SnoMan wrote:

> THe main reason they have been successfull is QUALITY. THey are not
> strapped with GM's labor costs and philosphy which will destroy Saturn
> eventually. The only chance the Saturn has to servive is to split from
> GM management on labor rules and vehicle philosphy because they are
> abondoning the low end market they started in and focusing on higher
> dollar and less fuel efficent model that tend to be more trouble prone
> too.

They can't split on vehicle philosophy because Saturn can't sell enough
vehicles to justify the design and tooling costs for a line of unique
vehicles. Remember, Saturn sells only in the U.S. and Canada, despite
abortive attempts to sell in Taiwan and Japan. Contrast this with
Toyota, who sells (and manufactures) their mass market cars like the
Camry and Corolla, all over the world, amortizing the design and tooling
costs.