It seems that Saturn’s days are numbered — Recent reports have let us know that Penske Automotive group has backed out of a deal with GM that would have effectively purchased the entire Saturn brand.

The reason for the backing out is because Penske fears they will not be able to provide the Saturn dealerships with inventory after GM stops supplying them with vehicles at the end of 2010. The deal said that they would have to find their own manufacturers to produce vehicles for the dealerships, something Penske doesn’t think they will be able to do.

So, in lieu of this deal falling through, GM has said they will be phasing out Saturn, closing all dealerships and directing current Saturn owners to other GM dealers for service. Goodbye Saturn, you shall be missed.

via autoblog

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Reports have it that the second leading U.S. leadership group is interested in acquiring GM’s Saturn brand. It is no secret that General Motors is busy trying to figure out how to balance its business operations and apparently one striking semblance we know of today includes that of offering their down lines to interested people who want to continue their rise in the auto industry.

It is no secret that General Motors is busy trying to figure out how to balance its business operations and apparently one striking semblance we know of today includes that of offering their down lines to interested people who want to continue their rise in the auto industry.

Penske, which has 310 retail automotive franchises and is the exclusive U.S. distributor of Daimler AG’s Smart cars in the United States, said it has not yet made a proposal to GM. Penske is the second bidder to disclose interest in Saturn.

Last month, an investor group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC and some Saturn dealers said it approached GM about buying the assets of the brand and distribution network.

GM, which announced plans in February to either spinoff or shutdown Saturn, said it has a number of potential buyers for brand and would look to secure an agreement later this year. It has retained S.J. Girsky & Co as a financial adviser. It created Saturn in 1984 to compete with Japanese vehicles in terms of quality and service and created a “no hassle” flat-price sales model that took much of the negotiating out of buying a new car. The brand languished over the past decade.

(Source) Reuters

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