Total surprise.
That summarizes the mood by General Motors, pundits, and the press over the collapse of GM’s Saturn brand. It appeared for several months that famed racer and auto businessman Roger Penske would acquire the division, an almost forgone conclusion. All that was waited for was the official announcement.
But now it turns out that the deal has collapsed.
Saturn was created in 1990 and promoted itself as a “different kind of car company.” Famous for its “no hassle” sales policy, people who purchased Saturns appeared happy with their decision. Many actually formed local clubs. But the recession among other problems proved to be too much. Through August of this year, sales are down 59.2 percent.
Penske had planned to buy Saturn to get control of its dealerships around the country. The idea was to use the dealerships to sell GM-made Saturns for about two to three years, then sell cars imported into the U.S. from another manufacturer. Renault-Nissan looked to be the said supplier, but its board of directors turned the deal down.
