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John McElroy from WardsAutos.com: The debate about bailing out Detroit's auto makers has hit a fever pitch. Everybody wants to weigh in with their opinion. The louder they rant, and the crazier their claims, the more coverage they get. There always are two sides to every argument, but this discussion shows how much misinformation, misperception and wrong-headed "facts" are being bandied about. Let me debunk the five most popular myths I keep hearing.

Charles Murray from Design News: The demise of Pontiac has grabbed auto industry headlines over the past few days, but little has been said about GM's abrupt change in plans for its Saturn. Yesterday, the giant automaker said it no longer plans to build Saturns through the end of 2011. Instead, it will phase out Saturn at the end of the 2009 model year. That's sad. Those who recall the history of Saturn know that it grew out of GM's desire to prove that an American automaker could produce small...

Editorial from the LA Times: If General Motors doesn't learn from the mistakes it made with its once-popular Saturn brand, it faces the same fate. Saturn was the product of GM's last major attempt to reinvent itself. The trouble started, just as it did this time around, when gas prices spiked in the late 1970s. With their smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, Japanese automakers began carving hefty chunks out of GM's market share. So in 1985, GM's then-chairman, Roger B. Smith, announced the bir...

As the White House and Detroit’s automakers continued working together on a new rescue plan over the weekend, following the collapse last week of the $14-billion lifeline for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, President George W. Bush on Sunday hinted that a new deal was not far from being reached. The White House said an announcement is still not expected Monday, but Bush reassured reporters aboard Air Force One during a previously unannounced trip to Iraq and Afghanistan: "This will not ...

Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: Detroit business lion Roger Penske, who led the city's Super Bowl preparations, downtown cleanup program and revived Grand Prix racing on Belle Isle — all while running the nation's No. 2 auto retailer — is on the verge of rescuing General Motors' embattled Saturn brand. GM is close to selling its Saturn division to Penske in a deal that could keep the brand alive and allow a new manufacturer access to the dealer network, people briefed on the matter ...

Mark Phelan from the Detroit Free Press: I asked last week for advice about what business magnate Roger Penske should do now that he's bought Saturn, and boy, did you come through. From reinstating the Saturn Homecoming owner's convention in Tennessee to where the cars should be built, what they should look like and what fuel they should use, Saturn owners proved again that their passion is the brand's greatest asset. Click the link below for a sample of the suggestions submitted to the Free Pre...

David Shepardson from the Detroit News Washington Bureau: The Treasury Department is leaning toward granting General Motors and Chrysler a loan package of roughly $10 billion that would allow them to survive into February, putting pressure on Congress to act to add funds. Talks between the automakers and Treasury are continuing, but no announcement of a deal is expected until at least Wednesday. One auto official said Treasury is considering "a bridge to a bridge loan" rather than the full amoun...

Robert Snell, David Shepardson and Christine Tierney from the Detroit News: Some Saturn dealers hoped the deal could be revived and spare a brand that appeared to have been rescued this summer when Penske announced he had reached a memorandum of understanding with GM. "Anytime you have deals of this magnitude, things can happen at the last second," said Grand Blanc-area dealer Joe Serra. "Give it 48 hours and see what comes of it. Maybe they can resolve whatever issue it was. If anyone can resol...

David Shepardson and Gordon Trowbridge from the Detroit News Washington Bureau: The U.S. House approved a $14 billion auto bailout late Wednesday, but the bill's ultimate fate remained in serious doubt as the White House and Democrats struggled to win enough Republican support in the Senate. Supporters hope the measure's passage, by a 237-170 margin largely along party lines in the Democratic-controlled House, will increase political pressure on Senate Republicans to go along or risk being blame...

Justin Hyde and Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: President Barack Obama's rescue plan for Detroit automakers will be unveiled Monday, but one condition became clear today: the resignation of General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. As a condition for additional government aid to GM, the Obama administration asked Wagoner to step aside, which Wagoner agreed to do today, people familiar with the plan said. Wagoner's move, effective immediately, ends a 31-year career with G...

Ashley Yarchin KSDK Channel 5: Kevin Keller, 36, is on his third Saturn in more than a decade. In fact, he still has his first Saturn, although he doesn't drive it anymore. Keller said he fell in love with the brand in 1996 and even joined a sort of fan club called the Saturn Performance Club. While there used to be 40 people from around the country who'd show up to the annual get-togethers, attendance has since dwindled, and Keller, as well as Washington University business professor, blames a ...

Jon C. Ogg from 247wallst.com: Black Oak Partners is said to be working with a number of Saturn retailers and announced that it has approached GM about acquiring and operating the principal assets of Saturn Distribution Corporation (SDC) as a diversified automobile distributor and retailer. SDC is the legal entity that franchises Saturn retailers today. This release notes that a "new" Saturn Distribution Corporation is envisioned as a unique model for new car retailing in the United States which...

Peter Brown from Automotive News: At 75, Saturn megadealer Don Hudler figures he's going to stick with the brand till the fat lady sings. "We're diehards. We'll probably go to the bitter end," Hudler, the former chairman of Saturn Corp., said last week after the shocking news that Roger Penske's deal to buy the Saturn brand had collapsed. Hudler owns three Saturn dealerships in Houston and three in Dallas. The day after the deal collapsed, floor traffic "all but stopped," he said. Hudler's histo...

From the Detroit News: Prospects for GM's Saturn division dimmed with the Penske Automotive Group's failed bid to keep the nameplate's dealer network alive. But the division's problems began long before GM's bankruptcy and downsizing. GM management and the United Auto Workers union both sabotaged the ideas behind Saturn. The division began as a model for regaining market share from Japanese automakers, improving dealer service and reforming labor practices. With collaboration and more flexible w...

From the San Fransisco Chronicle: Quality ride, nice price, made in the USA. For nearly two decades, this description worked for Saturn, which preferred the ad-agency slogan, "a different kind of car company." But now the car is history, orphaned by General Motors, whose executives proudly created it, then undercut it and finally gave up on it. GM, in full financial retreat, has already phased out the old-coot Oldsmobile and Pontiac lines. Saturn's demise should sting more deeply. The car was a ...