The first good news to come out of the GM fiasco. An actual CAR GUY buying an automobile company!
Deal to Sell Saturn to Penske Reported
MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: June 5, 2009
General Motors has agreed to sell its Saturn brand to Roger Penske, a major auto dealer, and a deal is expected to be announced on Friday, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The move is the latest by G.M. to sell off assets as it reorganizes itself in bankruptcy. Saturn, which was part of G.M.’s bankruptcy filing on Monday, had drawn 16 bidders over a months-long sales process, G.M. said earlier this week.
Under the terms of the deal, Mr. Penske, a former race car driver whose Penske Automotive Group is one of the largest dealerships in the country, will initially buy Saturn vehicles from G.M. But he is expected to eventually buy cars from other carmakers like Renault, through its Samsung Motors Unit in Korea.
Mr. Penske’s company, which owns 310 franchises around the world, already serves as the sole distributor of Daimler’s Smart line of small cars.
G.M. is seeking to use bankruptcy to pare itself down to a core group of brands, like Chevrolet and Cadillac, while shutting down or selling off others. Earlier this week, it agreed to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese heavy machinery company and a stake in its Opel subsidiary to Canada’s Magna International.
G.M. announced months ago that it was seeking to divest Saturn, a 25-year-old subsidiary that initially focused on fuel-efficient cars to rival those of foreign carmakers. Saturn cost G.M. about $5 billion in the late 1980s, including factory and development costs for its small cars.
But the unit’s sales peaked at 286,000, and both G.M. and the United Auto Workers union soured on its management style. The U.A.W. proposed a spinoff of Saturn in the late 1990s, but G.M.’s board refused to consider the move.
To help sell the brand, G.M. turned to Steve Girsky, an auto analyst and adviser to the U.A.W.
Deal to Sell Saturn to Penske Reported
MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: June 5, 2009
General Motors has agreed to sell its Saturn brand to Roger Penske, a major auto dealer, and a deal is expected to be announced on Friday, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The move is the latest by G.M. to sell off assets as it reorganizes itself in bankruptcy. Saturn, which was part of G.M.’s bankruptcy filing on Monday, had drawn 16 bidders over a months-long sales process, G.M. said earlier this week.
Under the terms of the deal, Mr. Penske, a former race car driver whose Penske Automotive Group is one of the largest dealerships in the country, will initially buy Saturn vehicles from G.M. But he is expected to eventually buy cars from other carmakers like Renault, through its Samsung Motors Unit in Korea.
Mr. Penske’s company, which owns 310 franchises around the world, already serves as the sole distributor of Daimler’s Smart line of small cars.
G.M. is seeking to use bankruptcy to pare itself down to a core group of brands, like Chevrolet and Cadillac, while shutting down or selling off others. Earlier this week, it agreed to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese heavy machinery company and a stake in its Opel subsidiary to Canada’s Magna International.
G.M. announced months ago that it was seeking to divest Saturn, a 25-year-old subsidiary that initially focused on fuel-efficient cars to rival those of foreign carmakers. Saturn cost G.M. about $5 billion in the late 1980s, including factory and development costs for its small cars.
But the unit’s sales peaked at 286,000, and both G.M. and the United Auto Workers union soured on its management style. The U.A.W. proposed a spinoff of Saturn in the late 1990s, but G.M.’s board refused to consider the move.
To help sell the brand, G.M. turned to Steve Girsky, an auto analyst and adviser to the U.A.W.
