Penske Lining Up Renaults for Saturn?

There was talk of Saturn being saddled with the Korean built, Renault-Samsung badged, one generation removed Nissan products awhile back. But that didn't make much sense, Nissan has already discarded/improved those products for this market and selling a brand new last generation Nissan under a Saturn badge didn't sound like a Penske move.

Now MotorAuthority has put up an article saying Penske is negotiating to bring in Renaults. Yup, French Renaults.

Here's a link to their product line available (in English): http://www.renault.com/en/vehicules/Pages/index.aspx

It's been awhile since new French cars have been sold in the US. If I remember correctly the last French automobile manufacturer with a presence in the US Puegeot and the left toward the end of the 1980s (if I'm not mistaken).

Interesting.

Penske Purchases Saturn

Saturn's future is secure. Roger Penske has purchased the brand.

In statements made to the press, Mr. Penske has outlined the product plan for Saturn. In the interim they will continue to utilize products manufactured by GM. Down the road they are open to branding and supporting products from other sources.

Penske has associations with Renault Samsung Motors, which makes a couple of cars that are inherently prior generation Nissan vehicles. That is one possibility. But I don't think that likely personally.

There's the possibility that the products will be sourced from Opel (if they get the sale of that group to Magna sorted out). Opel builds decent product and it would help them to have a market in the US. (Ask Fiat if it's good to be in the US market. ; -)

However, I'll go out on a limb and say that Saturn may go after a Chinese manufacturer (and there's still a lot of work to be done to make that a viable proposition).

The one thing for sure that will happen with Penske ownership of Saturn is that Saturn will be a good company offering good product and service. Nothing is done shabbily, it's the Penske way.

The Incredible Shrinking GM

GM held a press conference yesterday morning where Fritz Henderson discussed portions of the latest restructuring plan. As expected Pontiac will be dropped as a brand and the demise of Saturn will be accelerated.

That leaves four brands in the US; Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. Chevrolet is a full line brand while the Buick, Cadillac, GMC brands together represent a full line of vehicles.

GM also announced that they intend to shrink the number of dealerships from over 6,000 now to around 3,600 in a couple of years. That is a costly proposition.

Discussion of exactly who will own GM ensued. Turns out about 50% will be owned by the government, and 39% by the union (technically the union's VEBA - Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association). The bondholders are not happy - holders of $1,000 bonds are being asked to accept 225 shares of GM stock for their $1,000 loan. That's not much left at ~ $2.00 per share. Plus they'll not have much of an equity stake (around 10% of the total equity), which means little say in the direction of the company. And yet there is currently $27 Billion worth of outstanding bonds.

Also discussed were the future of Opel and Vauxhall (the venerated English brand that shares Opel platforms). Chevrolet is not a good replacement for Vauxhall or Opel since those brands occupy a higher rung on the status ladder than Chevy.

The Holden company was also talked about. Holden is GM's Australian arm that produces the Pontiac G8 and the last iteration of the GTO. The G8 has received great press and the GTO was one of the best cars GM produced. It had a great chassis, a Corvette motor, and the best interior to date for a GM car. A 2006 GTO can be had at a great price and if you want a rumbly V8 there are very few cars as good as the Holden developed Pontiac GTO.

Kansas City Metro Saturn Dealerships Close

The three metro area Saturn dealerships in Kansas City have closed, eventually to reopen as used car dealerships.

Here's a link to the story found in the Kansas City Star.

Look for more of these types of announcements as hard choices are made by retailers in the near future.