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Penske terminates Saturn acquisition discussions

The Penske Autmotive Group has terminated discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn. You can read the press release regarding the news here.

Saturn Team

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Comment by Jeoyuh Lin on October 1, 2009 at 10:12am: What a shame! Well I am glad to own one, and had a great experience with service. Don't think I will get the same service elsewhere.

Comment by Tim Phares on October 1, 2009 at 10:11am: As an Aura owner who loves teh car, I am saddened by this news. Is there any chance someone will come along and rescue teh brand? Will GM even entertain it?

I was just at my dealer yesterday. The storage compartment ws open and teh dimmerswitch had been turned down. I was talking to the guy who originally sold me my Aura. He told me they expected the Penske deal to close this week. He also told me Penske was talking to Renault about a manufacturing deal. Would it be worth Renault's time to just buy the brnad outright? (BTW, when I was a kid, my family had a Renault Dauphin. Nice car.)

He showed me a Buick LaCrosse sitting on the neighboring lot and told me that had been the design for the 2010 Aura, but when the deal to seel Saturn out of the GM family was made htey decided to make it the LaCrosse design instad.

Now this news comes. I am shocked by it and very sad that Saturn is apparently on its last legs (wheels?) I am hopeful and confident that somehow we will find a way to save the brand, but I have no idea how that can happen. Any ideas from Saturn HQ or anyone else?

Comment by Mickey on October 1, 2009 at 9:07am: How about an owner buy-out of the Saturn brand? How much would each Saturn owner have to pay to purchase the company and secure the same type of deal that Penske had?

Comment by Gidge on October 1, 2009 at 9:00am: I was just disconcerted when I heard this news.

I've owned 4 Saturns since 1993. The first two we bought were later given to our sons when they got their licenses and they drove them for years.
The last one was mine, a '96 SL2 bought in 1995 was just traded a few months ago for an '09 VUE. None of our Saturns, not even the '96 SL2 that I just traded, ever had a major repair--just normal maintenance such as tires, oil changes, a battery here and there. That, along with thousands of loyal customers everywhere, says something.

I was hoping, too, that Penske would bring back the road rallies. :(

For sure, this kaput deal and end of Saturn is soooo sad.

Comment by Mike on October 1, 2009 at 8:29am: This a sad news for the loyal Saturn owners and for the great people who work at the brand and at the retailers. The vehicle are fantastic, the brand is loved, but it just was not meant to be.

Comment by Mary Gannon on October 1, 2009 at 6:57am: This is VERY SAD NEWS that I didn't want to hear. However, I'm hoping for someone to wake up and rescue this really important car. The original Mission Statement was not followed because of pressure from GM so the geniuses at GM can take credit for the present situation and come up with a solution. My 13 year old Saturn gets 40 mpg; currrent models should be even better than that given that time period they've had to make improvements in efficiency and they would be better competing with the Japanese cars!!!

Comment by EMPulse on October 1, 2009 at 4:39am: Remember Saturn. Forget GM.

^ Going on a bumper sticker for my car soon.

Comment by Nick on September 30, 2009 at 11:12pm: Well, what a shame. I still love my Saturn as well.

Saturns and the S-series were just marvelous, fun, small cars...and I have seen 40+ mpg on all sorts of fun trips. I hopefully won't have to trade-in for a long time. Hmm...Scion and Carmax have no-haggle pricing...but they're not family like Saturn.

1993 Teal SL1
1999 Medium Red SL2
2001 Charcoal SL2

Comment by Heather on September 30, 2009 at 11:11pm: I love my Saturn and was hoping for the company to make some new models in the future to check out when the time came that my ion wasn't cutting it anymore. However this saddens me greatly. I have only owned two saturns in my life out of the three cars I owned ,but I loved them both and cried when I lost my SL1. sad to see it go, but i will still keep enjoying my ion.

Comment by Ted Thomas on September 30, 2009 at 11:10pm: The Astra did not sell HERE.
In the rest of the world, its a huge success.
Its a great car, we who own them know it, and the rest of the world knows it.
Besides, its kind of nice not passing myself every day on the way to work.
I used to have an Opel GT, loved that car too.
Rare over here too, though a far better car than a Datsun 240Z.
GM doesn't know how to market European cars over here.