Business Notes Autos

The suitors have come bearing tax breaks, free land, cut-rate electricity and other goodies. The prize they are all pursuing: the site for the factory that will build the Saturn, a new small car designed by General Motors to be competitive with Japanese imports. The plant, expected to roll out its first models in 1988, will employ 6,000. So far, 24 Governors, along with dozens of city officials and local business groups, have besought GM to award them the plant. Last week, for example, New York's Governor Mario Cuomo made a personal pilgrimage to GM's Technical Center in Warren, Mich., to present company officials with one of his state's bright orange-and-blue license plates, bearing the name SATURN 1.

Irritated by the hoopla surrounding Saturn, Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca decided last week to challenge GM to a race. At a dinner in Detroit attended by Wall Street investment analysts, he vowed that Chrysler will beat the Saturn to the showrooms with a similar small car called the Liberty. While Iacocca's statement created a stir in Detroit, it did not generate much excitement in state capitals. Reason: Chrysler may build the Liberty abroad, possibly in South Korea.