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Saturn Stores Will Get New Signs
Automotive News

By April Wortham

Nov. 20, 2006


NASHVILLE - Saturn dealerships will get a fresh look to go along with the brand's new portfolio of vehicles.

On Nov. 9, a sign company here said it had won a contract with the General Motors brand to provide new signs as part of a reimaging program for Saturn retailers. Saturn's main assembly plant is in nearby Spring Hill, Tenn.

New signs are one piece of a makeover plan that will include exterior and interior enhancements at the brand's 432 dealerships, says Saturn spokesman Randy Fox. Some locations have been targeted to be the first to receive the upgrades, but it will be several months before Saturn is ready to reveal what the stores will look like, Fox says. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Juiced by the Aura sedan, the Sky roadster and the Vue SUV, Saturn sales and vehicle production have improved this year. Through October, the brand sold 187,499 vehicles, up 2 percent from the same 10 months a year ago. And through October, Saturn produced 237,632 vehicles at the factory, up 33 percent from 178,317 vehicles made during the same period in 2005.

Since Saturn was created in 1990, its retailers have undergone two renovations - called Retail Environmental Designs, or RED 1 and RED 2. Those renovation programs emphasized store interiors, including new furniture, carpeting, paint and wallpaper.

As with the previous campaigns, the extent of the renovations will depend on the location of the store, Fox says.

"Each individual retailer would have to look at it and determine when and at what level they would be interested in updating their location," he says.

Dealers will pay for the renovations, but Saturn will allow them to recoup some of the costs, says Tom Carpenter, the Saturn representative on the GM National Dealer Council.

The cost has not yet been disclosed.

Saturn dealers got their first glimpse of the new signs in April at a meeting in Dallas, Carpenter says.

Carpenter, who owns three central Ohio Saturn dealerships, described the signs as "the same look, just a more modern treatment."

He says the Saturn logo - with its half-globe and ring reminiscent of the planet of the same name - remains the same. What will be different are the materials and lighting of the signs.

"It's crisper, cleaner. It shows the new Saturn image as we go forward," Carpenter says.

Bob Miles, general manager of Saturn of Cool Springs outside Nashville, says the new signs are just what dealerships need at the moment.

"We've gotten a lot of products we haven't had in the past, and we're going to be getting a lot of customers we haven't had before," Miles says. "This new look fits in with the scheme of those new products."

Rob Cochran, who owns two Saturn dealerships in Pittsburgh, agreed.

"As with all brands, Saturn is focusing on continuing to evolve their brand, particularly as they have new products coming out," Cochran says.

"If you're going to update your brand, you typically do it when you're making a big splash in the marketplace, and that's what they're doing now."