Penske walks away from Saturn

It promised much but Roger Penske's attempts to buy the Saturn brand and dealership network from General Motors hit a major stumbling block this week: it didn't have any cars.

Penske Automotive Group and GM released a joint statement overnight announcing that plans for the takeover had failed because PAG had been unable to secure a supply of cars beyond 2010.

GM has committed to providing the current Saturn range of vehicles to PAG until the end of 2010 at which point Penske was aiming to have a new range sourced from an alternative manufacturer. Renault was rumoured to be in discussion about providing vehicles to Saturn but those talks appear to have gone nowhere.

Faced with the prospect of having no cars beyond next year, Penske has understandably stopped the negotiations meaning Saturn will join Pontiac and Oldsmobile as defunct GM brands.

"Today we learned that Penske Automotive Group (PAG) has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn," explained GM CEO, Fritz Henderson. "This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality. PAG's announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers; rather it was because of the inability to source new products beyond what it had asked GM to build on contract.

"As a result of PAG's decision, we will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealership network, in accordance with the wind-down agreements that Saturn dealers recently signed with GM. Pursuant to the terms of those agreements, the wind down process will be determined and communicated shortly."

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