GM Will Sell Saturn Brand to Penske Dealership

As part of the ongoing struggle for life in which auto giant General Motors is engaged, the outdated behemoth with sell the popular Saturn brand to former race car driver and current dealership group owner Roger Penske. Penske, who owns the "Penske Automotive Group" has already signed a "memo of understanding" that would turn over all 350 of Saturn’s dealerships to his company. Penske declined to comment on the price of his new acquisition, as did officials at GM, though Penske did note that he will offer all of his dealers new franchise agreements and will keep all 13,000 Saturn employees potentially affected by the deal, at least in the short term.

While the Penske Automotive Group distributes Daimler AG’s Smart subcompacts, Penske noted that Saturn dealers will continue to distribute only Saturn cars and SUVs. In a potential move into a new market, Penske is also looking into potentially taking over the manufacturing of Saturn vehicles, though for the next two years GM will continue to make all Saturn vehicles. Said Penske, "We will be selling as many GM cars – as many GM-produced cars – under the Saturn brand as possible."

One Saturn dealership owner, Carl F. Galeana, was happy to hear of the news of Penske acquiring the Saturn brand. Said Galeana, "Roger Penske is an icon in the business world. I’ve worked with him personally. Nobody works harder than Roger Penske." Penske’s dealership group is the second largest in the U.S. by sales and the Penske Automotive Group also owns Detroit Diesel, a manufacturer of heavy duty diesel engines, as well as race teams in the IndyCar, Grand-Am and NASCAR circuits.