Saturn LLC is a subsidiary of General Motors Company, established on January 7, 1985, in response to the success of Japanese and German small-car imports in the United States.[1] As a "different kind of car company," Saturn operated outside the GM superstructure for a time, with its own assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, unique models, and a separate retailer network.[2]

Following the withdrawal of a bid by Penske Automotive to acquire Saturn in September 2009, the Motors Liquidation Company of General Motors announced that it expected to shut down Saturn by October 2010.[3]. All new production has been halted as of October 5th, 2009. [4]

Alex C. Mair began discussions of a revolutionary new, small-car project codenamed "Saturn" in June 1982. In November 1983, the Saturn idea is publicized by General Motors' Chairman Roger B. Smith and General Motors' President F. James McDonald. Twelve months later, the first Saturn demonstration vehicle was revealed. On January 7, 1985 the Saturn Corporation was officially founded.[5]

In July 1990 GM Chairman Roger Smith and UAW President Owen Bieber drove the very first Saturn off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The brand was marketed as a "different kind of car company," and Saturn operated outside the GM conglomerate, with its own assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, unique models and a separate retailer network.

Results at Saturn were mixed. According to the Wall Street Journal, the project was too overambitious, as "everything at Saturn is new: the car, the plant, the workforce, the dealer network and the manufacturing process. Not even Toyota, everyone"s candidate for the world"s best automaker, tackles more than two new items on any single project." While Saturn cars proved very popular with its buyers, actual sales never met the optimistic projected targets, in part because of a recession in 1990. It also proved cannibalistic as 41% of Saturn buyers already owned a GM car. Its separation from the rest of its GM parent, plus the fact that it drained $5 billion from other car projects, stirred anger and envy within GM ranks. Also Saturn opened at considerably higher cost than the Japanese transplants (factories that Japanese automakers established in the United States) and despite the emphasis on quality, 35""40 percent of the car"s plastic panels were sent back with defects. [6][7]

Nonetheless, the brand was immediately known for its 'no haggle' prices. The first Saturn Model, the Saturn S-Series, was significantly successful. A year later, Saturn hit the Canadian market. 499,999 Saturns later, 'Carla' entered the market in 1993. In May 1995, 'Jasper', Saturn's Millionth car is produced. In 1996, the short lived GM EV1 hit Saturn Showrooms, later becoming the subject of the 2006 documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car?. In 1997, Saturn entered the Japanese market. In January 1999, Saturn rolled out its two millionth car. In late 1999, Saturn began production of its all new L-Series.

Saturn's first Compact Crossover Sport Utility Vehicle was introduced in 2000 as the Saturn Vue. The Saturn Vue was known as the Chevrolet Captiva in Mexico, Europe and Brazil; the GMC Terrain in the Middle East; Holden Captiva MaXX in the Oceania regions; Opel Antara in mainland Europe and Ireland; and Vauxhall Antara in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Saturn introduced the Saturn Ion as a replacement to the Saturn S-Series. In 2005, Saturn began selling the Saturn Outlook, a larger SUV than the Saturn Vue. That same year the Saturn L-Series was discontinued. The Saturn Sky was introduced in 2006. In 2007, the Saturn Aura made its way to dealerships, and the Saturn Ion was discontinued. The Saturn Astra was discontinued a year later. During the 2008 NAIAS, Saturn revealed its Flextreme concept vehicle, which was a rebadged Opel Flextreme.[5]

In 2004, GM and the UAW dissolved their unique labor contract for the Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing plant.[8]

In US Congressional hearings on December 2, 2008, General Motors announced its intentions to focus on four core brands (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC), with the sale, consolidation, or closure of Saturn and the remaining brands (Pontiac, Hummer, and Saab).[9] General Motors Chairman and former CEO Rick Wagoner announced during a news conference on February 17, 2009 that Saturn will remain in operation through the end of the planned lifecycle for all Saturn products (2010""11).

