Demise of a brand

Some of you might be old enough to remember when GM launched Saturn Corporation. Saturn was supposed to save the car industry - by reinventing how cars were made and sold.

Well, things have apparently not worked out that way. As the Wall Street Journal reports "GM Weighs More Layoffs, Sale of Brands":

In the meantime, the company will continue to reconsider its mix of brands. One under examination is Saturn, a maker of economy cars that analysts believe has never made money in its nearly 20-year history.

In the past three years, as part of Mr. Wagoner's turnaround strategy, GM has launched several critically acclaimed models under the Saturn nameplate, but the brand's sales have failed to notch significant gains, confounding GM executives.

Maybe someone other than GM can make this concept work.