ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090046
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TOKYO
SOURCE: Associated Press
Saturn is hoping that helpful, no-haggling dealers will win over Japan's notoriously finicky customers.
Saturn, a General Motors Corp. division, signed an agreement Monday with six Japanese companies, including Honda and Nissan dealers, under which each next spring will open a showroom devoted exclusively to Saturns.
The pact marks a departure from the way GM has sold cars in Japan in the past, mostly through a major import distributor that carries other brands in the same showroom.
And, like Saturn's U.S. outlets, which sold about 286,000 Saturns last year, the dealers in Japan plan to offer the fixed pricing and friendly service that have become a Saturn trademark.
But will Saturn's reputation for friendliness really stand out in a society where such first-class service is taken for granted?
The Japanese automakers have a tightly controlled network of outlets with courteous salesmen who have been known to drive the latest models to customers' homes.
But Brian Heywood, managing director of marketing firm J.D. Power and Associates in Tokyo, says Japanese drivers may be outgrowing the old-style dealers' more ritualistic style of service, such as greetings accompanied by energetic bowing.
``That's not what the customer is looking for, from our point of view. It's that the dealers treat them as an intelligent person,'' Heywood said.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB