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Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
REPORT: GM Reaches Deal Selling Saturn To Penske

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DoctorNine
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
He should have bought Pontiac, and kept making G8 GXP's.
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Six Flags Over Tomsk
06/06/09

@DoctorNine: "He should have bought Pontiac, and started making G8 ST GXP's."

Fixed.
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Tanshanomi
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
"renowned brand"

HAHAHAHAHAhahahah...

No, seriously, where are the truth-in-advertising police when you need them?
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junkman
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
The way I read the press release, Penske is buying the brand, not necessarilly the (questionable) assets. As a ready made marketing and distribution network, he can hand select products from manufacturers around the world and create a very viable business.
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Novaload
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
I wish he'd bought Pontiac instead but and trimmed the line down to a two seater, a hot rod w/an El Camino option, and a Bonneville branded luxo-barge.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Wait, a car guy in charge of a car company? That doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows corporate bean counters make the best CEOs for car companies.

/sarcasm
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Maymar
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
I can just see the negotiation process now. "Here Mr. Penske, jump on this company. See how it bounces back?" On the other hand, did they let him haggle on the price?
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Six Flags Over Tomsk
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM

O Captain, my Captain!
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Novaload
06/05/09

@Tomsk Яespects the BuЯbeЯЯy BanhammeЯ:

Our fearful trip is done?

The prize we sought is won?
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Kid Twist
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
So who's buying Oakland and LaSalle?
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Six Flags Over Tomsk
06/05/09

@Kid Twist: Not sure, but I read somewhere that a Chinese contraceptive maker that's looking to enter the car biz is reportedly trying to get a two-for-one discount on Viking and Marquette.
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Graverobber
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Doesn't Penske import the Smart? Will there now be Smart Saturns? It seems like a lot of the Smart drivers I see around town really would prefer Uranus.
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Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Saturn is an iconic brand? I had no idea.
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pauljones
06/05/09

@Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event: It kind of is, actually.

What you have to understand is that while Saturn cars were, up until the past few years, epic pieces of turd-filled plastic garbage cans, their operating philosophy was quite radical and very successful. They sold the cars inexpensively, were always very upfront about every aspect of the buying process (The dealer that my Saturn came from even gave the original owner a copy of the factory-to-dealer invoice of the car), and treated their customers extremely well. Despite it being an entry-level brand, there was nothing-entry level about their customer service; you would be hard pressed to find a Lexus or Infiniti dealership that offered the same high level of customer service that Saturn does.

So, in that sense, their older cars may be crap, but the Saturn brand is indeed iconic for its unusual and well-received operating philosophy.
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dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity
06/05/09

@pauljones: I've owned two Saturns and I can confirm: the cars themselves were so-so but the no-haggle pricing and overall dealer experience kept me coming back. If only they had offered a wagon version of the Aura!
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FormerlyPreferredCustomer
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Note that Auras, Vues and Outlooks are the only products mentioned; I assume that means that Penske is thinking about sourcing smaller products from some other manufacturer. Magna makes the most sense, in terms of commonality of product for the service departments, but who knows whether Magna built products can make any more money than GM Europe built products?
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dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity
06/05/09

@FormerlyPreferredCustomer: Well Magna is supposed to be buying Opel, the designer and manufacturer (for Europe) of the Astra...
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drewdrawshashtags
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Ok, so, first things first Rog - call Magna and get the Insignia and new Astra over here pronto. Second, as so many have said, Sky V8 (what's a Corvette?). Third, bring back friendly pricing and keep up the good cotomer sevis.

Then you'll have something.
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RLJ676-LS3 Commuter Car - for the environment
06/05/09

@DrewAzÉletCsászára:

The Opel/Magan deal stipulates they can't sell them in the US or China.

There will still be opportunity to get "Opels" here and cars off the same platform.
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drewdrawshashtags
06/05/09

@RLJ676-LS3 Commuter Car - for the environment: I didn't mean start selling Opels here, I mean start rebadging Opels as Saturns and sell them here. It seems to me that this is perhaps a nifty way around that clause, since Magna/Opel would technically be a supplier, right?
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Ben Wojdyla
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
I expect Roger to sweep the floors at Saturn, gin up an image makeover, push the assumed value of the brand up and then sell it to the Germans at a huge profit, just like he did with Detroit Diesel.
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drewdrawshashtags
06/05/09

@Ben Wojdyla: I think that sounds like a win-win for the American consumer.
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How Wankelin' Got His Sig Back
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad move for Saturn and GM? GM still has to do all the production, RnD, engineering, etc, and Penske gets to sell rebadged GMC cars no one wants anyway. The Aura, Vue and Outlook? Did they even sell 100,000 combined?

This is exactly what GM doesn't need. The goal is to trim it's plants and workforce and QUIT badge engineering, not sell the badge engineered cars to a middleman.

Wankelin'
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sschristie
06/05/09

@How Wankelin' Got His Sig Back: They sold 82,000 Vues last year, almost 60,000 Auras and 25,000 Outlooks. Just calendar year, not model year.

Don't forget the Astra- sold 11,000 last year. Sales this year already are beating last year (up 24 percent April)
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How Wankelin' Got His Sig Back
06/05/09

@sschristie: "Penske would obtain the rights to the brand as well as certain other Saturn assets. GM would continue production, on a contract basis, of the Saturn Aura, Vue and Outlook."

Provided they continue with the Astra. According to the article, it's not listed and therefore isn't being continued as a Saturn. That's a damn shame, too, since the Astra is Saturn's nicest car, aside from the Sky. I want a Redline Astra, though. Hot Hatch from Opel? Yes, please!

Wankelin'
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solracer
06/05/09

@How Wankelin' Got His Sig Back:

The Astra is built by Opel which is likely to be sold to either Magna of Canada based on the reports I've seen. Thus Saturn could easily keep selling the Astra, it's just that they'd be getting it from Magna, not GM.

In the long term it would not surprise me to see mergers from some of the sold-off pieces of GM. A company combining Opel, Vauxhall and Saturn (and Holden should GM ever sell that) would seem to make a ton of sense since they already share a lot of engineering.
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
06/05/09

@solracer: I seem to recall hearing that the government wasn't going to let Opel sell anything here as a condition of the bankruptcy sale.

As much as I'd like to see Opels here (even if it is from Saturn), they might not be able to do it.
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Flathead Smith
06/05/09

In reply to Penske Officially Buying Saturn From GM
Let's see, Pontiac is going to be gone, Hummer and Saturn is going to sold, what is going to sold/gone next? What is going to be let in the end?
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Steve Neill
06/05/09

@Flathead Smith: Useless GMC, Chevy, Buick, Opel, and ummm....

Am I missing anything else???
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drewdrawshashtags
06/05/09

@Steve Neill: Saaaaabb!
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pauljones
06/05/09

@DrewAzÉletCsászára: I like Saab.
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HurtsSoGood
06/05/09

@Flathead Smith: It's a good thing, IMO. GM will no longer be "too big to fail," and most of the pieces are getting sold off, not closed. It's kind of like in 1992 when the USSR was dissolved and the outlying Soviet republics went their separate ways. We're in for some interesting times, folks.
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engineerd
06/05/09

@HurtsSoGood: I like your comparison of GM to the USSR. I may steal that and use it as my own. I'm practicing for management.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
06/05/09

@HurtsSoGood: If I remember right (and I may not, I was only 7 in '92) many of those countries descended into chaos in the years shortly thereafter.
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