Penske Buying Saturn

[bking]

GM to Sell Saturn Brand to Penske Dealership Chain- Yahoo! Autos Article Page

[Padawan]

This was covered in another thread, but I for one am glad that Saturn won't simply be disappearing. Of the GM brands, this is one that I've always been fond of. The original business model and mission were very good, and hopefully Penske will be able to revive a bit of that which was lost over the years.

[bking]

Originally Posted by Padawan

This was covered in another thread

It seems I'm always a dollar short and a day late.

[Padawan]

Originally Posted by bking

It seems I'm always a dollar short and a day late.

No worries. I just made a post about some poor chap's car that caught fire, and I had no idea it had happened.

I think this, the Tata Nano, the Scion iQ, and the Fiat 500 stories are all going to be important for us to follow as time goes on. Nothing wrong with some additional discussion.

[mikie]

...so maybe in the future smarts can be serviced at a saturn dealer?

Just a thought....

Also, what do you get when you cross a smart with a saturn?

...

A bright star!

[RVGRINGO]

That's good news. We towed a '94 Saturn wheels down behind an RV for many years and liked the car. We also liked their marketing model, service, etc.
A Saturn/Smart dealership might just be around the corner. Hopefully, less expensive service than the Mercedes dealerships. Certainly a lot less snobbishness than some of them.

[jwight]

I'm not holding my breath for a Saturn/smart dealership - unless they go into the current smart centers. Penske required a hefty investment up front from the smart center owners and I don't think they'll be interested in giving up their locations.

[Smart Enuf]

Initial word is that smart and Saturn dealers will not be combined:

GM and Penske have a memorandum of understanding signed, and the deal is considered tentative at this point. Penske declined to disclose the price tag of the Saturn deal. He said the sale is expected to preserve around 13,000 jobs. Penske already has an exclusive deal with Daimler AG (DAI) allowing him to distribute Smart mini cars in the U.S. He essentially serves as the U.S. sales and marketing arm of Smart, and works to provide a network of dealers with Smart cars. Penske said Friday he has no plans to join Saturn with Smart dealerships.

(emphasis added)

from Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090605-706741.html)

[Brabus]

Originally Posted by bking

GM to Sell Saturn Brand to Penske Dealership Chain- Yahoo! Autos Article Page

IMO, GM should have kept Saturn and sell Pontiac & Buick.

[Redwarf]

I guess GM just doesn't want to survive! but the CEO's will take the fed money of yours and mine.