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Penske drop bid for Saturn, GM to end brand
Reuters ^ | 9/30/09

Posted on 09/30/2009 2:06:49 PM PDT by Kartographer

Penske Automotive Group (PAG.N) said on Wednesday it has terminated discussions with General Motors Co GM.UL to acquire the automaker's Saturn brand.

GM said in a separate statement it would wind down the Saturn brand and its dealership network.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Michigan; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: automakers; generalmotors; jobs; penske; saturn; theend; unemployment
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To: Xenalyte

“That sucks. I’ve been a loyal Saturn driver since 1999.”

....so has a good friend of mine...swears by them...I guess the Japs will take over the plants.


21 posted on 09/30/2009 2:39:39 PM PDT by STONEWALLS
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To: Kartographer

gosh, what a shame!

suicide by unions.

hmmm.


22 posted on 09/30/2009 2:40:12 PM PDT by ken21 (i am not voting for a rino-progressive.)
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To: Rick_Michael
True!!!

lolol




23 posted on 09/30/2009 2:40:22 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I am Legend)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
It's the Sky I wanted my wife to get. Loaded out it goes went for about $25K
24 posted on 09/30/2009 2:43:30 PM PDT by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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To: Responsibility2nd; Rick_Michael

I don’t know about gay, but I had a Miata and am in my 30’s. I dumped it when I saw 8/10 Miata drivers were old men. I actually make a couple hundred dollars selling it, so that puts me ahead of GM and Chrysler.

I guess the Miata dudes are making up for the lost time of Fiats and British sports cars being in the shop all the time back in the 1970’s.


25 posted on 09/30/2009 2:45:36 PM PDT by GOPsterinMA (Who paid for Mary Jo Kopechne's funeral)
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To: Kartographer

Bought a 98’SC2. After 40 some odd thousand miles the under-speced valve body in the auto trans did what penny pinched under speced crap valvebodys do...it warped and died.

Any new company trying to win drivers over, that doesn’t understand that a drive train has got to be bullet-proof, is too stupid to live. Goodby Saturn, can’t say it’s been fun. You built crap.


26 posted on 09/30/2009 2:45:53 PM PDT by TalBlack
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To: Kartographer
Production workers, dealers, mechanics and many other support jobs gone away for good.

Obama you just lost another 50,000 jobs, what are you going to do now?

Obama: "I'm going to Copenhagen."

27 posted on 09/30/2009 2:50:24 PM PDT by Harley (Life is Tough, But It's a Lot Tougher When You're a Liberal. Stop Global Whining Now.)
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To: Kartographer
My 1994 Saturn SL2 just got a brake job. It has about 110,000 miles on it. Still running fine. Too bad Saturn is going away.
28 posted on 09/30/2009 2:51:16 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: GOPsterinMA
I had considered the Sky as a replacement for the 1974 Porsche 914 sitting in my garage. That's not going to happen. Frankly, I'm having a great time with my new crop of motorcycles. I enjoy them more than a car and the whole garage full costs less than an single Sky.
29 posted on 09/30/2009 2:55:00 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Kartographer

That is a real shame. I had hoped that Penske would have been able to save at least this. Nice going, GM, you’re done.


30 posted on 09/30/2009 2:55:08 PM PDT by SueRae
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To: Myrddin

914 - nice!

I looked at Porsche Boxsters and (at least up here, most likely due to the weather) you can pick up a used one for low $.

Bikes are cool! Good for you!


31 posted on 09/30/2009 3:03:09 PM PDT by GOPsterinMA (Who paid for Mary Jo Kopechne's funeral)
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To: Kartographer
I don't think Saturn made a dime from day one. The real prize here is the dealer network, which features the cream of GM dealers. If I were a dollar-rich Chicom automaker, I'd pick up the entire package and start funneling my cars through it.
32 posted on 09/30/2009 3:07:03 PM PDT by Jagman (They comport, We deride!)
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To: hoosier hick

“I will guess that Government Motors tried to extort more from Penske than Saturn was worth....”

Penske couldn’t find someone to build the cars starting in 2011 and forward.


33 posted on 09/30/2009 3:14:25 PM PDT by TWohlford
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To: TWohlford

There will probably be more details forthcoming. It’s not like we have any excess capacity laying around....

hh


34 posted on 09/30/2009 3:18:36 PM PDT by hoosier hick (Note to RINOs: We need a choice, not an echo....Barry Goldwater)
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To: Jagman

“If I were a dollar-rich Chicom automaker, I’d pick up the entire package and start funneling my cars through it.”

That was EXACTLY the Penske plan. They were gonna have autos built by various companies, slap a “Saturn” sticker on ‘em and sell ‘em.

However, no auto makers would commit.


35 posted on 09/30/2009 3:21:16 PM PDT by TWohlford
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To: hoosier hick

“It’s not like we have any excess capacity laying around....”

Got tons “laying around.” The Big 3 just idled a whole bunch of capacity. That’s part of the issue, the auto world has twice as much capacity as they had sales when the bottom dropped out.


36 posted on 09/30/2009 3:22:41 PM PDT by TWohlford
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To: TWohlford
Months ago, I said Subaru or Mitzubishi should buy Saturn and Pontiac. Subaru because they have so few vehicles and could add a target audience niche with Saturn.

Mitzubishi could have basically cornered the 16-29yr old market by purchasing both brands, scaling down vehicle offerings of the two, then pushing sporty performance. The only newsworthy player in that market is Toyota's Scion now.

37 posted on 09/30/2009 3:25:10 PM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: Kartographer
No great loss, those were pretty weak cars.

Back in Dec 2000, I was hit in the rear of my Suburban by a Saturn while I was stopped for a red light. The result was $298.00 in damage to the Suburbans ear bumper and over $3,000.00 to the front end of the Saturn which was pretty much totally demolished.

38 posted on 09/30/2009 3:38:35 PM PDT by dglang
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To: Responsibility2nd

The Saturn Astra and Aura were rebadged Opels, not Chevys.

While the Sky was a rebadged Pontiac Solstice.


39 posted on 09/30/2009 3:57:22 PM PDT by gogogodzilla (Live free or die!)
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To: rintense

All these buyers are smart. In time they will steal these plants and connections for a fraction of their value. Union dudes drive hard bargains nowhere.


40 posted on 09/30/2009 4:00:03 PM PDT by Broker (Pakikisama)
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