Saturn's Aggressive Marketing Campaign is Paying Off

Part of General Motors’ turnaround plan is the revitalization of Saturn's lineup.  By partnering Saturn with the German automaker Opel, General Motors succeeded in giving the Saturn brand a facelift.  The marque is now emerging as a strong competitor to both Honda and Toyota.  The Saturn brand has been created by General Motors to directly compete with foreign automakers and the brand is currently doing just that.

The once fledgling division is now considered as the fastest growing brand in the United States auto market. The division is said to be luring consumers away from rivals due in part to its aggressive marketing campaign. Reuters reported that the chief of the Saturn division told them that Saturn auto models are attracting consumers - far away from Japanese vehicles.

The aggressive marketing campaign employed by the division is focused on the Saturn Aura.  Now running for two-and-a-half weeks, the marketing strategy involves offering Toyota and Honda vehicles for test drives in Saturn dealerships. The Aura competes with the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord in the midsize car segment.  In order to highlight the capabilities of the Saturn Aura, General Motors offers consumers the chance to test drive the Aura along with the Accord or the Camry in their dealerships.  This is called by General Motors as the ‘Side by Side by Side’ challenge which is quite akin to FoMoCo’s Ford Fusion Challenge.

“It really demonstrates just how confident we are in the product,” said Jill Lajdziak, the general manager of the Saturn division in an interview with Reuters.  The marketing campaign has been questioned by many on the outset on the premise that it might drive potential Saturn buyers to instead pick either the Camry or the Accord. But as the general manager of the brand says, General Motors has confidence in the Aura.

The working relationship between Saturn and Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors, resulted to a revitalized lineup for the former.  Saturn's new offerings now boast of European styling which is reasonably priced. Aside from looking like European automobiles with their clean lines and having high quality materials on the inside, the performance of new Saturn vehicles are also improved thus making the brand more attractive to consumers today than in the past.  The improvements on the inside of the Aura even included better quality of materials used on Saturn floor liners.

The Aura played a key role in making Saturn the best performing brand under General Motors for the month of June.  For the first half of the year, sales of the Aura increased by 21 percent compared to last year for the same period. 

“It has bounced back in the marketplace. And consideration numbers are going up,” Lajdziak told Reuters. “I expect the consideration and the conquest levels to continue to rise.”

Although sales for the Saturn division are increasing, General Motors is still battling with the perception that Japanese automobiles are more reliable than American ones.  Although the Big Three has taken steps to increase the durability and reliability of their vehicles, consumers are still caught up in the notion that Japanese vehicles are superior to American autos in terms of reliability, a belief deeply rooted in the past.

That is why General Motors has started on the aggressive marketing campaign for the Aura which is the reigning North American Car of the Year - a fact that Saturn is using extensively in marketing the midsize car.  “I don't think there is a bolder, more confident statement,” concluded Lajdziak.