Detroit Free Press: Penske to Close Saturn Deal Wednesday, Jill Lajdziak Said to be R

[Charlie]

A new feeditems entry has been added:

Detroit Free Press: Penske to Close Saturn Deal Wednesday, Jill Lajdziak Said to be Retiring from GM

Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: Detroit businessman and booster Roger Penske is on track to close a deal to buy General Motors' Saturn division on Wednesday, the Free Press learned today. The official announcement could come Thursday. Several signs point to a final deal soon: Jill Lajdziak, Saturn's general manager, has asked for an early retirement package from GM, an indication that she is leaving, a person familiar with her decision said.

[piney]

So is she retiring to work at Wal-Mart or is she retiring to run Saturn V2.0?

[saturn 51]

Jill has done more for saturn than anyone i can think of.
She took time to come to several of our facility dinners even tho it was her
birthday. Good luck jill.,

[bigapl]

Rumor mill here has deal close pushed back to 30 Nov now for some reason.

[unkle bik]

Long live Skip...

[redkees@msn.com]

Sorry To see Jill go she was very loyal to Saturn. Alas she didn't want to be a part of Saturn becoming an import.

[BobbyP]

Saturn needs to go back to it's roots and concentrate on people, again. They need to manufacture cars and offer service experiences that rival every other car company. They need to go back to the no haggle fair auto pricing.

Saturn started off independent and GM slowly absorbed them to the point where they were just another division of GM. Saturn's cars lost their uniqueness and were just re-badged GM cars. This caused GM to compete against itself, and not against the import manufacturers.

I wish Penske could find another man with a vision like Skip LeFauve. Many he rest in peace...

GM was just too arrogant to see what they had when they created the original Saturn. It's fitting that the GM "mark of excellence" is a box.

[mike08vue]

It said Jill was taking early retirement from GM---that would free her to work for the "new" Saturn. Since Saturn will no longer be a part of GM, and if she take retirement, she would in all probability get a retirement package from GM and be free to work for Saturn.

[BobbyP]

Many people felt that some of Saturn's worst decisions and ratings were made while Jill was in charge. I'd feel better if Penske picked someone other than Jill to run Saturn.

I don't want to judge Jill because it's quite possible that GM's corporate control may have been at fault.

Maybe Jill will write a book about the whole adventure. "The Rise and Fall of the Saturn Empire".

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by mike08vue

It said Jill was taking early retirement from GM---that would free her to work for the "new" Saturn. Since Saturn will no longer be a part of GM, and if she take retirement, she would in all probability get a retirement package from GM and be free to work for Saturn.

That's what I'm hearing. The reports that suggest she won't be joining Penske are wrong. She needed to retire from GM in order to move on to the Penske organization.

Charlie

[brubins]

Just saw on CNBC that Penske deal is off. Uh oh.

[abkaiser]

The deal is off.

[EricSaturnSC2]

Originally Posted by brubins

Just saw on CNBC that Penske deal is off. Uh oh.

OH NO!!!

Sad day, indeed.

[k5xs]

News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal
----------------------------
Sponsored by NASDAQ OMX
----------------------------


Penske Automotive Group has ended its effort to buy the Saturn unit of GM,
citing concerns over the availability of future GM-made vehicles.

The disclosure immediately threw the future of Saturn back into question. GM had
said it would shutter the brand if a buyer couldn't be found. Penske Auto in
June agreed to acquire the brand with the exception of its manufacturing
operations.

[navcanman]

Wow a sad day for all saturn fans, we just went through this in Canada. One positive is there will be some great deals coming up on the reamining stock so pick on up while you still can................

[skrashinsky]

Hello all,

I am a reporter with the Globe and Mail, and we are doing a story about the news that GM is winding down its Saturn brand after talks to sell it to Penske broke off. As Saturn enthusiasts, I wonder if any of you might give us your perspective today, on what is being lost with the phase-out of the Saturn brand. I can be reached at any of the coordinates below; or if you prefer, you can email me your contact information and I'd be happy to call at a convenient time. I would hope to speak with someone in the next hour or so if possible.

All the best,

Susan Krashinsky
Reporter, Report on Business
The Globe and Mail
444 Front St. West, Toronto, Ont. Canada M5V 2S9
(office) 416-585-5438, (cell) 416-200-1784
skrashinsky@globeandmail.com

[The Math God]

bye-bye Saturn

[RobertGary1]

The AP is now reporting that the deal has fallen through and that GM is proceeding with plans to shut down production. Service will be handled by other GM dealers...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/...10b3NodXRkb3du

-Robert

[Astra a Go-Go]

I had my Astra serviced at a Chevy dealer Tuesday. The tech I talked to said he didn't think the Saturn deal would go through. Looks like he was right.

[dennis marshall]

I just read on Inside GM that Penske is killing the deal because he cannot find any replacements for the current Saturn lineup. It has nothing to due with either Saturn or GM . Has anyone any more info??