GM to sell Saturn brand to Roger Penske

[tplyons]

Looks like this may not be the end of Saturn afterall.

Originally Posted by AP Source

AP Source: GM to sell Saturn brand to Roger Penske
Published: 6/5/09, 8:25 AM EDT
By TOM KRISHER
DETROIT (AP) - A person briefed on the deal says General Motors Corp. will sell its Saturn brand to former race car driver and dealership chain owner Roger Penske.

GM has scheduled a 9 a.m. EDT conference call with Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak. The person briefed on the deal said Penske will be on the call.

Penske has said his company, Penske Automotive Group Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., is interested in the Saturn brand.

The person briefed did not want to be identified because it has yet to be made public.

[hover]

Hey, very nice. I'm glad it wasn't Hummer. I'd like to see Saturn make a bit of return to the customer fan base and loyalty it had at its inception. It was a really good idea, ultimately handled half-heartedly.

Lessie what happens.

[hover]

On a related note, I lovew all the GM *backpedalling - save face* ads they're running now:

"there was a time when having 8 brands made sense"

run it through the translation / b.s. stipping filter:

"there was a time when we had 8 brands, 3/4 which offered the same exact model with different bading and some plasticwork and you dupes fell for it time and time again...then smartenned up"

[DaveDeVille]

great news ...
i love my Saturn Vue RedLine .

nice little 6 cyl. gig machine ...

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by hover

Hey, very nice. I'm glad it wasn't Hummer. I'd like to see Saturn make a bit of return to the customer fan base and loyalty it had at its inception. It was a really good idea, ultimately handled half-heartedly.

Lessie what happens.

I read that Hummer is being sold off to a Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer.

Turns out Penske's network of dealers is already the exclusive dealer of Smart cars in the US as well, so it appears as though they know how to sell a brand that nobody else does.

[hover]

very nice. great for them...it makes sense too, I'd like them to ultimately make Saturn into a nice *green* brand, much like they touted with the recycled panels and stuff. well done.

[Rusty Chainsaw]

It'll be interesting to see where Saturn source their new models from under the new regime, since almost all the current range comes from Opel, who are being bought out by Magna (who, strangely enough, build the rest-of-the-world versions of Chrysler's range in Austria).

I'd like to see them pick up some of the stuff from the French automakers - Peugeot, Citroen and Renault make some nice smaller vehicles that'd fit the Saturn brand image and probably do well in the US without the French badging (with the stench of "freedom fries" still in the air, and all that).

I personally think they'll probably stick with the new incarnation of Opel, though.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by Rusty Chainsaw

It'll be interesting to see where Saturn source their new models from under the new regime, since almost all the current range comes from Opel, who are being bought out by Magna (who, strangely enough, build the rest-of-the-world versions of Chrysler's range in Austria).

I'd like to see them pick up some of the stuff from the French automakers - Peugeot, Citroen and Renault make some nice smaller vehicles that'd fit the Saturn brand image and probably do well in the US without the French badging (with the stench of "freedom fries" still in the air, and all that).

I personally think they'll probably stick with the new incarnation of Opel, though.

I like a lot of the Opels, but a Peugeot or Citroen or Renault would make a good Saturn as well.

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by tplyons

I like a lot of the Opels, but a Peugeot or Citroen or Renault would make a good Saturn as well.

Probably won't be Renault, because of the whole Renault-owning-Nissan thing - Nissan already sell cars based on Renault platforms in the US (eg, the Versa).

I definitely think there's some room for PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) cars in the US though - the new Citroen C5 is a handsome car that could quite easily be the next Saturn Aura...

[warwick.hoy]

^^^That's a Nice Car^^^

The whole car world is so convoluted these days...who owns who, what's just a re-badged what....my head hurts.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

^^^That's a Nice Car^^^

The whole car world is so convoluted these days...who owns who, what's just a re-badged what....my head hurts.

I love when they tout this car sharing as platform sharing.

My Chevy HHR shares a platform with a Chevy Cobalt. The Pontiac G5 WAS a Cobalt.

However, a lot of money can be saved using the same platform/drivetrain as in the Cobalt/HHR. And selling the same car in two countries under two different names is common. The problem arose when two or more brands shared the same model in a single country.

Yes, it's very hard to keep track of, but usually isn't too bad.

[mike_v_s]

Originally Posted by hover

Hey, very nice. I'm glad it wasn't Hummer. I'd like to see Saturn make a bit of return to the customer fan base and loyalty it had at its inception. It was a really good idea, ultimately handled half-heartedly.

