I realize that it is reported that Saturn closed the doors through lack of sales. That said it still amazes me the number of them I see on the road even today. May it is a function of the local dealer network or local advertising. But it is also an indicator of the success GM has had in marketing their brands while showing the rest of the world how it is done. I recently read a review of the new Cadillac and it's recognition of needing to compete with Audi and Mercedes at that level of automotive competition while also recognizing the need to rebuild it lost acceptance as a leader in automotive design and manufacturing. With stellar examples like the Cimarron a poorly conceived badge engineered (politically correctly called a corporate platform or another way to produce the same car with different names) a Cadillac that can be instantaneously associated with the word "Econobox" rather than "Industry Leader" and by itself probably did more to destroy the presence of he car as a world leader than anything could. It takes a long time to establish acceptance and it can be destroyed over night a factoid marketing people have for gotten or if they come from financing back ground, never learned.
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