Penske drops bid for Saturn, GM to end brand. 13,000 jobs to be lost.

[Soul Crusher]

Penske drops bid for Saturn, GM to end brand
Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:06pm EDT  Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text

DETROIT (Reuters) -

Penske Automotive Group said on Wednesday it has terminated discussions with General Motors Co to acquire the automaker's Saturn brand.

GM said in a separate statement it would wind down the Saturn brand and its dealership network.

Penske, which reached a preliminary deal to buy Saturn in June, said it broke off the talks due to concerns that it might be unable to source vehicles beyond the supply period it had negotiated with GM.

GM, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, had said it aimed to finalize the agreement with Penske in the third quarter -- a deal it had said could preserve more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs.

Penske said it had negotiated an agreement to source vehicles from another manufacturer, but the deal was rejected by the other automaker's board of directors.

"Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction," Penske said in a statement.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
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Whoa.  There is a saturn dealer near me that must be impacted by this. 

[kcballer]

That's a shame.  Not that i was a fan of Saturn in any way but 13,000 jobs lost is never a good thing.

[Skip8282]

Well, let's see.  If we would have taken just $500 million of the billions spent on cash for clunkers, that would be about $38,000 for each worker that could have been used to train them for other jobs, maybe creating other jobs, supporting entrepreneurship, education...

Great job pissing the money away Barry...

[Skip8282]

Good call on the success of cash for clunkers, TA. 

Was the Cash for Clunkers program a success? Yes

[/quote]

...This program has generated way more revenue than the money set aside for it.  It has also allowed the re-hiring of workers and has increased production of the Big 3 greatly as well as increased their profits finally as a result. This is truly a fiscal success as it is operating completely in the green. (forgive the pun).

This is fiscally sound and responsible.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to deny the results and facts and you know it my friend.

[Hedgehog]

George Costanza wasn't Penske material. guess Saturn wasn't either.