Penske drop bid for Saturn, GM to end brand

Reuters ^ | 9/30/09

[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.

[Neidermeyer]

I'd say Miata's are more manly ... they're steel not plastic... they're lighter , more responsive and you have your own racing series ,, spec Miata ..

[hopespringseternal]

I have had a little insite into GMs management practices lately. GM deserves to die.

[SuperLuminal]

Gee! And I thought Penske would repackage the Saturn as a COT for NASCAR....

[CodeToad]

Ironic that Saturn was all about trying to break out of the UAW mold of building cars.

[NTHockey]

I owned a L300 and now have a Vue. One son has a Vue and a Relay. I was planning on buying a Skye, but now.....

The shame is that the basic Saturn is the L-body which GM has used since the mid ‘90s and ttried to kill off every chance it gets (see Corsica).

[alstewartfan]

I can’t help wondering whether Saturn’s non-unionism had anything to BO’s decision to dump the division. Bob

[al_c]

That’s a rebadged Pontiac Solstice.

Other way around. The Sky was in development long before they put the Pontiac badge on it. If the Sky was a rebadge, it came from the Opel GT.

[PackerBoy]

I still own my ‘92 Black Special Edition Miata (with hard top), which I purchased new. It’s still a fun car to drive and I may never get rid of it. Nice to have a spare car, especially one that can go topless on nice days. Most of the people I have seen driving Miatas over th eyears have been middle aged men and women. Not sure why; I would have loved to have one right out of college.

[cookcounty]

"Production workers, dealers, mechanics and many other support jobs gone away for good.... Obama you just lost another 50,000 jobs,

I just heard a news report saying 13,500.

We should start a pool to see which network or news service understates by the largest #.

[Salvation]

I have a used Saturn that was made before the government got into the business — 1999. I am really sad to see this. Wish Ford would pick them up.

PS. I love the Saturn; good gas mileage, good handling, good everything. Insurance is less. Maintenance is less.

What to do?