General Motors won’t ever admit it, but it’s hard to argue that the struggling Detroit automaker was not surprised with the level of interest it had from investors in its Saturn brand, which most analysts figured would be killed off quickly. The automaker says that the adviser it hired to evaluate and shop around Saturn will now help it go through with the sale of the unprofitable car line.
In a statement released earlier this morning, GM says it will retain the services of S.J. Girsky & Company, a firm it hired earlier this year to help evaluate what to do with Saturn. Grisky and GM “will look to secure an agreement with a specific buyer later this year,” the automaker’s statement said.
It seems that the strongest interest thus far has come from Oklahoma City-based Black Oak LLC, which says it would convert Saturn’s 400 dealers into a department store-esque concept of independent dealers selling a variety of brands. An eventual focus would be on selling electric cars, according to Black Oak.
“Retailers have always been confined to selling a [manufacturer's] products,” John S. Pappanastos, a spokesman for Black Oak, told the Dallas Morning News over the weekend. “What we’re proposing is a power shift where dealers are free to choose the products they sell.”
Though GM has said there are several parties interested in Saturn, none appears to have gained the traction Black Oak has.
“No one to our knowledge is as far along as we are,” Pappanastos said.
Black Oak’s CEO oversees two family-owned Saturn dealerships, which led him to approach GM about the brand as far back as November.
GM says that, with the help of the United States Treasury, it will have a decision made on Saturn’s fate, most likely a buyer announcement, by the end of the third quarter of this year.
05/04, 9:46 AM
posted by:
orangecones
I don’t think I am really digging the boutique-dealer business model. That is if each dealer in the future will have a sprinkling of this and that as the operations manager desires, it will be a nightmare for consumers to find a car they way. For example, everyone and their grandmother will have an Accord in stock, but what if I want a smaller volume model like an S2000 or Ridgeline, where would I go? How many would I need to call to find one? At least under today’s model I know that if I want any of those models I go to Honda dealer.
05/04, 9:49 AM
posted by:
A4
maybe they wont be @$$holes and only supply a buttload of accords…. hahah yeah right
05/04, 10:55 AM
posted by:
murphy1
lets figure out a way to make saturn live and just let pontiac die. brilliant. gm (should be renamed chevy) deserves what is coming….
05/04, 11:44 AM
posted by:
JakeK66
If Opel isn’t bought out by Fiat, whoever buys out Opel should buy Saturn as well and change the name to Opel of America. I still think it could work.
05/04, 11:51 AM
posted by:
ricky_b
If they do get sold/split, I hope they keep a strategic alliance with Opel. I don’t think they have enough engineering staff to develop everything on their own.
05/04, 12:36 PM
posted by:
Borat
Why not get an adviser on tax dime? We are paying, please advise more (and more, and more)……
05/04, 12:47 PM
posted by:
artmark
“The automaker says that the adviser it hired to evaluate and shop around Saturn will now help it go through with the sale of the unprofitable car line.”
Tell me – Which line of GM vehicles is profitable… If the company was profitable, they wouldn’t be in this situation!
05/04, 12:50 PM
posted by:
carstuff
I do not get how this would work.. What marque would sell their vehicles in these Saturn stores? None of the ones around today such as Kia or Honda or whoever would. I guess they could sell Teslas or some new Chinese make.
05/04, 12:53 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Good move. 20 years too late, but still a good move. I think this Black Oak and Cerberus should merge. Then you’d have a 3 headed dog barking up the wrong tree.
05/04, 1:35 PM
posted by:
Borat
Johnny, you do have a way with words. Thanks, I spilled coke all over keyboard.
05/04, 1:50 PM
posted by:
non_biased_enthusiast
Borat, just snort the keyboard.
05/04, 5:27 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
i like their idea, turning the dealerships on their head and not having an exclusive relationship with a single manufacturer…i’m not sure they could really pull that off, but it would be interesting to see them try…it would be a good way to stay profitable in a challenging environment, change your inventory to whatever will sell at the time, as opposed to sinking with the ship on the USS Hummer, for example…
and yes, that was just an excuse to type USS Hummer…