Car Throttle

This news is just in: Penske Automotive Group and General Motors have both issued statements announcing that negotiations between the two for the Saturn brand has been terminated. Saturn has been one of the GM casualties of the financial crisis, with GM announcing a few months ago that the brand would be shuttered. Upon hearing this, Saturn's leadership and fans attempted to mount a campaign to secure an independent future by being bought by another company, Penske Automotive Group. Tat effort has reached a dead-end. This is very disappointing news to all the Saturn employees and loyal customers that have tried so hard to keep Saturn alive.  The problem lies with Penske Automotive Group's ability to secure products for Saturn bey0nd the supply period it negotiated with

Reporting on this story is really too bad. Remember the excitement around the Solstice Concept and the ensuing production vehicle? It really created a wave of goodwill for General Motors and the Pontiac brand. In production it proved to be no less successful, selling out quickly. Even as the initial excitement wore off, it overtook the Mazda MX-5 Miata in sales - no small feat. GM's Bob Lutz was one of the car's chief champions and it paid off. That's why it's sad to hear that production of the two vehicles based off the Kappa platform - the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice, has been stopped. There was some talk that possibly an independent buyer could come in and make a deal to GM for just the Solstice

Well, that report yesterday was accurate! Saturn is saved, bought by a well-heeled buyer with a proven track record. Saturn fans should be quite excited about this development. I thought it was pretty unlikely that the brand would find a buyer that would keep it open and business given it's volume brand status and the economic situation. As part of the deal, GM will continue making the Saturn Aura, Vue and Outlook on a contract basis. This is a huge benefit to GM as well, getting revenue from production as well as proceeds from the sale of the brand. The Sky roadster and Astra hatchback will be cut however, as expected. The Sky might be sold to an separate buyer and the Astra has consistently been a slow

Looks like resolutions are done or are being neared in the sale of all GM's 3 brands. A buyer has been announced for Hummer; it is being sold to a Chinese heavy equipment company with no prior experience in the automotive sector. Saab has enough cash to sustain itself separately from the bankrupt GM, and two buyers are rumored to be in the running for them (one of which is Koenigsegg). There is a handful of buyers remaining to purchase Saturn, with reports indicating that Roger Penske's Penske Group is the lead bidder with an announcement that could potentially come as soon as tommorow. One of the buyers in the running is rumored to be considering using Mitsubishi-sourced vehicles. Reports also have come out that for Roger Penske's bid, he is considering sourcing Saturn