In February 2009, GM declared its intent to part with this brand by closing or selling the division, either to investors or to dealers, as part of restructuring plans dependent upon the receipt of a second round of government loans ("bailout" funding).[10] It is the third such action for GM in the 21st century, following those of Oldsmobile, which ceased production in 2004, and Pontiac, which will cease production by the end of the 2010 model year.

General Motors announced in June 2009 that it was selling the brand to Penske Automotive Group.[11] The arrangement was similar to the deal under which Penske distributes Daimler AG's Smart Car in the United States.[12] Penske was not planning to buy the factories and would eventually had to have other car companies build cars sold as Saturns. GM would have built the Aura, Vue, and Outlook for Penske for two years. To replace GM as the brand's manufacturer, Penske was in discussions with several global automakers, including Renault Samsung Motors of Korea.[13]

By the end of 2009, GM will close all of its 46 Saturn dealerships in Canada. GM and Penske decided that they could no longer make a business case to distribute Saturn vehicles in Canada after the sale of the brand. Saturn's customer service, parts, and warranty operations will move to other GM dealerships in Canada.[14] Saturn dealerships in Canada also selling Saab vehicles will sell exclusively Saab vehicles after GM shuts down Saturn, and sells Saab to Koenigsegg.

On September 30, 2009, Penske terminated its discussions with General Motors Company ("GM") to acquire the Saturn brand. The tentative agreement was for GM to continue to produce the Saturn line until 2011; after that time, an undisclosed third company would assume production responsibilities. Penske's decision to back out of the sale came after this undisclosed company's board rejected plans to take over production of the Saturn line.[15] The undisclosed company was later reported to be Renault.[16] Subsequently, GM stated they will shut down the brand and dealers will have to shut down by October 2010.[17] Saturn owners will still be able to take their cars to Saturn dealerships for service until closure in 2010, after which point Saturn vehicles will be serviced at other GM dealerships.[15]

The company's products used a dedicated platform called the Z-body and a dedicated engine, the 1.9 L Saturn I4 engine, and a dedicated plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. All of the original Saturns featured dent-resistant plastic body panels which were also touted as allowing the company to change the look of the vehicles readily. However, in practice, the company did not take advantage of this capability often, due to flammability concerns.

Saturn S-Series cars were produced from 1991-2002. There were 3 Generations of S-Series Cars. First Generation S-Series cars were produced from 1991-1994. For the 1995 Model year, Saturn implemented a "First Generation" exterior, and "Second Generation" interior. The exterior of the 1995 model year looked the same as the first generation cars, but exhibited larger gauge faces on the instrument cluster, and a redesigned middle console. First Generation engines were rated at 85 horsepower (63 kW) for the Single Overhead Cam Engines, while the Dual Overhead Cam Engines were rated at 124 horsepower (92 kW) for the entire run of S-Series cars (1991-2002). In 1996, the Second Generation S-Series Sedan was introduced and remained virtually unchanged for the rest of the vehicle's production run. In 1997, the Second Generation of the Sport Coupe model was introduced with a more "scooped" headlight front. The S-Series was produced in three variations: Coupe (SC), Sedan (SL), and Wagon (SW). The Wagon was introduced for the 1993 Model year and was produced until 2001.

The first real change came with the 2000 Saturn L-Series mid-size car. It shared the GM2900 platform with the Opel Vectra, along with its engine, and was built at a GM factory in Wilmington, Delaware. The Saturn Sky is now being produced in the Wilmington factory along with the essentially identical Opel GT and the closely-related Pontiac Solstice.

In recent years, sales have been in decline. Ion production lines were halted for two weeks in 2003 to allow dealer inventory to reduce. The L-Series was canceled after production of the 2005 models, and the Ion was canceled after 2007.

As of 2009, the company shared GM's Delta, Epsilon, Kappa, Lambda and Theta platforms, and the company's Ecotec engines - including the new 2.4L LE5 I4, Turbo 2.0L LNF I4, and DCVCP 1.8L I4 - and the High Feature LY7 3.6L V6 and High Value LZ4 3.5L V6 engines. The Saturn Vue used a Honda engine in the past, and the plastic body panels have been discontinued on all current vehicles.

