Penske deal fails, Saturn to be shut down

PittSpeed Automotive
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GM to shut down Saturn after Penske terminates talks with GM on uncertain future assembly

DETROIT (AP) – General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

“This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality,” Henderson said in a written statement. “PAG’s announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers.”

In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based auto retailer says an agreement with another manufacturer to continue producing Saturn vehicles after GM stopped making them fell through, leading Penske to terminate talks with GM.

Penske said it negotiated terms and conditions to make Saturn cars with another manufacturer, but that company’s board of directors rejected the agreement. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon would not identify the other manufacturer.

“Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction,” the company said in a statement.

In June, GM and Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships, although GM would produce the vehicles for a limited period of time.

GM said Saturn vehicle owners can still go to their Saturn dealer for service and would be able to go to a certified GM dealer for service once Saturn dealerships are closed.

It was expected that GM would announce the completion of Saturn’s sale to Penske in the coming days.

Share of Penske fell $1.93 to $17.25 in after hours trading. They rose $1.32, or 7.4 percent to $19.18 in regular trading Wednesday.

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I wish they would bring back Oldsmobile again just to they could terminate it again and I could get to watch Cutty bitch about it. That was hilarious.

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OLDSMOBILE LIVES FOREVER!!!

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LEARN WHERE TO PUT THREADS DOGDICK

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Just when saturns were starting to get good. The sky redline is a cool car.

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just like every other shitty GM product. I can’t wait for the entire thing to fail. Fuck GM and Dodge.

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yeah because that would just make ford so much better… did you ever hear of compitition adding to all forms of busness? dont be so fuckin one sided there chief. accept all cars for what they are… better then what you have.

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they took bailout money from you and all of us and still went bankrupt, fuck em. You shouldn’t support a company like this.

I am looking at trucks to buy next year and it will definately be a Ford, there is no way I will even look at a GM or Dodge.

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sorry but ford took their bailout a few years ago,google it & find out,so STFU

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You can’t blame it on the companies when the tax payers are buying Toyotas. would you rather the Government just gave that money to the Japanese automakers?

I have only owned Chrysler products and will continue to until the day that I die, whether they are still around or not.

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I went back a few search pages on google but could not find it. Please post a link, it’s not that I don’t believe you, I just can’t find it.

not so much GM, but every chrysler is a hunk of shit. GM at least has some nice cars to go along with the shitty ones. The people will buy toyota’s and honda’s becasue they are much much better cars.

I would prefer the gov to not give any money to any company. If the company makes a good product, it should sell. If the company makes an inferior product, it won’t sell.

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thats a blanket statement but chrysler has been under different management a few times that i dont think that is true… i like the charger/magnum/300/challenger platform. i think its pretty decent. i would say neons are hunks of shit for the simple fact i dont like small FWD cars. Jeeps arent hunks of shit either…4.0’s are reliable as fuck… I drove a jeep for a winter when my blazer was broke and i managed not to break the jeep…pretty impressive if you knew my reputation for killing transmissions.

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actually, to be clear here, Ford took out a HUGE line of credit (on their own) before the economy started heading towards where it is now. They did not take a bailout, they were making smart(er) business decisions than say chrysler or chevy
:blanyer:

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:zzz: wrong

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how so?

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they just worded it differant!!! a lone with no real payback or intrest to me is a BAILOUT!

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you are wrong

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come on, seriously? You as a business man should know the difference between a line of credit and a bailout

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And it’s not surprising that you as a fucking retard don’t realize that the “bailout” is not much more than a line of credit.

:ugh2:

And might I remind the MORE AWNS in this thread that a company’s liquidity stance has very little to do with the quality of their product?

And might I also remind the MOHR AHWNZ that the Jap companies probably employ as many if not more people in the US than the big three US companies do. I mean jesus christ the little piece of Americana that is the Camaro is made in fucking Canada and Mexico.

It’s so cute to watch you stupid little sheep running around spouting off about this and that while not knowing jack about shit and just regurgitating talking points you saw on some cable news network.

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:beer::beer::bowdown: