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Racing Legend Roger Penske buys Saturn from GM


gueman

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Former driver now Nascar and Indy Car owner Roger Penske has bought Saturn from GM. To be honest I thought Pontiac would have been the first of the GM divisions to be sold. But having a "car guy" in charge of a car company is always a good thing.

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My understanding is that Pontiac was not going to be sold, only shut down. But I could be wrong. I'm holding out hoope that eventually it may be revived.

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Pontiac is gone. And to me, it is not surprising that Saturn was sold. I have done work for GM in the past and can tell you that all the divisions were jumbled up together. Engineers worked for all divisions, depending on the project. Even the plants would spit out cars that were from many different divisions. So they were never truly separate divisions. Saturn however, has always been on their own. Their own engineering, management, plants, etc.

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Pontiac is gone. And to me, it is not surprising that Saturn was sold. I have done work for GM in the past and can tell you that all the divisions were jumbled up together. Engineers worked for all divisions, depending on the project. Even the plants would spit out cars that were from many different divisions. So they were never truly separate divisions. Saturn however, has always been on their own. Their own engineering, management, plants, etc.

Actually Saturn hasn't been a stand-alone entity for a while. They started sharing platforms with Opel in 2000 with the L-series car, and once the S-series cars were replaced by the Ion (which was the same platform as the Chevy Cobalt) there weren't any more unique Saturn models. Their unique contract with the UAW was dissolved in 2004, so I guess we can say they have been integrated for the past 5 years. All the current Saturn models are based on shared platforms - the Saturn Astra is simply a rebadged Opel Astra. The former Saturn plant in Spring Hill makes Chevy Traverse crossovers.

Penske is just buying the dealer network and the model names; with the pending sale of Opel he won't even be able to buy the current models from GM much longer (I have read that any deal would include being able to sell the current models except the Sky roadster through the 2010 model year.

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Pontiac is gone. And to me, it is not surprising that Saturn was sold. I have done work for GM in the past and can tell you that all the divisions were jumbled up together. Engineers worked for all divisions, depending on the project. Even the plants would spit out cars that were from many different divisions. So they were never truly separate divisions. Saturn however, has always been on their own. Their own engineering, management, plants, etc.

Actually Saturn hasn't been a stand-alone entity for a while. They started sharing platforms with Opel in 2000 with the L-series car, and once the S-series cars were replaced by the Ion (which was the same platform as the Chevy Cobalt) there weren't any more unique Saturn models. Their unique contract with the UAW was dissolved in 2004, so I guess we can say they have been integrated for the past 5 years. All the current Saturn models are based on shared platforms - the Saturn Astra is simply a rebadged Opel Astra. The former Saturn plant in Spring Hill makes Chevy Traverse crossovers.

Penske is just buying the dealer network and the model names; with the pending sale of Opel he won't even be able to buy the current models from GM much longer (I have read that any deal would include being able to sell the current models except the Sky roadster through the 2010 model year.

Ah, that's what I get for assuming things hadn't changed. Been away from Detroit for a while. Didn't know this had been happening.

Detroit Dragons - 2010 ULL Gait Cup Champions

Detroit Cougars - 2010 and 2011 WAFA Wills Cup Champions

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Pontiac is gone. And to me, it is not surprising that Saturn was sold. I have done work for GM in the past and can tell you that all the divisions were jumbled up together. Engineers worked for all divisions, depending on the project. Even the plants would spit out cars that were from many different divisions. So they were never truly separate divisions. Saturn however, has always been on their own. Their own engineering, management, plants, etc.

Actually Saturn hasn't been a stand-alone entity for a while. They started sharing platforms with Opel in 2000 with the L-series car, and once the S-series cars were replaced by the Ion (which was the same platform as the Chevy Cobalt) there weren't any more unique Saturn models. Their unique contract with the UAW was dissolved in 2004, so I guess we can say they have been integrated for the past 5 years. All the current Saturn models are based on shared platforms - the Saturn Astra is simply a rebadged Opel Astra. The former Saturn plant in Spring Hill makes Chevy Traverse crossovers.

Penske is just buying the dealer network and the model names; with the pending sale of Opel he won't even be able to buy the current models from GM much longer (I have read that any deal would include being able to sell the current models except the Sky roadster through the 2010 model year.

You are correct with the shared GM platforms, like the Epsilon (Malibu/Saab 9-3 as well). The last plastic body Saturns were produced in April 2007. That change, along with others, have even made the once very loyal brand following less interested in them. The move to Penske ownership won't change those ills which owners still have.

According to reports, GM will still produce cars for Penske to sell through 2011. So that leaves Penske basically 20+ months to find a company to build the cars at the least. Worse case is that they will have to deal with the UAW, parts suppliers, and even design on their own. Even if the idea is to make the car more of a global brand, time is running out. India may be their only hope for manufacturing capital. The Sky is done since the Pontiac Solstice is cut.

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I think the branding GM and the others use is antiquated. Rather than to have the Chevrolet This or the Buick That, why not simply brand all your models the GM Whatever. If you're duplicating lines (i.e., the Chevy Venture and Oldsmobile Silhouette, for example), it would save money in their production simply to go under a single, common nameplate. And while I realize that there are idiots out there who spend an extra $5K on a Cadillac rather than get a very similar car by buying a Buick, in relatively short time people would adjust to a unified naming structure - and buy the same vehicles they'd planned to anyway.

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I don't get it either, but I'm the opposite of a Car Guy. I hate driving. I'd commute solely by bike were it up to me. I don't care what the name of my car is, but I know lots of people care dearly. Couldn't tell you why, nor could I tell you the difference between a Chevrolet truck and a GMC truck.

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I don't get it either, but I'm the opposite of a Car Guy. I hate driving. I'd commute solely by bike were it up to me. I don't care what the name of my car is, but I know lots of people care dearly. Couldn't tell you why, nor could I tell you the difference between a Chevrolet truck and a GMC truck.

Personally, I see no reason why GM kept both the Chevy truck division and GMC Trucks, but they must think that after doing research about filing Chapter 11 that there is a reason to keep GMC for fleet vehicle sales. As for other brand differentiation, here are some items to realize:

All auto companies do it, and all industries do it in some form as companies think that we will move up in brands as we age and have more income (or they hope). For cars:

Toyota: Scion<Toyota<Lexus

Ford: Ford < Lincoln

GM: Pontiac<Chevrolet<Buick<Caddy

Porsche: SEAT<Skoda<VW<Audi<Porsche< Lamborghini<Bentley<Bugatti

It goes on and on. A basic progression is with clothes: OldNavy<The Gap< Banana Republic

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