Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company
...total, only second to Ford’s Escort which accounted for 13.44% - Franchise value rating of 9.6 out of 10.0 in 1993 (last year), which is the highest by 1.4 over Chrysler (Dodge). Return on investments - Saturn has broken even in 1993, earning an operating profit of $100 million on sales of $3 billion. - In the US small car market, Saturn accounted for 56.4% of GM’s total share. - Would require an additional investment of $900 million to increase production to 500,000 cars annually (pg 1) Impact on other small car companies - The need for a dominant US small car product in the market to target intentional competitors. - With the average fuel efficiency for imports still averaging 7 miles more than the leading American car, more would need to be done reduce market share of imports. Alternative strategies: The alternative strategies that this organization could take would be: - Continue with the large investment and increase production to 500,000 cars annually. - Have Saturn cars sold by another GM division to reduce costs while keeping the popular car on the market. The first one is viable since Saturn, in just three years, has jumped out on the market. It has been able to secure a solid percentage of the market and created superior customer satisfaction for great retention of buyers. The second option is also v...