Renault Coming Back to US?
Oh, please, please, PLEASE let this happen.
The WSJ is reporting that GM is in talks with Renault to simply give the Saturn division to them. As a little background, I have grown attached to my Saturn (despite some early issues). I really hope that the company makes it because I think that if it gets back to its roots, it could go back to being a viable entity.
Basically, Saturn needs to de-GM themselves and go back to what made it successful: small cars and a labor agreement that is much more flexible than the GM agreement. Renault could supply the small cars. I was really impressed with Renault's vehicles when I was travelling to Germany. I would absolutely love to get euro-designed fuel efficient small cars into the US market. If Renault could get 50 state diesels over here, they could easily challenge VW as the diesel maker of choice in the US.
There's a lot of potential in a Saturn-Renault tie up. I hope that Mr. Ghosn (who runs Renault and Nissan) wouldn't simply buy Saturn to sell repackaged Nissans (that's what got Saturn in trouble, they sell nothing but rebadged Chevrolets). I would hope that Mr.Ghosn, who seems like a smart guy, realizes that there is still value in the quirky car company that almost could. Without GM breathing down their throats, and undercutting their marketing and production, I think that Saturn could thrive in the market.
Will it ever be a GM? No, but it could easily be a Hyundai. I realize that there is the potential for politicking in this move. Luckily, Nissan has a large presence in Tennessee (Saturn's home state), so it should tamp down on state politicians trying to take advantage of the situation. It really is in the best interest of Saturn, and therefore Tennessee, to have them viable.
However, the whole auto industry (including labor and local politicians) has shown an acute inability of seeing the big picture. Both the labor unions and politicians have decided it's better to try and hold on to the little piece they have currently while the whole industry burns around them. While the UAW has made some concessions in the past couple of years, this whole situation could have been helped (though not avoided because management is to blame for running the companies extremely poorly) if they had made concessions earlier. Politicians have made the problem worse by doing everything they can to keep the domestic auto industry from making the changes they need to make to make the industry healthy.
And I'm not saying this as an uninterested observer that couldn't care less about the industry. I work in an industry that depends on a healthy auto industry and every move that is made by the automakers could have an impact on my job. I want to have a healthy industry. I need a healthy industry and we don't have one. If done right, this could definitely be a step in the right direction.
