On the death of Saturn

I drive a Saturn now--the one in this photograph on the left.  We bought this five years ago after trading in the ten-year old Saturn Wagon.

So, you can understand why I am more than a tad sad and disappointed that Saturn will, in all probability, not be around for long.

It will be only a short matter of time before automobile historians dig into how Saturn could have saved GM, and how instead senior leadership at GM killed Saturn and ended up killing GM itself.  And if you thought it was the doing of GM's management that Michael Moore caricatured, well, they had equal partners in this homicide autocide--the UAW.

Saturn was killed by its creators, GM and the UAW. The company starved Saturn for new products, and the union waged war against Saturn's labor reforms to keep them from spreading to other GM factories.

Saturn came out at the right time--small cars that were fuel efficient, with a possibility of those cars evolving into hybrid and electric cars.  And it could have worked out so well for everybody.  I am simply pissed off!!!!!
Paul Ingrassia's piece ends on this note:

Meanwhile, the Saturn workers' sense of loss is expressed poignantly by Mike Bennett, their former union leader, who says, "I wake up at night sick, thinking about all the things that might have been."

I feel terrible for the fantastic people at Saturn.  The employees in the service wing of the dealership--both in Bakersfield and in Eugene--were some of the best I have had the pleasure of working with.  Rarely did our cars have problems, and never once did I have to think twice about the quality of the work they did, nor about the prices they charged, which always seemed reasonable.  They treated me so well.  The service manager at the local dealership was a friendly, jolly, guy named Darrel.  He would recognize my name on the phone's caller ID and pick up the phone with the friendliest hello and always pronounced my name way better than even how I can.  I wish him and everybody else well .....