1990 Saturn Promo – Spring Hill Tennessee
On January 7th 1985, the Saturn Corporation was officially announced as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM. It was set up to operate independently, but to have the financial support of its parent company. Interestingly, the concept of the Saturn car was originally aimed at snob appeal, based on GM’s still-myopic assumption that people who bought foreign cars were all snobs. Far from correct, this assumption would contribute to the delays and cost inflation’s that would retard Saturn car development for half of a decade. IN July of 1985 GM and the UAW met to determine a new labor contract for workers employed at Saturn. On July30th Spring Hill, Tennessee was chosen as a site for the new corporations Manufacturing and assembly plant.
In the spring of 1986, Saturn’s executive offices in Troy, Michigan were dedicated, and the 4.4 million square foot plant in Spring Hill was commenced. Saturn’s attempts to preserve the natural beauty and ecology of its site earned four conservation awards, including Industrial Conservationist of the year.
Personal story: I will always have a soft spot for the original Saturn’s. My first new car buying experience involved a 1995 SL2. I could not believe how well i was treated, I was nineteen, and I was regarded as well as anyone. any age. The car may not have been class leading, but the marketing worked on me, i knew early on with the creation of the marque, that it would be my first new car. I traded that car in on a ‘new’ for 97 built to order SC2, after only 18 months of ownership of my 95. The wait was daunting, and my frequent stops into the dealership evolved into a last name greeting every time, by almost every employee, and that made this young man feel pretty special. I cared for my initial Saturn so well that when it was traded in, the placed my aqua marine 95 in the showroom, as one of their first certified used vehicles. That made a proud owner, even more honored to be connected with this brand. The marketing was true. Every customer was royalty. This method, no question, should have transferred to every division within GM, either during Saturn’s tenure, or at least after its cancellation.
Note: The last picture shown, was shared with me from the Assistant Chief Designer Saturn Exteriors in 1985, John Manoogian II.
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I live 15 minutes from the Saturn plant here in Spring Hill TN!
Really? How long have you resided there?
love this video,pisses me off gm had to screw them up
Very good promotional film, made me want to move to Spring Hill (and back to the 80’s) I will miss Saturn.
I worked for a Saturn Retail facility – it was more than just a car it was a about people and the relationships that came from working together. The loyalty of the customer (guest as we called them) the employees that came together to offer the best service in the industry. I think it was a shame to close Saturn, it changed the auto industry, it is the reason I stayed in the business. Thank you goes out to all who beleived in Saturn and who purchased Saturns. Your loyalty and commentment will always be appricated!
Watching this video made me sad. Saturn went from something that really was different, and that people could be proud of, to just another part of the GM conglomerate, and then it was unceremoniously killed off. I remember my parents buying an SL2 in 1997 when I was 14, and they really did do things very differently at the dealership… I had always gone with my parents to buy cars because I’ve always loved cars since I was little, and the no-stress, no haggle, friendly atmosphere really stood out to me. That being said, looking back I think Saturn was doomed from the beginning, because it was underneath the GM umbrella. Had it been a separate company, and kept the vision that so many had for it, it very well could have been a major success…. but with all of the corporate in-fighting and apparent jealousy that so many other GM divisions had towards Saturn, it was always doomed to eventually become just another GM division, and it being shuttered came as no surprise after the economic downturn in the late 00’s. Still, it’s a shame. I think GM has taken a lot of positive steps away from its former mindset and the way they used to do things, but the Saturn outlook really had the chance to make a big difference. Hopefully a lot of people learned valuable lessons from all of this.