Corporate Strategy Case Study

General Motors: Experiment with Saturn in the Small Car Market

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Abstract:
With the competition from the foreign automakers in the 1980s, General Motors (GM) wanted to develop a new car and a new development process that could compete with the foreign manufacturers. This ushered in 'Saturn', a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, that was hailed as 'a different kind of a car company'. In 1990, Saturn introduced its first car in the US market. Although, the company tasted success initially, since 1995 it had witnessed inconsistent sales in spite of the introduction of two new models. Since 2002, to tide over the problems at Saturn, GM had been planning to hit the market with new products and car brands from 2005.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss GM’s entry strategies into the small car market, the competitive scenario in the market and GM’s efforts to counter the competition

Keywords : General Motors, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Oldsmobile, No haggle, Marketing Strategies Case Study, No-penalty exchange privilege, Pacific rim, S-series, L-series, VUE, ION, Red-Line, Corolla