From GM... .

Today we learned that Penske Automotive Group (PAG) has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn. 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. PAG’s announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers; rather it was because of the inability to source new products beyond what it had asked GM to build on contract.

As a result of PAG’s decision, we will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealership network, in accordance with the wind-down agreements that Saturn dealers recently signed with GM. Pursuant to the terms of those agreements, the wind down process will be determined and communicated shortly.

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.

Today’s disappointing news comes at a time when we’d hoped for a successful launch of the Saturn brand into a new chapter. We will be working closely with our dealers to ensure Saturn customers are cared for as we transition them to other GM dealers in the months ahead. I’d also like to thank every GM employee and Saturn retailer who worked so hard to try to make this new beginning happen for Saturn.




>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----

Good


“Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!” -Jon Stewart

Like you didn't see that coming.

Personally Penske would have been better off buying it and rebuilding the original 2nd gen s-series coupe, wagon and sedan. (the only cars that were actually successful for Saturn) And just refining the car for the 21st century. Upgrade the motor to the 2.4 eco and just re-build the brand. That's what I'd do at least. There wasn't anything wrong with the cars that better materials couldn't fix.



"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net

Good riddance.

Quote:

Watching you parade around my bedroom in a thong was a little like watching sea lions mate.

if GM was smart , they would use this time to bring back the good saturns , as well as some opel products , and get back to the basics with small cars

of the early saturn years , i see more 1st gens , than the 2nd gen on the road

[quote=97cavie24ls(™)]if GM was smart , they would use this time to bring back the good saturns , as well as some opel products , and get back to the basics with small cars

of the early saturn years , i see more 1st gens , than the 2nd gen on the road
Agreed here, small cars are growing in popularity and well GM needs more to compete. Saturn in the mid to early 90s was ahead of the game, not to mention with solid reliability. Personally, Saturn had major potential when it was Saturn, it fell when it went generic GM.



>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----

I'm surprised that Magna Internation, who bought Opel and Vauxhall, had no interest.

Apparently they wish to actually make money



Bill Hahn Jr.
Hahn RaceCraft

World's Quickest and Fastest Street J-Bodies
Turbocharging GM FWD's since 1988
www.turbosystem.com

I figured Penske was going to import Chinese cars under the Saturn brand, kind of suprised that didn't happen.
If GM execs would have left Saturn alone instead of @!#$ with it it'd probably be alot better off. There wasn't a damn thing wrong with the SC, SL or SW aside from power output. Instead of making the ION, GM should have just brought out Pontiac G5/Sunfire wannabe as the Cobalt sibling like they did with the Jbody platform for so many years, and let Saturn refine the S car platform and still use the Plastic body panels.

That sucks. There goes about 13,000 more jobs down the drain when this country can least afford to lose jobs. Thanks Obama!

zero wrote:That sucks. There goes about 13,000 more jobs down the drain when this country can least afford to lose jobs. Thanks Obama!

What in the hell does Obama have to do with the fact that a private company realized that this was not a good deal for them?



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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -

Viper98912 wrote:

zero wrote:That sucks. There goes about 13,000 more jobs down the drain when this country can least afford to lose jobs. Thanks Obama!

What in the hell does Obama have to do with the fact that a private company realized that this was not a good deal for them?

Scapegoating? We've all blamed our burrito farts on the president a time or two, why not business deals gone wrong?


2010 Honda Fit LX

General Motors Co. has halted production of Saturn cars and crossovers and plans to sell the thousands of Saturn vehicles it has in stock within the next four months.
Many of the vehicles were built to supply to Penske Automotive Group Inc. But on Wednesday, Sept. 30, GM's expected sale of Saturn to Penske was canceled.

Within 24 hours of that news, GM built the last Saturn vehicles, said GM spokeswoman Sherrie Arb.
GM built the Saturn Outlook crossover at its Lansing Delta plant in Delta Township, Mich., the Aura sedan at its Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., and the Vue small crossover at its plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.

GM has about 12,000 Saturn vehicles in inventory, said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of U.S. sales. It is unclear how many of those are 2009s.
"We sold about 3,000 Saturns last month, so that's about a four-month supply if you maintain that selling pace," LaNeve said. "I don't think it will affect our total 2010 production rate at all."

There are about 500 2010 Outlooks at the Lansing Delta plant waiting to be shipped, a GM spokesman said.
Several dealers said they were told during a conference call that GM would not allow them to order 2010s. Some believe GM will dole out its inventory so that all continuing dealers' needs would be met. But others interpreted the no-order news to mean GM wouldn't ship the cars it has built lest that open GM to lawsuits under the terms of the dealers' wind-down agreement.

Said GM spokesman John McDonald. "The intent here is to wind the dealers down ... not to keep pumping new product in the pipeline. But how do we pull back on the ordering process? We don't know yet." GM is confident it can quickly sell down the remaining Saturn inventory, citing the Pontiac precedent. On Aug. 31, GM had 18,000 Pontiac vehicles in stock, McDonald said, or about a 30-day supply.



>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----

18,000 Pontiac vehicles in stock as of Aug 31st???

then all 18,000 must ALL be at my local Pontiac/GMC dealer because that place is packed front and back with pontiac G8's, G6's and Solstice coupes and roadsters. If Pontiac is going out of business you'd NEVER know it looking at my local dealer...or GM's numbers are B.S.



"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net

Spike J wrote:I figured Penske was going to import Chinese cars under the Saturn brand, kind of suprised that didn't happen.

Can't say as I know this for sure, but I think what happened is Penske was unable to line up the Chinese connection fast enough to ensure an uninterrupted supply of vehicles once the GM production shut down. Bringing vehicles to market in the USA is a very time-consuming process, and I think once they got a good look at what it would all actually take, the timeframe just was not suitable.



Bill Hahn Jr.
Hahn RaceCraft

World's Quickest and Fastest Street J-Bodies
Turbocharging GM FWD's since 1988
www.turbosystem.com

^^^ That makes the most sense. So in essence it sounds like Roger just wanted to use an established brand to help make his Chinese cars sell better. Good business, but too bad the deal fell through. Well on the upside the Aura replacement will now come here as the Buick Regal so that's a good thing i suppose.






2007 Corvette Z51 | Suzuki Swift GTi SCCA racer | 2008 Edge