12. Saturn-S series
• The S-Series was part of the family of
compact cars from the Saturn
automobile company.
• This was the first series of Saturn
vehicles.
• The S-series debuted in 1990 with SC
(“sports coupe”) and SL (“sedan level”)
models in 1990 for the 1991 model year.
• The S-series was sold from the fall of
1990 through the end of the 2002 model
year, with partial redesigns in 1996 &
2000 (sedans) and 1997 & 2001
(coupes).
• Taiwan and Japan were the only two
Asian countries to import Saturn. 12

13. Difference from S-series
Two sub lines of Vehicle
 Red Line
Saturn will replace the Ion with a mildly
changed Opel Astra.
 Green Line
Hybrid technology available at a price
much lower than any other hybrid
offering.
 They tried to expand their portfolio
rather than coming up with
innovations.
 Dealer profitability rose by 24%.
13

14. Role Of Social Responsibility- Saturn „s
Targeting Strategy
• Use of innovative technology:
- internal combustion engine
- hydrogen combustion engine
• Launching of green line hybrid car.
• Human resource policies to give equal opportunities
- to women, ethnic minorities and
people with disabilities

15. Role Of Social Responsibility Saturn „s
Targeting Strategy(cont..)
• Philanthropic support:
- More concern for humanity
• Hydrogen as a future fuel
- hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen electric vehicle
• Provide a better working environment
– Unprecedented contract with United Auto Workers (UAW).
• Better maintenance of plant and machinery to ensure safety
• Takes steps to avoid accidents and injuries

16. Differentiation & Positioning
• More for less
More For
Less
More
More
The Same
TheSame
Less
Less
BENEFITS
PRICE

17. Justifications- Sinking down
• Couldn‟t satisfy all segments of people and their
expectations after the makeover
• Lost their uniqueness when they switched from „ a
different kind of car company‟ to „rethink‟
• Couldn‟t create the necessary brand awareness for
the models launched one after another

18. Justifications - Sinking down
• Concentrated more on home markets
– Main focus was on Import-intenders.
– Failed to create global brand awareness
• Came up with an unrealistic sales goal
• Recession affected sales
• Lack of scaled extension at the right time

19. Recommendations
Segmentation recommendation:
• By adding little style & sporty accessories, its segmentation will
itself stretch to more psychographic (social class, lifestyle &
personality).
• Saturn can also segment it on the base of personality & loyalty, by
using its strong customer loyalty base.
Targeting recommendation:
• Saturn should target not only on the lower income group. It could
target young generation by adding some stylish, luxurious & sporty
features.
• It can also extend itself to more of a premium car segment. Hence
targeting high class people too.
Positioning recommendation:
• Positioning strategy by enhancing the features & increasing the
quality.
• It needs to focus on global positioning rather than concentrating
much on local market.

20. End of Saturn‟s Era
• Saturn, a GM company that had great promise in the early
1990s, ultimately failed because senior GM leaders couldn't see the
benefits of new ways of doing things and a new kind of
organizational culture.
• Following the withdrawal of a bid by Penske Automotive to acquire
Saturn in September 2009, General Motors discontinued the Saturn
brand . All new productions were halted on October 1, 2009.
• It also ended its outstanding franchises on October 31, 2010.
• There were just two underlying forces behind Saturn's demise:
 GM's insistence on managing all its divisions centrally with a
tight fist.
 The demand by leadership at both GM and the UAW that
Saturn to get in line with traditional ways of doing things.

21. • GM manages its businesses monolithically. And
Saturn‟s launch was gobbling up all the funds.
• Saturn was hit by the same dynamics a few year
later, when the market shifted and it desperately needed
a midsize car and an SUV. By then it was the other
division‟s time to get the money.
• Everyone had to take a turn and every division was
penalized in the process.
Other Forces that led to Downfall

22. Other Recommendation
• The Saturn Company could have focused more on their
model turnover
• Portfolio growth should have been even more stable and
faster.
• Being a young company, it could have also entered into
premium car segment instead of positioning itself as
bland, functional, economical car.

24. Conclusion- Saturn was destined to fail
• First, it failed to deliver on its mission to fend off
the Japanese imports that now dominate the US
market.
• Second, it managed to lose billions of dollars at a
time when GM needed every penny it could
muster.
• Third, Saturn represents perhaps the single
biggest explanation for GM's precarious situation.
• The launch of a business model was fatally flawed.

25. References
•http://www.managementstudyguide.com/bcg-
matrix.htm
•http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20
070521134824AANJY4Q
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Corporation
•http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-02-
18/why-saturn-fell-to-earth
•http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2009/09/saturn-
deal-falls-through-brand-to-die.html