Saturn Lives! At least for a little while.

[jake75]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bankrupt automaker General Motors Corp. and Penske Automotive Group Inc. said Friday they entered an agreement where Penske will acquire GM's Saturn brand. If the deal goes through, more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 Saturn jobs will be saved, GM said. Under the agreement, Penske will get the rights to the Saturn brand and GM will continue production of Saturn's Aura, Vue and Outlook models on a contract basis. Other details of the transaction are not being released at this time, the companies said.===============================I wonder how much GM had to pay Penske to take Saturn off their hands.

[jimincalif]

Would be interesting to know more of the deal. In any case, it is good news that there are still private individuals, rather than just the US government, who want to run a US car company. Hope they succeed.

[KNINE]

I wish Penske could have purchased Pontiac. I definately would have remained a Pontiac purchaser had it become it's own brand, not government issue.

[ColonelPanic]

That's going to be an interesting partnership...http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-1....htmlCould your next Saturn be Korean built by Renault-Samsung with Nissan underpinnings?

[KNINE]

I don't even know what to think about cars anymore. Parts from this country and that. Companies being split up. Companies being bought by other companies (and governments). You need a score card just to know who ownes them, who builds them, and what parts go into them. It's like somebody dumped a bunch of car companies into a big bucket, shook it up, dumped it out, just to see what would stick together.

[lmhansen]

I just don't understand why anyone would go through all this trouble to save Saturn ... really, of all the GM brands, Saturn?

[kostby]

So, just how much IS a nationally recognized brand name worth these days?After a short time, the only thing 'Saturn' about them will be the name on the door. Following ColonelPanic's link to the cnet.com article...In the short term, they'll buy cars built under contract by GM. In the longer term (provided they last that long) they'll be selling South Korean-built Samsung vehicles based upon Nissan/Renault underpinnings.This sounds like some secret deal where the Penske Automotive Group gets paid billions under the table to shutter the doors of aging 'legacy GM' dealerships it owns and take over relatively modern Saturn dealerships in their place.Interesting, Penske Automotive Group has 310 dealerships, primarily in the UK and US, and sells 41 brands, NOT INCLUDING SATURN!Link --> http://investors.penskeautomotive.com/

[Ankomst]

This whole situation is incredibly depressing. They sold something like twice the number of Pontiacs in 2008 as opposed to Buicks, and we know Saturn has to have done worse than Buick in terms of sales. It has to have. Why in the name of whatever God you believe in would they save Saturn?Pontiacs have the reliability, the design, and especially the HISTORY. Saturns are notoriously dubbed "Sa-turds" in my family, and aren't exactly known for being attractive or reliable... But they were always cheap.They should have kept Pontiac. If they were worried about losing very young (as many Saturn drivers seem to be) or very old drivers (seemingly correct with BOTH Saturn and Buick; at least in my area), they should just go into making the Bonneville and (dare I say it) the Sunfire once again.

[star_deceiver]

At least with the Sunfire they'ed have a reliable car that runs forever!!!

[Ankomst]

One of my friends owned a Sunfire, and she hated the thing. I've never owned one, but all she had was problems.Then again, she ran the poor thing into the ground. Take care of anything improperly, and you're gonna have problems. Like the Cavalier, for instance... Half of them I've heard about have been utter crap, and the other half have been gifts from God. It depends on how it's treated and maintained.Can't say it for Saturn, though. Apologies for getting off-topic, but I do feel bad for the poor fool that purchases Saturn. Unless the fellow plans on making some HUGE improvements in design, reliability, fuel economy, and God knows what else... Then he's really going to be S.O.L. if he invests all of the money he very well will have to, only to hemorrhage said money.If he wants to hemorrhage it, I'll take it! Hand-outs for all! <3

[kmvibe]

Obviously, you're not too familiar with the new Saturn lineup. Are you saying the Skyy, Aura, Vue, and Outlook are unreliable, badly designed, gas guzzling vehicles? I think the Saturn brand (with the right leadership) will be able to survive.