SaturnFans.com Links

David Barkholz from Automotive News: Steve Girsky, long-time industry consultant who is leading GM's task force, declined to name which automakers have talked to the group. He called the inquiries "informal." Girsky said in an interview today that the task force is assessing whether a spin-off could procure enough product and sell enough vehicles to make it viable for the 400 Saturn dealers now operating. He declined to name them. The spin-off would offer car manufacturers an opportunity to buil...

Paul Ingrassia from the Wall Street Journal: General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have waged war against each other—sometimes hot, sometimes cold—for most of the past 80 years. One of the few things on which they collaborated, sadly, was undermining Saturn, which began as the boldest effort to reform the dysfunctional dynamics of their relationship. On Wednesday, what appears to be Saturn's death knell sounded when Roger Penske, the legendary automotive entrepreneur, abandoned hi...

Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: General Motors said today it would shut down Saturn after respected Detroit businessman Roger Penske shocked GM and 350 Saturn dealers by saying that his plans to buy the storied brand had fallen apart. The announcement came a day before GM and its dealers expected the deal to be finalized. The failure could cost as many as 13,000 jobs at dealerships nationwide and GM. Penske’s plans for Saturn depended on securing another manufacturer to build future v...

Tony Borroz from Wired's Autopia: The terms of the deal, which is yet to be finalized, would give Penske the rights to the brand and certain other Saturn assets. GM will continue building the Aura, Vue and Outlook models on a contract basis for two years. After that, Penske is expected to give the deal to someone else. And also fold this into the whole equation: Penske also owns the company that is the North American importer for Smart cars. Now Roger finds himself not only with a top flight dis...

Greg Gardner from the Detroit Free Press: French automaker Renault and Japanese partner Nissan have been trying to strengthen their position in North America since forming an alliance 10 years ago, and Detroit businessman Roger Penske's vision for Saturn seemed to be a good fit. Nissan has not grown in the United States as fast as Toyota or Honda. Renault left the U.S. market in 1989, two years after it sold American Motors, which once built Jeeps, to Chrysler. Together, the Renault-Nissan allia...

Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: Jack Nerad of Kelley Blue Book heralded the Penske-Saturn deal as "one of the most significant developments in a month that has been full of significant developments. The proposed acquisition marks the beginning of a new business model in this industry," he wrote, "a model in which the distribution side of the business controls the brand, and manufacturing is conducted by one or more sub-contractors." Penske Automotive Group is in talks with several autom...

Kenneth Klee from the Deal Magazine: Deal by deal, the auto industry is being reinvented. Though it's obvious when you think about it, it's still head-spinning when you try to bring the scope of the activity into focus. Here is a vast swath of the global economy in the midst of an urgently needed re-engineering. Business models are morphing, the value chain is tightening, the geographic distribution of demand is shifting, and new, game-changing technologies are working their way to market. And s...

G. Chambers Williams III from the Tennessean: Don't write the obituary for Saturn just yet — and it could be the brand's own dealers coming to the rescue. General Motors plans to spin Saturn off into an independent distribution company, which could then contract with someone else to build a new line of vehicles and keep the brand alive. One surprise twist that's gaining credence among auto industry analysts holds that the eventual buyer could be Saturn's own 208 dealers. Other options are that...

From Reuters by way of CNNMoney.com: General Motors and its Saturn dealers are moving toward a deal to spin off the brand's distribution network and open it to products from other automakers after 2011, according to a GM memo. GM said it expected to phase out Saturn in its viability plan submitted to the government on Tuesday, and later that day GM executives said all options were on the table. Among the options, GM and its Saturn dealers will investigate a spin-off of the Saturn Distribution Co...

Bryan Laviolette from Michigan WLLZ: Much has been written about why Saturn was somewhat of a success through much of the 1990s. Even though General Motors starved the brand for new products, those who bought Saturns back then loved them. Sure, buyers enjoyed the no-haggle deals and the fresh approach to selling cars. They loved it when dealer employees clapped as they drove their cars away for the first time. But what they really loved was that the cars were good, possibly the best cars GM has ...

When GM's long-term viability plan became public last week, fans of Saab, Pontiac and Saturn were a bit riled. They had good reason: GM's plan called for the company to sell Saab, drastically cut Pontiac's line-up and "accelerate discussions with the Saturn retailers, consistent with their unique relationship, to explore alternatives for the Saturn brand." Most have taken this to mean that Saturn will be closed, and those fears were exacerbated by reports that GM had cut development funding for ...

Barbara Wieland from the Lansing State Journal: As General Motors touts its best new vehicles for the media and the public at the Detroit auto show, the future of Saturn is in question. Will the brand, whose Aura sedan won North American Car of the year at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, survive GM's austerity moves? GM executives who spoke at this year's auto show are treading lightly when asked about the nameplate's future. "I don't rule out anything," GM Chief Executive Offic...

Stuart Elliot from the NY Times: For the first time since the financial difficulties of General Motors began threatening the company's existence, a GM division will run advertising that addresses the effects of the precarious situation. A campaign for the Saturn division of the General Motors Corporation, which is now under way, features dealers — known in Saturn-speak as retailers — talking frankly to consumers. The dealers urge potential car buyers not to be deterred from considering Satur...

Karl Greenberg from MediaPost: What's done is done, but analysts say GM's mercy killing of the brand that it launched in the '80s as an experiment to battle the imports is a history of wasted potential. Peter Kloprogge, CEO and president of New York-based market research firm Pointlogic, says Saturn stood out among Detroit brands because it did not suffer from amorphous-brand syndrome: GM, Ford and Chrysler have had to deal with brands whose raison d'etre was no longer relevant or that had place...

David Goldman and Peter Valdes-Dapena from CNNMoney.com: GM has said it will stop producing Saturn vehicles by 2011. GM would continue production of only the three highest-selling models: the Aura sedan, and the Vue and Outlook cross-over SUVs, for the next two years. The Saturn Sky and Astra models will be discontinued. To replace GM as the brand's manufacturer, Penske is in discussions with several global automakers. One likely replacement is Renault Samsung Motors of Korea, Automotive News re...