Former Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak will join the smart car organization. She's shown here in January 2008 accepting the North American Car of the Year award for the Saturn Aura.
Jill Lajdziak, the former head of GM’s Saturn unit, is joining smart USA as executive vice president of sales and marketing – and the point person in the brand’s bid to reverse a devastating sales slump.
After scoring a big boost in 2008, much of it driven by record gas prices, smart, a division of Germany’s Daimler AG, has experienced an unanticipated slide prompting questions about the brand’s long-term viability in the U.S. market – even as other makers push into the small and urban commuter market segments.
“I am pleased that Jill has accepted our invitation to join smart as we enhance the position of the smart brand,” said Roger Penske, PAG Chairman and a well-known Detroit-based entrepreneur. “With her background building the Saturn organization and her expertise in customer satisfaction, product marketing, and brand development, Jill is an outstanding fit, and I am confident that she will help us grow the smart brand” Penske said.
Smart has had a checkered history since its earliest days. The brand was originally conceived as a partnership between what was then Daimler-Benz and the watch maker, Swatch. The Swiss maker soon dropped out, leaving Daimler to go it alone.
The project has had continuing financial problems and underwent an extensive reorganization two years ago, dropping all products but the 2-seat fortwo. A planned 4-seat mini-SUV, planned primarily for the States, was among the products abandoned.
Meanwhile, Daimler decided to forego setting up its own dealer network, opting instead to hand that job to Penske, who created an entirely new distribution unit for the U.S.
Initially hailed as an alternative to the big trucks and cars that have dominated American roads, the fortwo began taking criticism for its balky transmission and for fuel economy that barely matched that of some notably larger vehicles. As fuel prices softened, during late 2008 and into early 2009, demand dropped. For the third quarter, fortwo sales totaled a mere 3,401 and for the year as a whole, sales are expected to be off about 25%.
On the positive side, smart has developed a good reputation for customer service. It was the number brand among mainstream marques in the latest J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index. (Click Here for that story.) That, apparently makes Lajdziak a good fit for the organization.
“Ms Lajdziak has a reputation for building brand awareness and customer loyalty through a focus on the customer experience and cultivating a strong dealer network. In this role, Ms. Lajdziak will lead the smart field sales organization, including directing all aspects of advertising, marketing
and sales promotion for the smart brand, and will work directly with the smart dealer body to develop business opportunities,” noted a statement from Penske.
Lajdziak nearly joined the Penske organization in a different role. As general manager of the once-strong Saturn brand, she was a lead player in General Motors’ attempt to sell the division to Penske. A preliminary deal had been inked, but later collapsed when the French automaker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan reversed a plan to supply Saturn with future products.
Lajdziak was the Saturn general manager and she had worked closely with executives from PAG last summer as Penske’s bid the Saturn brand The bid ended in failure in early October when
In response to declining sales, smart USA introduced new finance and marketing campaigns in October designed to sell off the balance of its 2009 model year inventory. That resulted in the Penske Automotive Group creating an after-tax reserve of $3.1 million, or three cents per share, in the third quarter.
TheDetroitBureau.com Publisher Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.