
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 3, 1995                   TAG: 9509010005
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE McKESSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: DETROIT                                 LENGTH: Medium

SATURN LAUNCHES NEW SEDAN AFTER 5 YEARS, 1 MILLION CARS

Five years after retiring General Motors Corp. Chairman Roger Smith drove the ceremonial first Saturn off the assembly line, GM is launching the first major redesign of its ``import-fighter'' sedans.

The 1996 Saturn SL models were shipped to dealers from the Spring Hill, Tenn., plant starting in July. They will be followed in the fall by new station wagons. Saturn coupes will wait until next year for major changes.

The new models are rounder, roomier and more aerodynamic. They carry over most of the mechanical features of their predecessors, with some fine-tuning of suspension, transmission and electronics. Base prices will range from about $10,500 to $13,300, an average increase of about $336 a car from 1995 models.

The update brings Saturn's styling into line with its mid-1990s competitors and gives it the challenge of making a change without stumbling on quality and reliability.

Saturn no longer is GM's $3 billion experiment in creating a new way to build and sell small, competitive American cars. It has become a major part of the mainstream in the U.S. small-car market. GM even has plans to sell Saturns in Japan, home market of the car's most formidable rivals.

The ``no hassle-no haggle'' approach of Saturn sales representatives and high customer satisfaction rankings have lifted Saturn like the car's American moon-rocket namesake. U.S. dealers sold 286,003 Saturns last year, enough to rank it as the country's fifth best-selling car. The goal for 1995 is more than 300,000.

The success of the Saturn ``sales experience'' - no pressure, straightforward explanations of prices, no haggling and an effort to create relationships with customers - has profoundly affected other automakers and other parts of GM.

``We have to continue to do a better job in the sales experience because there are people like Saturn that are doing a good job,'' said Earl Hesterberg, vice president and general manager of Nissan's U.S. sales arm.

The Saturn approach broke new ground and ``gave people a reason to consider an American small car again,'' he said.

But ``sales experience'' isn't enough to persuade 300,000 people a year to buy a product that costs as much as a car. ``It tends to get back to product,'' Hesterberg said.

by CNB