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...results offer hope. This week the first Saturn dealers will open their doors, starting in 30 locations in the West and Southeast and gradually growing to 130 by the end of next year. They will be offering what David E. Davis Jr., the dean of auto critics, has judged "a damned nice little car." That is no small feat. No other American company sells or builds any kind of little car without substantial help from foreign partners. Honda, Toyota, Nissan and other Japanese companies have driven away with that segment of the car business, boosting Japan's overall share...
...past two decades. The secret is not advanced technology or low wages or some mystical Asian work ethic. Japan's most important advantage is its management system: the way it deals with employees, suppliers, dealers and customers. This month a historic, $5 million M.I.T. study of the world's auto companies concluded that Japan's advantages boil down to a few elements, including teamwork, efficient use of resources and a tireless commitment to improving quality...
...technological. Saturn's cavernous, mile-long Tennessee factory is a medium-tech plant, as are many of the most efficient facilities in Japan. The core of Saturn's system is one of the most radical labor-management agreements ever developed in this country, one that involves the United Auto Workers in every aspect of the business. The executive suite in Spring Hill is shared by president LeFauve and U.A.W. coordinator Richard Hoalcraft, who often travel together and conduct much of the company's business in each other's presence...
...produced. Overall, GM has made virtually no gains in productivity and remains the highest-cost automaker in the U.S. In fact, the company has been losing money on its North American carmaking plants for several years and has had to rely for profits on its successful European operations (auto brands: Opel, Vauxhall), its auto- financing subsidiary and other divisions...
...corridor so popular? One attribute is its character: rural and mostly nonunion. The Japanese are eager to hire young former farmworkers who appreciate the relatively high-paying auto jobs. (Black organizations have accused the Japanese of putting their plants in rural areas to avoid hiring minority workers.) In addition, many states were eager to offer tax and infrastructure incentives to attract new industry to the region, which suffered heavily during the 1981-82 recession. Today it hums with the sound of new cars starting...