Saturn

Saturn had a few bright ideas right from the get-go. One was no-haggle pricing, which was a bit ahead of its time despite being a major draw. It was separate from the parent company, selling unique cars from freestanding dealerships. The idea was to make the buying process easy, and friendly. It turned into a bunch of goodwill among Saturn fans, but it didn't turn into runaway sales. And the Saturns didn't quite compete against their Japanese competitors on equal terms, despite "dent-free" polymer panels and unique model variants such as the SC2 three-door coupe. The S-Series line was the only offering until the L-Series came along in 2000, and soon after the brand diversified into crossovers and even the Sky roadster. It was too little, too late. Saturn never beat the imports at their own game, and the brand's novel attractions were frittered away by hostile execs and internecine rivalries at GM. Saturn was shuttered in 2010 after several years of half-hearted attempts to offload the brand.