Success of Saturn: A Case Study of the Saturn Automobile

摘要

For nearly 50 years the U.S. was the leading producer of automobiles worldwide.By 1980 this dominance had shifted considerably with the Japanese taking the number one position from the U.S. American automobile manufacturers had been sleeping at the wheel while the Japanese developed the concept of lean manufacturing and produced quality, inexpensive, fuel efficient automobiles. They put their cars on the market in the U.S. and Americans bought Japanese instead of expensive, large, inefficient U.S. automobiles. In mid 1982, General Motors launched a plan to combat the Japanese intrusion into the American market place. The plan was called the Saturn Corporation. It took eight years and a huge capital investment to produce the first car but the Saturn cars are cutting into the Japanese stronghold on the small car market in the U.S. Saturn Corporation could become the model for General Motors divisions of the future. What has been learned at Saturn is shared, studied and incorporated where applicable in other GM motor divisions. This case study tells the Saturn story from it's inception to present (early 1993).