Has the Tide
Turned for Saturn?
GM Unit Reports 16 Percent Increase in Sales
Saturn of Japan has distinguished itself this year as the only U.S-owned
automaker to actually report a significant increase in sales during the
first quarter of 1999. Despite the good news, company officials seemed
to downplay their performance and repeated the often-stated corporate
position that they are more concerned with customer satisfaction than
with sales targets.
In an interview with Japan Auto Trends, company officials attributed
Saturn's 16 percent increase in sales to the introduction of its new
three-door SC Coupe. They said it appealed to Japanese consumers because
it's unique. They also attributed their higher sales figures to an
increase in the number of Saturn showrooms this past year. But they also
pointed out that they weren't concerned with the numbers and would
continue focusing on customer satisfaction.
On that point, the company has never wavered.
From the first day that it opened its initial eight showrooms with a
shipment of 220 right-hand-drive Saturn sedans, wagons and coupes on
April 5, 1997, Saturn has apparently taken Japanese concerns to heart.
In addition to being the only American maker to initially offer
right-hand-drive models, it also positioned the turn signal lever on the
right side of the steering column and moved the pedals 30 millimeters
closer to the driver. Instead of marketing itself as "A Different Kind
of Car Company"—a Saturn slogan used in the U.S.—the company decided
to stress the theme, "Rei wo tsukusu Kaisha, Rei wo tsukusu Kuruma."
Although the phrase has many different meanings in English, it always
conveys respect, and thus appeals to Japanese sensibilities.
And then last summer, the company became the first automaker in Japan
to loan free child safety seats to customers. Since then, Mitsubishi and
Toyota have begun providing child seats, but their programs are
restricted to the dealer level, while Saturn's is company-wide. The
company insists that the Child Safety Program is not a sales promotion,
but rather an effort to promote customer satisfaction and to increase
parental awareness of child safety.
It may be too soon to say whether Saturn will continue to be a ray of
hope for General Motors in Japan, but it's obvious that the company is
determined to stay. "My answer then as now, is that we are very serious
indeed," said Saturn General Director Keith Wicks in material available
on the company's Japanese website. "We're devoting as much time as it
takes, working step-by-step to achieve the same unsurpassed level of
satisfaction and pleasure. We know that the Japanese market is the most
demanding in the world, and we know that we face many strong competitors
here. It won't be easy. But we're confident that the Saturn family will
grow throughout Japan."
