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Penske Saturn giving mixed feelings
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Penske Saturn
With all of the speculation and rumors of the Penske Saturn deal floating around it will be interesting to see what really unfolds when the deal is scheduled to close in October. If you haven't heard yet, racing legend and automotive tycoon Roger Penkse has been in negotiation with GM concerning the purchase of the Saturn brand of automobiles for the past month or so. It has been said that Penske's new Saturn will totally revolutionize the way automobiles are built and sold across the world. Whether it will be for the best or for the worst.... we'll have to wait and see.
Penske has a unique plan put in place where the production function of the automobiles will be outsourced. This means global sources would be called upon to make Saturn vehicles to specification. The main focus and benefit of this type of approach will be cost savings and quicker cycle times to produce cars. However, the downfall in this type of situation will be trying to keep a quality level that is uniform across the board. With multipe sources creating these cars such as India, China, Mexico or even the U.S. this will be a tough process to regulate. For example you may see one car from "supplier A" that runs great and has no problems while you can buy the same type of car made by "supplier B" that ends up to be total junk.
The plan is also creating mixed feelings in the fact that Saturn will now be a true global company. It won't be a foriegn car company because engineering will most likely be done in the U.S. and it won't be an American car company because they will most likely be built outside of the U.S. This type of setup would end up hurting the United Auto Workers union here in the U.S. though on the other hand it would help keep dealerships and engineering jobs in place. Penske has said that eventually he may bring production inside the U.S. but we will have to wait and see.
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