Saturn: GM's Unlikely Muse

Saturn has been at the proverbial dog track with a note pinned to its shirt. "I am lost, please put me on a bus to this address" Although the car unit is owned by GM, it is unlikely that they wanted Saturn to find its ways home.

Times have changed. As improbable as it may seem, Saturn has become the muse of GM’s management. Saturn’s sales were up 6% last year, as overall GM (GM) sales fell sharply. GM’s Dr Frankenstein, Bob Lutz, has poured all of his design talents into new Saturn models like the Sky, the Astra, and the Aura. Despite their odd names, they are selling well. The Associated Press quotes Lutz as describing the Saturn products: "It’s a no-excuses product lineup," 

If GM can take the lessons of Saturn to heart in its larger divisions, the company’s turnaround might well continue.

The stock has run from $19 last March to close to $34 recently. And, that may not be the end of it.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.