Just when it looked like the deal was almost complete, Penske Automotive Group said today it has ended its bid to acquire Saturn. The problem, evidently, was sourcing vehicles for the brand beyond the supply period (2010 model year) it had negotiated with General Motors. Penske had evidently identified a likely manufacturer, but the deal fell through. An excerpt from today's Penske statement:
"Penske Automotive Group negotiated the terms and conditions of an agreement with another [third] manufacturer; however, that agreement was rejected by that manufacturer's board of directors. 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."
This is not the way GM had hoped things would go, but the company is taking swift action. Aura production has already stopped and will not restart, and company spokesman John McDonald said that Outlook and Vue production will wind down "as quickly as possible."
An excerpt from the GM statement: "Saturn customers and owners will continue to be able to purchase and have their vehicles serviced at Saturn retailers during this process. Once the wind down is complete, Saturn owners will still be able to have their vehicles serviced at other GM dealerships. We will be communicating with our customers very soon to explain the next steps in this process."
zoomzoomn says:
02:55 PM, 09/30/09
And another one gone and another one gone...another one bites the dust! GM sucks!!!
subytrojan says:
03:09 PM, 09/30/09
How many bad business decisions has The Captain, Roger Penske, ever made? I would say very few. :o)
firstwagon says:
03:53 PM, 09/30/09
I was hoping he could come up with some bit of marketing magic but I'm not surprised it ended this way.
If GM couldn't make money selling GM cars, I can't see anyway someone else could do it.
Saturn was an amazing bit of marketing on some average cars back in the 90's. Since then it's lost it's focus and I guess it couldn't recover.
notabigdeal says:
04:44 PM, 09/30/09
Bye bye Saturn.
iwatchf1 says:
05:37 PM, 09/30/09
I thought Saturn was out of business for 5 years at least. I haven't seen a new model for a long time. Anyway, good decision. I wish Penske would bring cars like Peugout or Renault to US market.
slickersdrip says:
06:40 PM, 09/30/09
I hate the see the once unique brand like Saturn end up just dying like this. I really do.
subaru123 says:
07:33 PM, 09/30/09
Who cares??
Saturn Aura= Chevrolet Malibu
Saturn Vue= a version of the original equinox
Saturn Outlook=Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevy Traverse
Saturn SKY= DEAD because of Pontiac
Saturn Astra= Wait for the Cruze.
Instead of the Death of Saturn it should be death of the SKY you can still buy all of the Saturns just rebadged.
estreka says:
08:33 PM, 09/30/09
It's a good move on GM's part. This will eliminate some cannibalized sales.
I bet the impending lawsuits will be HUGE.
stovt001 says:
10:02 PM, 09/30/09
It would have been cool to eventually see some Renaults here, but I won't weep to see one less line of rebadged Chevys. Now we just need to end GMC and GM will be on the right track. I do feel bad for the dealers. I had a distant relative who is a Saturn salesperson. This will be rough for them.
darknick says:
11:05 PM, 09/30/09
^ What do Renaults have to do with Saturn?
4g63 says:
12:41 AM, 10/ 1/09
nice move penske. goodbye saturn.
1487 says:
05:05 AM, 10/ 1/09
"I thought Saturn was out of business for 5 years at least. I haven't seen a new model for a long time. Anyway, good decision. I wish Penske would bring cars like Peugout or Renault to US market."
They had about 4 new models in the last 3 years or so. Where have you been?
In the end Penske was going to import cars from China or Korea that would've competed with GM so it's not really a bad deal for them. One less competitor to worry about. This shows Penske never really knew what he was doing and this deal was unlikely to work from day one.
dougtheeng says:
05:38 AM, 10/ 1/09
Not terribly upset or surprised about this. Ultimately, its better for GM.
thejohnp says:
09:46 AM, 10/ 1/09
Well if China, Korea and India want to start selling cars in the US, there's certainly going to be a lot of empty dealership space they can take over.
cz75 says:
01:47 PM, 10/ 1/09
Pontiac I can be nostalgic about and mourn the loss of the G8. Nothing about the departure of Saturn troubles me. Oldsmobile should've stuck around instead.