Marketing Saturn Corporation in 1998 - Essay Example

Marketing Saturn Corporation in 1998 Answer 1. In the pursue of its second mission which was “transferring knowledge, technology and experience through out General Motors”, the Saturn Corporation kept on manufacturing small cars whereas the parent company GM was having different plans, the era of 1990s ended and so did the sales of small cars, this brought some pressure on the Saturn corporation. The GM should not have done something which was not compatible to the Saturn Corporation but since it was the parent company, the one who had to give up was suppose to be the Saturn Corporation itself. When Saturn looks for parts suppliers for future vehicles, the Marketing and Product Planning team looks for companies that have not only the technology for today, but also have the depth in resources that will enable them to grow in technology and support. (Lenz, 1999, p. 53) The Saturn Corporation had to be in complete contact with the GM, since the GM planned to launch the big cars and decided to have a shift from small to mid size cars, Saturn Corporation should have planned the similar and should have quit the idea of manufacturing the same old small cars. The reason that the strategy was not hard to implement is that the Saturn Corporation had previously been spotted number one in manufacturing small cars and because of that it had made some reputation and capital to cope well with the GM and this is exactly what GM had thought about the company. But it was not the part of the company’s mission statement and therefore the immediate job of the Saturn Corporation was to convince the GM that further launching of any such cars can make the market more competitive and already there are big leaders like Toyota and Honda performing well in the market, the scheme can be a flop. Whereas if the GM keeps on manufacturing such small sized cars which are having lesser costs and are already competing Toyota and Honda, the GM and Saturn could both be in greater profitability. Further, the Saturn Corporation could have stated to GM that the target audience should be the younger generation who is not capable of buying expensive cars and therefore would buy smaller cars already being manufactured, further more the traffic is increasing day by day and therefore the demand of small cars would be even higher in the future and thus the company should keep on manufacturing such cars perhaps with greater innovation to attract all the classes of society. Since Saturn is losing its quality despite of a tough competition, Saturn should concentrate on quality, which would ultimately yield experience particularly in the situation where there are other competitors in the market. Only this way the Saturn can provide the parent company with a useful knowledge and technology. Answer 2. As mentioned earlier, Saturn Corporation should not get distracted with what is being offered to them by GM as they are here for gaining experience with perfection and they should consistently keep on trying providing the up to date information on past sales to the CEO and President or even the upper management at GM, this could really make the GM feel to keep on making small cars without hassles. We all know about the outcome, the GM made the mid sized cars incorporation with Saturn which provided the fair business but due to some rivalry with Japanese firms, the company had to get back to manufacture small cars and this time turning their mid sized cars to small cars again, such as Sedan, a coupe and station wagon. This situation would have been a lot better if GM had just eliminated the plants and downsized the organization yet not eliminated the manufacturing of small cars. The disturbance was created in this part of 1990s where they thought of making mid sized cars. So the Idea was to keep on manufacturing the similar sort of small cars to keep the market stable, while the urge of GM to have a much wider portfolio although allowed it to have an initial profitability but then again it had to move to manufacture small cars which were already being manufactured and were in full flow incorporation with Saturn. However, if GM had planned to make the mid size cars then it would have been against the Saturn Corporation’s mission statement’s second part, but in order to show some courtesy, the company should have done a strategic planning where the contingency plan makes a lot of difference. The company should have initially stopped the manufacturing of small cars and should have called them back to the storage and should have given the dealers with the new mid size cars and should have pushed them to convince the buyers to buy the new mid size cars. This could have given the GM so much of profitability and upon rivalry and customer switching they had a chance to flow the old small cars in the market. The planning was not really done wonderfully by either of the companies. So, above all GM wants Saturn to win the trust back of those customers who had given up on small cars, in return GM has an offer of personal, professional, and organizational growth and innovation for employees of Saturn. There are opportunities to work and grow team leadership and innovation for Saturn. Their mission was to explore ways to integrate people and technology to manufacture small cars in the United States (Lenz, 1999, p. 13) Answer 3. Initially, the GM was not requiring any help from Saturn Corporation. It was just a courtesy and personal interests of Saturn Corporation that kept it moving hand in hand with the GM, but the GM faced tough times by the late 1990s. The labor strikes were at the peak and GM was really in the need of having Saturn Corporation to help it out. The GM closed down its 27 plants in North America. It was a real test of nerves for GM and if somebody helped it through then it was perhaps Saturn Corporation. The Saturn Corporation although was not urgently required at any other stage of the crisis, in fact the GM it self had strong strategic plans under CEO Jack Smith but the company yet was trying to save itself on the stakes of any of its child companies. So there was no initial need of the Saturnization and yet the company is working well to meet the demands at its own. However, a support from any of the child companies can convey the company’s name far and wide and can add a sizeable to its profitability. The only one that should look forward to meet the mission statement is Saturn Corporation. It is its duty to yet keep on convincing GM to follow those trends that have taken place within the company. The Saturn Corporation in fact is in great threat as now the trend of outsourcing has become so common, the GM is feeling free to outsource engines and many other important parts of the car and therefore this process can eliminate 2500 of 7000 assembly jobs held by Saturn Corporation. Today, the company is facing a great threat from every where and has got the courage to move forward as they are yet having meetings with GM to solve many of the prevailing issues. Since GM’s need can be indirectly fulfilled from Saturn due to the increasing competition, so it should seek to create interest by building a reputation through quality, through loyal customers, and by being different. (Lenz, 1999, p. 104) Focusing on the customer is what sets Saturn apart from the competition, and focusing on basic customer contact skills is part of the key to success. Saturn recognizes how challenging it can be to consistently interact with customers in a Saturn-like way, particularly in the hectic, high-paced environment of a retail facility. The simplest of the recommendations to the Saturn Corporation can be that it should also start outsourcing and help GM to have the material at further lesser cost, may be by setting a plant at some other country having lesser currency power. This would save both of them from being in loss and also this would probably have no impact on quality and sales. Works Cited Lenz Vicki 1999. “The Saturn Difference: Creating Customer Loyalty in Your Company”: Wiley: New York. Read More