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Cindy Wojdyla Cain from the Herald News: Saturn will shut down completely by October 2010, said Eddie Larson, general manager of Saturn of Joliet. Larson, 29, has worked for Saturn since he was 21. He has never even had to write a resume other than one for a college class because he has continually been promoted within the company. Both Adomaitis and Larson thought they had jobs that would last many more decades. "Never in our wildest dreams could we image it wouldn't go the way we thought it w...

Pam Platt from the Courier Journal: It wasn't just the new-car smell that made me want to swoon when I went to the Saturn dealership. It was exactly as my friend said: Nice people, no games, really nice cars, good prices. The Saturn salesman went a mile better than smacking the car seat and ordering me to sit. He let me drive the wagon for a couple of days so I could see how I liked it. Well, I fell in love with it. With the car. With the experience. I was sold. I'm still driving the Saturn stat...

Nicole Winfield and Tom Krisher from the Assoicate Press via Forbes: Fiat confirmed Sunday that it is in talks to buy most of General Motors' European operations, taking another step toward creating a global automotive powerhouse. Fiat also said it is evaluating the possible spinoff of its auto business to form the core of a new company. Fiat Group Automobiles includes the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari brands. In addition, Fiat is in the process of acquiring U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC without pu...

Andrew Eder from the Delaware News Journal: At least three auto companies have toured the empty Boxwood Road assembly plant near Newport in a bid by the governor's economic development team to revive the state's moribund manufacturing sector. Delaware is competing against suitors in Michigan and other Midwestern states where the American auto industry has cut back production leaving dozens of abandoned auto plants. Access to foreign markets through the Port of Wilmington and a commitment to gree...

Ron Fonger from the Flint Journal: Roger Penske is in the driver's seat of a new group seeking to buy Saturn, but will there be a place onboard for Flint-area mega dealer Joseph Serra? Serra has been one of two large car dealers to be working with Penske in recent weeks as the deal heats up to buy Saturn from General Motors. Serra said last week that he expects to be included in the new Saturn ownership group but said no deal had been worked out. On Thursday, the normally talkative Serra said th...

Eric Schwalm, Mark Gottfredson and Ted Rouse from Forbes: One idea might be for GM to take one of its brands currently rumored for elimination, Saturn, and transform it into a true consumer-driven, modular design, with a supply-chain model that makes no product without an order. The new business model would look very different from today's. For starters, the customer experience and the role of the dealers would change radically. The desired car could be configured online in less than 60 seconds ...

G. Chambers Williams III from the Tennessean: GM and the government task force must agree by June 1 which of the automaker's remaining factories will close as it moves to become a smaller, more-efficient company. Spring Hill could be on the hit list, but no one will know until GM is ready to announce its newest round of plant closings, which could come as early as this week. The president of the United Auto Workers local in Spring Hill said the more than 3,000 jobs at the General Motors plant in...

The Saturn of 2008 is not quite what Roger Smith, a former GM chairman, had in mind when he launched the brand in 1985 with the promise of "a different kind of company, a different kind of car." GM initially hoped to encourage fresh thinking at its newest brand by giving Saturn more autonomy than such GM stalwarts as Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac. Its management offices were separated from those of other brands. A new dedicated assembly plant was built in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The new unit ham...

Robert Snell from the Detroit News: General Motors will need as much as $16.6 billion in additional federal aid if market conditions worsen but could run out of money next month. GM needs $2 billion more in aid in March and $2.6 billion in April to stay afloat. The need is outlined in a restructuring plan submitted today to the U.S. Treasury Department that illustrates how GM will repay $13.4 billion in aid that has kept the automaker operating since it nearly ran out of cash in December. GM pla...

Barbara Wieland from the Lansing State Journal: Domestic automakers are hoping more people prefer their home country when it comes time to buy a vehicle. Doing so, some believe, could save thousands of jobs. Just ask Brian Fredline, president of United Auto Workers union Local 602. Local 602 represents workers at GM's Lansing Delta Township plant. GM said Monday that 1,200 of those workers will be laid off when the Detroit carmaker eliminates a second shift at the factory on March 30 because of ...

In an article about Saturn, NASDAQ reported that retailer Carl Galeana told the Detroit Free Press earlier this week that "GM has totally mismanaged this brand. If it's a failed brand, it's because GM never knew what to do with it," he said, "GM has totally mismanaged this brand." The site wrote that "one obstacle to GM simply selling Saturn is that the only likely buyers for Saturn would be an Indian or Chinese manufacturer because of the company's limited manufacturing facilities, which would ...

Scott Burgess from the Detroit News: For years, General Motors has been accused of relying on trucks and not building enough cars. Many say that's why the company is on the verge of bankruptcy right now. So when last week's announcement confirmed what has been percolating for months and the Saturn and Pontiac brands would be killed, it seemed like an oxymoron. These two brands have some of GM's best cars and not a single truck in their lineups. Sadly, these brands were murdered by General Motors...

David Young from the Fort Collins Coloradoan: As the major car manufacturers struggle to keep their factories open in the deepening recession, General Motors' latest move to make a profit involves cutting its Saturn brands. The phaseout of Saturn dealers is scheduled for 2011, but according to a letter to Saturn dealers, GM will consider offers by other investors or dealers to buy the franchises. Belisle said GM is attempting to reorganize Saturn, which shares assembly lines with other GM produc...

David Shepardson from the Detroit News: GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said the company is conducting an intensive review of most aspects of its business, saying the company is in a "crisis." Wagoner didn't rule out more plant closures or eliminating additional vehicles when it sends the U.S. Treasury its restructuring plan on Tuesday. "As we're doing for most parts of business is a structured review ... of what we see as far as plants and brands and things of that sort. What's the competitive...

Jeff Green and Serena Saitto from Bloomberg: GM, facing a June 1 US-backed bankruptcy, may drop its Pontiac and GMC brands as part of broader cost-cutting moves, people familiar with the discussions said. GM's Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick brands are likely safe, said the people, who asked not to be named because decisions aren't final. GMC and Pontiac are being studied as part of talks with an Obama administration task force assessing whether GM can be restructured without bankruptcy, the peopl...