Lessie what happens.

+1

Originally Posted by david meissner

great news ...
i love my Saturn Vue RedLine .

nice little 6 cyl. gig machine ...

Depending on the year, that 6 cylinder may be a Honda 3.5 from the Pilot.

Mike

[Bassgrinder77]

If so I hope Penske makes Saturn into Saturn again.
Saturn was a totally cocked-up GM b.s. story.
Back in the '80's it was announced that GM was starting a brand new car to compete with imports that was to be totally divorced from the usual practice of selling the same car with cosmetic differences under five brands. When the Saturn finally came out I though it was cool - especially the all-plastic body. On the sales floor a salesman handed me a hardwood billy-club and asked me to wail on the the fender, which I did (no damage).
I finally bought a new L300 in '02 and liked it. Truthfully, the GM b.s. was already seeping in by this time because that car was something between an Opel and a Saab and the body wasn't 100% plastic like its predecessors - but (no thanks to GM's domestic engineering) it was a good car. Unfortunately, my wife got hit in '07 and it was totalled. We looked at Saturns again and learned they were sharing parts with the other domestic GM brands and no longer had the plastic bodies. Screw that - Saturn had become yet another full-fledged GM farce.
We bought a Ford Fusion.

Originally Posted by tplyons

Looks like this may not be the end of Saturn afterall.

[warwick.hoy]

Now that Penske owns Saturn...does that mean we all get to drive F1s and Stock Cars to the grocery store?

[DaveDeVille]

Originally Posted by david meissner

great news ...
i love my Saturn Vue RedLine .

nice little 6 cyl. gig machine ...

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

+1

Depending on the year, that 6 cylinder may be a Honda 3.5 from the Pilot.

Mike

Honda Pilot 3.5 frame , engine and suspension .

Saturn just put a different body style on it

day we bought it ...

cargo space ...

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by Bassgrinder77

If so I hope Penske makes Saturn into Saturn again.
Saturn was a totally cocked-up GM b.s. story. Back in the '80's it was announced that GM was starting a brand new car that was to be totally divorced from the usual practice of selling the same car with cosmetic differences under five brands. When the Saturn finally came out I though it was cool - especially the all-plastic body.
I finally bought a new L300 in '02 and liked it. Unfortunately, my wife got hit in '07 and it was totalled. We looked at Saturns again and learned they were sharing parts with all the other GM and no longer had the plastic bodies. Screw that. We bought a Ford Fusion.

Saturn always shared parts with the rest of GM - the S-series models used a development of the same ancient chassis as the Cavailer (same engines too) with additional spaceframe components, the L-series was based on the same platform (and used much of the same bodywork) as the European Opel Vectra (called the Epsilon platform, later used in the Malibu, Saab 900 series, etc), the Ion was based on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Cobalt, Astra, G4, G5, HHR, etc) and even the Vue used an extended version of the Epsilon platform called the Theta platform.

[hover]

Any info on the latest gen Saturn Vue? It looks like a dead ringer for the latest gen Honda CRV.



At least I think so. Ok, maybe not now that I look long and hard at it...but in passing, pretty similar...is it an Impala platform, like the Equinox??? Or an Opel? I dunno. But it's a sharp lookin vehicle, compared to the Honda.

And as for Saturn, the initial idea was very "green" before going "green" was hip, so again, a good fit alongside the smart car.

[two fingers]

Cool. Hope that works out.


BTW, do yo guys really care what "platform" a car shares with another? Sometimes I think you guys "think" too much. (directed at the guys who stated that platform sharing was a bad thing) All I can say is be carefull what you wish for. If every car had it's own platform, and didn't share other parts with other cars, they would be much more expensive. Also, be carefull in wishing for smaller Euro designs to hit the U.S. market. History has shown that most U.S. car buyers don't want them. Being that I have no intention of ever driving anything that small, I have no opinion on them one way or the other.

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by hover

Any info on the latest gen Saturn Vue? It looks like a dead ringer for the latest gen Honda CRV.



At least I think so. Ok, maybe not now that I look long and hard at it...but in passing, pretty similar.

And as for Saturn, the initial idea was very "green" before going "green" was hip, so again, a good fit alongside the smart car.

Saturn Vue = Opel Antara, made by Daewoo in South Korea. Not related to the CR-V at all, apart from looking broadly similar, in that way that crossover SUVs do.

[hover]

Thanks for the info man!!!! Good to know. Was that always the case with the Vue, through each generation? Curious...I didn't think GM owned Daewoo for that long, if that's the case...