General Motors has decided to close its Saturn division after the Penske Automotive Group (PAG), owned by NASCAR team owner Roger Penske, decided not to move forward with plans to acquire the struggling brand.
It a press release issued late Wednesday PAG said that negotiations with another unnamed manufacturer to build the cars had fallen through despite the fact that an agreement was in place.
“That agreement was rejected by that manufacturer'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,” the statement read.
In turn General Motors announced that they would now be forced to close the division.
“As a result of PAG’s decision, we will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealership network,” said GM President & CEO Fritz Henderson in a statement. “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.”
The talks started in June this year after GM had gone into bankruptcy. The original deal had called for GM to continue making Saturn’s until 2011 when Penske would take over the division using a third party manufacturer to produce the moderately priced cars.
“Today’s disappointing news comes at a time when we’d hoped for a successful launch of the Saturn brand into a new chapter,” Henderson added. “We will be working closely with our dealers to ensure Saturn customers are cared for as we transition them to other GM dealers in the months ahead.”
Penske owns the No. 12 and No. 2 Dodge teams in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series along with a team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and runs a driver development program. He also owns several teams in the Indy Racing league.
Comments