Saturn To Get Partner?

Is Saturn not dead after all? A new report out by a Connecticut newspaper, the Danbury News Times says that just might be the case. A "partnership has been struck that will provide for vehicles well into the future" . If Saturn can actually pull this off, color me shocked.

You've probably heard about Saturn's fate as decided by GM. Due to the recent Viability Plan and the outlook for the future, some brands had to be cut. Saturn was one of them, along with Saab and Hummer. GM would like to be rid of these 3 brands as soon as possible.

They do have worth though and for at Saab and Saturn at least, GM has offered them the chance to succeed by attracting a partner. The situation with HUMMER is a bit different, as GM is actively looking to sell that brand not form some kind of independent entity.

GM has offered encouragement to the notion of Saab becoming an independent company. Saturn obviously wants to continue on, and a task force to do just that was appointed by Saturn's Franchise Operations Team. GM is already treating them like separate entities.

Saturn has an excellent dealer network that would lend itself well to an automaker using it to gain access into the U.S. I admit to being extremely skeptical that the Task Force would be able to come up with anything that would see Saturn remain independent. Private capital is hard to come buy and so are buyers in this market, even with the attractiveness of Saturn's retail system.

But they might have done just that. I say that because I'm skeptical until I actually here something concrete. It does sound promising. The head of the Task Force, Todd Ingersoll, owns 2 Saturn dealers in Connecticut.

"In the next three weeks, we will announce a long-term partnership that will provide Saturn with world-class cars," he said. "This will ensure the brand not only survives but flourishes."I

It looks like they're not being sold, but forming an independent company to market vehicles (supplied by the partnership) under the Saturn name.

"Saturn is a brand that is beloved by consumers," Ingersoll said. "We wanted to find another company that sees value in the brand. We think we've done it."

Ingersoll said they will work to transition in the new partner vehicles instead of the GM-supplied cars, which will end in 2011. We've got 3 weeks to get details on this venture, and I'm excited to see what they've come up with!