• CNN , Thursday, December 11, 2008 11 AM

"Around the Net Rule # 17": Never turn down an opportunity to re-report a story with a dateline like Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. That's where CNN talked to a woman named Kat Koonce the other day whose love affair with Saturn began before she was old enough to drive. Then her local dealer hired her as a sales rep because she was always hanging around the joint, and she met her husband, whose dream has been to own a dealership himself, at a Saturn sales event.

But Koonce, of Dayton, Ohio, was in the minority of the folks who gathered in Soddy-Daisy for a Christmas Parade Sunday. She'd rather see General Motors yank the life support now than watch Saturn suffer through the agony of a slow death. Besides, she's become disillusioned as the brand has morphed into a car just like many other cars. They're made of metal now, for instance.

The strain of brand fanaticism that has led more than 35,000 people to sign a petition to save Saturn, and more than 2,500 people to post photos of their lovelies, on saturnfans.com is overrated says Walter S. McManus, the head of the Automotive Analysis Division of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

"It is costly to do all the fuzzies, and Saturn's example is clear that it doesn't pay off for what is essentially an economy-car company," he tells CNN. "Women especially appreciated the Saturn way, but Honda sells more cars to women, despite having a less female-friendly approach." ;

Read the whole story at CNN »