The 2009 Saturn models were the Sky roadster, the Aura sedan, the Astra hatchback, the Vue small crossover SUV and the Outlook full-size crossover SUV built off the GM Lambda platform (replacing the Relay minivan).[18]

Some recent Saturns are virtually identical to certain Opel/Vauxhall models. For example, the 2008 Saturn Vue was a rebadged Opel Antara, while the Opel GT was based on the Saturn Sky. The Opel Astra was imported from Antwerp, Belgium as the Saturn Astra (replacing the Ion as the entry-level car). On the other hand, the Saturn Aura, while sometimes compared to the Opel Vectra, is a unique model for the North American market similar to the Pontiac G6.

The company offers two sub-lines of vehicles: "Red Line" Saturns are performance-oriented, while "Green Line" cars are more environmentally friendly hybrids.[19] The Vue and Ion Red Line models, launched in 2004, have been joined by Vue and Aura Green Lines for the 2007 model year and a Sky Red Line the same model year. Saturn's Green Line vehicles utilize mild hybrid technology.[20]

Buick *· Cadillac *· Chevrolet *· GMC *· Holden *· Hummer *· Opel *· Pontiac *· Saab *· Saturn *· Vauxhall

Acadian (1962""1971) *· Asüna (1992""1995) *· Beaumont (1966""1969) *· Bedford Vehicles (1930""1986) *· Elmore (1893""1912) *· Geo (1989""1997) *· LaSalle (1927""1940) *· Marquette (1929""1930) *· McLaughlin  *· Oakland (1907""1931) *· Oldsmobile (1897""2004) *· Passport (1988""1991) *· Ranger (1968""1976) *· Scripps-Booth (1913""1923) *· Statesman (1971""1984) *· Viking (1929""1931) *· Yellow Coach (1925""1943)

CAMI Automotive (50%) *· Coskata, Inc. *· Ditech *· DMAX (engines) (50%) *· General Motors Europe *· GM Performance Division *· GM Powertrain Europe *· General Motors Canada *· General Motors de Mexico *· General Motors do Brasil *· General Motors India *· General Motors Research Laboratories *· General Motors South Africa *· Global Hybrid Cooperation *· GM Goodwrench *· GM Service and Parts Operations *· GMAC (49%) *· GMAC Real Estate *· GMAC-RFC *· Holden *· Holden New Zealand *· Holden Special Vehicles *· Hughes Research Laboratories *· Hummer *· Isuzu Motors Polska *· Nuvell Financial Services *· OnStar *· Opel *· Opel Performance Center *· Saturn Corporation

Allison Engine Company (1929""1995) *· Allison Transmission (1929""2007) *· Atlantic Aircraft *· Dayton-Wright Company (1919""1923) *· Delco Electronics *· Delphi Automotive Systems *· Detroit Diesel (1938""1988) *· DirecTV (1994""2003) *· Electro-Motive Diesel (1930""2004) *· Electronic Data Systems (1984""1996) *· Euclid Trucks (1953""1968) *· Fisher Body *· Fleetwood Metal Body *· Frigidaire (1919""1980) *· General Motors Diesel Division (1938""1987) *· General Motors Diesel (1949""1969) *· Ghandhara Industries (1953""1963) *· GM Defense (1950""2003) *· GM Truck & Bus Group (1943""1981) *· GMC Heavy Trucks *· Hughes Aircraft (1985""1997) *· Hughes Electronics (1985""1997) *· Hughes Network Systems (1987""2003) *· HughesNet (DirecWay/DirecPC) (1996""2003) *· Kettering University *· National City Lines *· New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI; 1984""2009) *· New Venture Gear 36% (1990""2002) *· North American Aviation (1933""1948) *· PanAmSat (1995""2003) *· Remy Electric (1918""1994) *· Rochester Products Division *· Terex *· Terminal Taxi Cab *· United Australian Automobile Industries (UAAI; 1989""1996) *· Winton Motor Carriage Company *· Yellow Coach (1925""1943)