GM To Shut Down Saturn After Penske Walks Away
AP
Published: September 30, 2009
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Co. says it’s shutting down the Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire the unit fell apart.
Penske, citing concerns about whether GM could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with the automaker 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.
In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-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.
In June, Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships. GM agreed to produce the vehicle for a limited period
of time.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Reader Reactions
If Penske had taken the deal with GM the taxpayers would probably gotten stuck with the deal.I think GM is still going to go bankrupt,their vehicles are thrown together as junk.I have friends that bought new Chevrolet Pickups and the engines have blown-up, they have had a fight to get the dealers to try and fix the new trucks. 2 of my friends gave up and left the pickups at the dealers and walked away losing all they had invested in the pickups and a bad blemish on their credit.I have been a Certified Automotive Technician for 43 years and have a lot of experience in the industry. Most of the dealers have parts changers, they have no idea how to repair an automobile. The problem is they don’t pay their technicians a fair wage for them to live.They charge $60.00 (estimate) an hour and the Mechanics get little more than minimum wage.Its no wonder the dealerships are in trouble.
Good riddance. I had a hybrid Saturn Vue and it was crap. It only got 25 mpg on the highway. I am only driving old cars from now on!
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