Interview: Juli Lajdziak --- General Manager --- Saturn
>> auto industry sales is forecast to rise 2% to 3% this year and next. well, is that going to help its saturn division, where total sales have dropped 22% this year? i asked jill lajdziak, general manager of saturn, about the outlook for her division.
>> our august numbers were really driven by our decision quite some time ago to stop producing the l series. so if you’re looking at year-over-year numbers, that was certainly a driver, as well as our proactive decision to exit the fleet business for now. if you actually look at our year-over-year numbers, we are up in our sport utility and holding our own in the small car. we certainly are going to continue to remain very focused on sales momentum as we go into the fourth quarter.
>> you offer five cars right now. it seems in the eyes of many that it’s taken a while for you to get new models to market . why so slow?
>> well, we have a good fortune to be in a small car market with our ion. we also have a sport utility, the vue, that is doing exceptionally well in the marketplace. and this fall, we’ll be introducing a crossover sport van, the relay. this will be our first entry into a vehicle for our lineup that will be more than five passengers, which we’re very excited to be in. then we’re going to grow our portfolio again. in 2006, we’ll be entering the roadster segment, the midster segment, as well as the mid utility segment, as well.
>> but conspicuously not the hybrid segment, because i would think that would play right into your core marketplace.
>> we certainly―certainly it does, when you think about saturn, you think about things like safety, you think about things like environmentally friendly as well. we will be introducing in 2006 a system into the vue for the 2006 model year.
>> i also understand that you’re going to keep your prices―your back to basics, one-price approach for all of 2005. are you concerned about that at all?
>> well, we’re going to remain very focused on making sure that we continue to deliver the marketplace value in our product offerings. we think that’s the right thing for our brand. we will remain very competitive in the segments in which we compete, but we’re also going to make sure that we stay very focused on our no-hassle, no-haggle environment. the consumers tell us that they love about the saturn brand. certainly that has helped us lead to industry leading position of great customer handling.
>> well, you definitely have a loyal customer base. you have the website and fan clubs, and you don’t always see those. but the fact remains that you sold about 150,000 to 300,000 cars this year.
>> we are on track this year, and we’ll be ramping in and just launching the crossover sport van. we’ll feel the impact of that vehicle as we go into calendar year 2005. and then, of course, in doubling the size of our portfolio as we move into 2006, bringing on three additional models in three new segments for us.
>> can we expect some excitement like we saw with your friends over at pontiac giving away 200, almost 300 cars on the oprah show in terms of trying to generate something, enthusiasm or something new, and attention to saturn?
>> certainly everybody within the g.m. family is excited for pontiac and the success that they’ve had with their recent promotion. we are also going to remain very focused on our heritage of our brand. in the consumers brand, this brand has always been about trust and great customer handling. our marketing efforts will continue to capitalize that as we complement it with our growing portfolio in refinements starting here in 2005, as well as we go into calendar year 2006. we’ll all look for ways to cut through the clutter differently in the marketplace from a media standpoint, and we will all be trying different ideas to reach the consumer and to tell our story.
>> we only have about 30 seconds left. one of the things i saw, as you’re coming one new colors, like dragonfly green and summer blue and chili pepper red, but is that going to be enough?
>> we’ll continue to enhance our products. we’ve got a lot of refinement in our products for 2005. as i said, our small car takes on a new front end, lots of refinement to the interior. contractsover sport van again this fall. the colors and the name, that’s just colors, it’s all about how the vehicle looks, how the vehicle is in the interior, and about the performance of the vehicle and the enhancements that we’ve made to the small car and, of course, having the opportunity to jump into a new segment is very exciting for us.
>> of course, the parent company of saturn is none other than general motors, and their shares are down 21% in 2004. cooper tire and rubber selling its automotive parts business to goldman sachs and cypress group for almost $1.2 billion. cooper expects china to be its fastest growing market . part of the proceeds will be used to build a tire factory there. the nation’s second biggest tire maker will also eliminate 2/3 of its workforce, or 15,000 jobs. the unit cooper standard automotive accounted for almost half of its revenue last year. well, the world’s number two maker of cell phone chips says demand is faltering, and that story and a wrap of the day’s trading at the nasdaq when we return.
