Saturn was named after the rocket that took American astronauts to the moon and not after the planet. Saturn's motto was initially "A different kind of company, a different kind of car," but has changed several times throughout its history. Drawing from experiences gained through its NUMMI and CAMI Automotive joint ventures, GM organized the Saturn Corporation differently from their existing divisions, attempting to emulate the Japanese management techniques, which emphasize quality control and high product reliability. At Saturn, union workers would have more control and involvement in the plant.

The Saturn Corporation also created its own distribution network from scratch, which was both independent and different from those used by older GM divisions. There was much emphasis put on the quality of customer service, with insights drawn from travel and hospitality as well as consumer retail industries, rather than traditional automotive sales. The uniqueness of Saturn's distribution network was emphasized by referring to what would usually be called "dealers" as "retailers", and conversely "retail facilities" in lieu of "dealerships". Such "retail facilities" served non-competing "market areas". They are noted for their no-haggle pricing, where the cars are sold at their exact sticker price, their no-pressure sales environments, and professional sales staff. The Saturn Corporation strove to build a community spirit among their customers by hosting annual "homecoming" events at its former Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing plant, as well a day-to-day special events in retail settings.

Saturn values were initially communicated through image advertising created by the Hal Riney advertising agency.

Nevertheless, from the business point of view, the Saturn Corporation never proved successful. In 1993, Saturn announced its first profitable quarter, and later, its first profitable year. However, there is no evidence that GM has ever recouped its massive investment in the company. In any case, the company struggled so much that, in the new millennium, it was decided to integrate the company into the GM infrastructure in 2003, with Bob Lutz aiming to bring the brand closer to its GM European franchise, Opel.

General Motors even chose west-coast Saturn retailers to lease and service the short-lived and highly politicized electric car, the EV1, in the mid 1990's.

The Saturn Corporation began in December 1982 with a group of 99 people from various aspects of the automotive industry. Everyone from production and assembly, design and prototyping, sales and finance, as well as the corporate "white collar" positions, were represented in this group called "the 99." Originally, there were 100, but one dropped out, thus becoming "the 99."

Saturn's headquarters, retail employee training facility and primary manufacturing facility were originally located in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The facility was chosen in 1985, after a highly publicized nationwide search for a site. The Spring Hill facility was shutdown after the end production of the Saturn ION concluded at the end of March 2007. The plant will be retooled over the next year and half and will reopen to manufacture some type of Chevrolet badged vehicle.

Saturn was originally established as a fully owned, but independently administered subsidiary of General Motors, with GM executive Bill Hoglund at its helm. It was hoped that lessons learned from Saturn would trickle down to the rest of General Motors to make them more competitive against foreign automakers and improve labor relations. In the 2000s, Saturn has been gradually losing its autonomy; new models, for example, do not utilize polymer side panels and are derivatives of other GM models. Production has since been moved to other GM plants. Production of Saturn vehicles at the Tennessee facility ceased on March 30, 2007. Initially, the Saturn Corporation was headed by a president who consulted with a Union local counterpart and reported to the GM Board of Directors. As the role of Saturn changed within General Motors, the chief executive role was shifted to be a Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing. Since 2005, Jill Lajdziak, previously a VP of Sales, Service and Marketing, has been the General Manager of Saturn, who reports to the Vice President of the GM Small Car Group.

Saturn is known for its company-wide "no-haggle" sales philosophy. Saturn dealers (called "retailers" by the company) are encouraged to sell vehicles at listed MSRP price. Customer satisfaction with dealer service is among the highest of any car brand in the US. The company also won praise for its environmentally conscious manufacturing processes and for its innovations such as using flexible plastic side panels on its cars to avoid minor dents. However, in 2005, the Saturn Relay became the first Saturn vehicle without polymer side paneling. The Saturn Relay was built in the Doraville, Georgia production facility, which also manufactured Chevrolet Ventures, and Chevrolet Uplander Minivans. The lack of polymer side paneling in Saturn Relay production has carried over to all new vehicles released from the 2007 model year forward.