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Saturn Listening to Students’ Strategy for the Brand’s Future

The 24 students, working in teams of six, have developed a set of strategies that they presented to the company’s leadership team, via a video copy of their presentations. Among those listening to their presentations on June 18 and 19 in the Ericsson Classroom of Nelson Hall was Bill Shotwell, owner of Saturn dealerships in North Carolina.

Shotwell said he decided to work with students in this class to gain “fresh ideas … on how to market to the younger audience. They came up with some interesting ideas that could work.” Shotwell also commended the students for their professionalism.

Saturn is an automotive brand known for having a special connection with its customers, and is very interested in hearing what the students have the say. So interested, in fact, that they sent the company’s solar-powered Mobile Event Marketing trailer to be on display in the Nelson Hall Plaza on the first day of the student presentations. They also posted a note about the class on the I Am Saturn website.

Recently, General Motors and Penske Automotive Group announced a proposed transaction under which Penske would acquire the Saturn brand. If completed, the deal would save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn and its retailers in the United States, and would preserve the customer-focused Saturn brand.

“There has been a groundswell of support for Saturn, with our retailers and owners urging us to save the brand,” said Jill Lajdziak, general manager of General Motor’s Saturn division. “We heard their call loud and clear, and it inspired us as we worked to secure Saturn’s future.”

Shotwell’s partners in the North Carolina Saturn dealerships are Randy Gilmore, Bill Musgrave and Dave Brown. Their dealerships are located in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, and Fayetteville.