GM to CLOSE Saturn Down - Penske will not purchase

[Steve]

DETROIT — General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

"This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality," Henderson said in a written statement. "PAG's announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers."

In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based auto retailer says an agreement with another manufacturer to continue producing Saturn vehicles after GM stopped making them fell through, leading Penske to terminate talks with GM.

Penske said it negotiated terms and conditions to make Saturn cars with another manufacturer, but that company's board of directors rejected the agreement. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon would not identify the other manufacturer.

"Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction," the company said in a statement.

In June, GM and Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships, although GM would produce the vehicles for a limited period of time.

GM said Saturn vehicle owners can still go to their Saturn dealer for service and would be able to go to a certified GM dealer for service once Saturn dealerships are closed.

It was expected that GM would announce the completion of Saturn's sale to Penske in the coming days.
Share of Penske fell $1.93 to $17.25 in after hours trading. They rose $1.32, or 7.4 percent to $19.18 in regular trading Wednesday.

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[starsilverado]

I heard Penske was going to aquire the Pontiac brand. Is there any truth in that?
That is to bad for Saturn.

[vncj96]

I cant imagine he would, it would be the same concern for Pontiac as it was for Saturn.

[starsilverado]

I would think that it would be easier to find a manufacturer for Pontiac.

[vncj96]

The ONLY thing that would make it easier for Pontiac is that Holden builds the G8, but I believe that was slated to switch to be built along side the Camaro for the next generation so, I think that Penske is just out of it regardless, not to mention that Pontiac was already on the aging side of all their designs and needed a major overhall, where as Saturn had just had their entire lineup revised within the last few years.

[unplugged]

Saturn can be added to the list of other failed U.S. car manufacturers

Recent Mfg's that are now defunct:

Tucker (1946-1949)
Kaiser (1947-1955)
Nash (1917-1957)
Packard (1899-1958)
DeSoto (1928-1961)
Willys (1916-1963)
Studebaker (1902-1966)
International Harvester (1907-1975)
Checker (1922-1982)
DeLorean (1981-1982)
American Motors (1966-1987)
Eagle (1988-1998)
Geo (1988-1998)
Plymouth (1928-2001)
Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
Pontiac (1926-2009)

One of my favorites, a predecessor of the SUV, the Checker Marathon

[jhampsilverado]

Thanks GM. Saturns have been in our family since 1992 when they first opened the Springfield, IL dealership. We have moved on to the Terre Haute, IN dealer and they was the friendliest car dealer we've ever dealt with. I'll be honest had I not bought my silverado back in Jan (USED not from a Government Motors Dealer) I would have left GM for good. and now with this announcement, I have. I'm hoping that my Local dealer can find a brand to pick them up, Kia, Nissan, Suburu, heck even Ford as they are in a large city with no ford dealer at all. 60K+ btw. Too be honest, it wasn't the cars that brought me back to Saturn a total of 5 times, it was the staff. And you know what staffs at car dealerships come and go, but it just didn't seem to happen with our Saturn dealership. we bought our first saturn from Terre Haute in 2001, and 8 years later, the same salesman still works at Saturn of TH. I understand the reasons why Penske decided not to go through with the deal, but for GM just to stab it in the heart instead of looking for another buyer and kill it... a Shame. That my dear friends is why GM does not deserve any government money, and I'm all for buying American.. that's why my next purchase will be of either a Ford product, or a Toyota product that I know is made in america. F-150's in Louisville, KY and the Tundra in Texas, formally made in Princeton, IN. GM you just lost my and my families business forever.

[CoolBlueSS]

I don't get it. I thought Saturns were really good cars. Most people that own them love them. My dad is on his second Vue, and loves it.

I wonder if they would have integrated it with the rest of the GM dealer network it could have survived?

[Steve]

It's more of a marketing issue than anything else. Saturn at the end of the day was a GM brand and when you're a company trying to sell a different version of essentially the same product, it gets pretty difficult.

What's the difference between a Chevy and GMC truck? They have the same chasis, the same engine/tranny ... but GMC gives extras that the Chevy does have from better carpet and seats to better service at the dealership. But, in the end it's the same vehicle. You can do that easily in the market, you can have a good and a better version of the same thing, but you can't easily differentiate between 8 or 10 or 20 different brands ... you just end us costing sales of one vs. another.

Well, when you have 3 or 4 offerings of the same platform like the GM Theta platform ... it gets pretty tricky in the marketplace. Essentially the Chevy Equinox, Saturn Vue, GMC Terrain and Pontiac Torrent were all the same vehicle. The Cadillac SRX is built off a branch of the Theta plaform with some significant differences ... but then you add internationals like the Suzuki XL7 and the Daewoo Winstorm and the Saab 9-4x it gets pretty tough for the consumer in the end to say "Why not just get the Chevy over the Saturn if they're the same thing in the end..."

[CoolBlueSS]

That's true. We've said the same thing here at work. They offer way to many choices of the same vehicle.

Each brand used to have more of it's own identity even though it was built on the same chasis. You could tell a Buick from a Chevy from an Olds from a Pontiac, plus they had their own engines.