How many jobs will be saved by Roger Penske buying the Saturn brand from GM?
Penske to buy Saturn; GM will make cars for brand for 2 years By Tim Higgins, Detroit Free Press DETROIT — General Motors announced a tentative deal Friday for Roger Penske to acquire GM’s struggling Saturn brand and distribution network. Penske’s Saturn will continue to receive GM-made vehicles for two years, and is looking for another manufacturer to make vehicles that will bear the Saturn brand. “We will have a supply of vehicles for at least two years with existing brands, and we have been in discussions during this diligence period with a number of manufacturers on a worldwide basis,” Penske said Friday morning. “We would expect to have a lineup going forward, which would be manufactured by a worldwide partner.” Penske said he expects the vehicles to be manufactured in the United States if sales are sufficient. Saturn would be wholly owned by the Penske Automotive Group. Penske said he hopes retired Chrysler President Tom LaSorda, who was advising Penske on the deal, will have a r
Saturn’s white knight has brought home more than a few winners in his day, both on the race track and in the business world. Now Roger Penske has a chance for another win, one that would salvage a popular automotive brand. General Motors Corp. announced Friday it has reached a tentative agreement to sell the Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group, according to a statement released Friday by both parties. Penske’s company will take over the business of building and distributing vehicles to the 350 Saturn dealerships in the country, including dealerships in Riverside, Temecula and Ontario. Saturn stores in Loma Linda and Cathedral City shut down in March 2008, early victims of the economic slowdown. All 13,000 Saturn employees will keep their jobs, at least for now. General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week, is looking to shed several other brands, including Pontiac and Hummer. In Penske, GM found a former race car driver who not only owns a popular racing
