In 1992, for instance, Saturn's sales rivaled those of the Ford Escort and Honda Civic and topped the Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra. And nearly half of the buyers said they would have bought an import if they hadn't bought a Saturn. But Saturn sales, which topped 2 million in the 1990s, began to slow by 1995. And, when a second model finally arrived last summer, it was none of those vehicles. Instead, the L-Series is a midsize car, yet another player in a cutthroat segment ruled by Toyota's Camry, Honda's Accord and Ford's Taurus.
Blame is plentiful.
Saturn President Cynthia Trudell speaks frankly about the brand's mistakes and optimistically about its future. We are pushing very hard. Saturn's fixed price policy means that dealers can't offer discounts on the cars and the company has refused to use incentives that other companies use to push slow-selling models. Instead, the company continues to stick to its one-price philosophy, relying on cheap leases, low finance rates and more advertising to sell its cars. Analyst Brown expects the Saturn SUV to be unconventional, perhaps a melding of minivan attributes with an SUV's body.