I think it would be a smart idea to purchase saturn, In my opinion it was one of their brands that was just starting to show some promise, unlike pontiac unfortunately.

I would be curious where they would get future models. Saturn was a vehicle for Opel cars in the U.S. Without Opel, Saturn’s line would be as dried-up as Pontiac’s.

Does that mean he’ll be racing Saturn Aura’s now?

Saturn was Opel cars? Can you name more than one?

Astra is the only vehicle that was designed/built in Europe and imported as a Saturn.

Sky is a Saturn that was sold as a very low volume Opel but designed/built here.

Well the Aura is a mildly rewqrked Vctra and the Vue is an Antara, as was the L300, my own personal car, a former model based on the earlier Vectra, So I think HoosierHero is correct in his assumption

I dunno, to have more showrooms not to sell Smart? He has great leasing empire and other very lucrative business entities, why go into high risk not very high return venture when similar (Smart) on smaller scale is bombing?

Just because the other Saturns weren’t actually built in Europe, doesn’t make them a “vehicle for Opel cars in the US”. Nor does it change the fact that, “without Opel Saturn’s lineup would be as dried up as Pontiac’s.”

The entire Saturn lineup (save the Outlook) is shared with Opel, no matter where they’re built. It was GMs plan for the past several years to have Vauxhall, Opel, and Saturn all selling virtually identical cars that may or may not be produced in different locations as capacity warranted. They would have virtually identical lineups.

The Aura is probably the least Opel of the bunch — while looking very Opel, it doesn’t even share the same platform with its Opel cousin. Even so, even GM refers to the Aura as being “heavily” based on the Vectra, the first car of the planned synchronizing of the brands, it didn’t have the idea carried quite so far as a straight copy. But that was set to be rectified within the next year or so when the new version would be a virtual carbon-copy of the Opel.

The VUE is a straight-up rebadged Opel Antara, built in neither Europe or the US.

The Astra is rebadged as a Saturn and they didn’t even bother to change the name.

The Sky was the US’ contribution to the synchronizing of the 3 brands. It gave Opel a replacement for its vaunted Speedster.

And then there’s the bastard child — the Outlook. Definitely not from Europe, it’s one of MANY GM sister SUVs.

So the only Saturn vehicles that weren’t (or soon to be in the case of the Aura) rebadged Opels, were the Sky and the Outlook. And the Sky was still shared with Opel. Leaving the Outlook the ONLY Saturn product nor shared with Opel, and its shared with every other GM nameplate.

Anyone who knows Roger Penske or works for him knows that sucess is the only path he knows. If he does win the bid, he gets a bunch of NEW modern sales outlets, a great group of dealers centered on customer satisfaction, and a brand that once sold the EV-1 Electric car exclusively. I hope he buys Saturn and broadens the lineup. It will be a great thing for all involved.

Why buy the Saturn brand at all? Someone please tell me what the advantage is in having a name with 20 years of underachievement behind it other than it means not having to change the signage. If someone wants the network that’s one thing but if it was me I’d pay extra not to have to be associated with Saturn name.

The comment I was referring to was that Saturn was an outlet for Opel. Only the Astra meets that criteria.

I guess you can look at it anyway you want. My line is that only one model (Astra) actually came from Europe. The others all came from somewhere else and I guess we could say that Opel is an outlet for a bunch of cars engineered/built elsewhere. Most all companies today are worldwide and use the entire world for their engineering/buiilds.

20 years of underachievement?

Not 10 years ago Saturn was considered to have the best positive brand recognition in the entire country. It’s owners were FIERCELY loyal and its dealerships reknowned for their service. It ran through the ’90s as one of the most popular brands in the nation.

It was only starting right about 10 years ago that the General ran Saturn into the ground. And it did it hard and fast. It still has a very positive brand recognition, much moreso than most domestic nameplates, and still a loyal fanbase, and still a great group of dealers that actually still care, which few Domestics can claim thesedays (by far their biggest problem).

It was never about the cars with Saturn. It was about the dealers and the service. The cars were secondary, the sort of appliances that most people are looking for anyways. 95% of buyers aren’t looking for anything special, they just want to be treated well when they come in whether when buying or getting service. And with Saturn it was damn near a cult.

The best thing that could ever happen for Saturn is to get out from under the General. And the dealers know that, which is why they’re the ones lining up to buy it. Under its own ownership Saturn will be able to sell whatever car it wants, and offer its retail space to whomever wants it. It isn’t so much about the “brand”, it’s about the billions of dollars worth of tangible assets and selling contracts that the company also has around the country as well.

It’s a win-win — Saturn won’t have to worry about spending billions on making their own cars, and whomever sells their cars in Saturn outlets doesn’t have to worry about the many, many billions worth of Marketing, Distribution, Retail outlets, franchise contracts, servicing, none of that crap. They have a ready-made nationwide distribution network made up of relatively new dealerships already geared towards customer service and can choose to put the Saturn branding on them or not. If you’re a Chinese brand looking to break into the market or a small niche automaker just looking for a small regional retail presence, what Saturn could offer you under their own ownership is huge. Costly US safety and EPA regulations will still be a barrier but without having to worry about the massive expense of establishing retail operations, the possibilies of what Saturn could do under such an arrangement are boundless.

SigmaHyperion, you’re omitting the most glaring legacy of the Saturn name in that not once did it ever turn a profit. Your point about getting out from under the General’s wing is valid but of course if it wasn’t for the General there would not have been any Saturn to begin with. As for the dealership experience well that’s out there in intangible land and whether or not it’s enough to make you choose one brand over another is a personal call. I could care less; the vehicle is what’s important. I’m sure someone will end up buying Saturn but I’m certainly not convinced the name garners as much loyalty as you imply.

I am not sure that 20 years of Saturn were success. The brand was developed to compete with Corolla and Civic (that was the charter and original goal) and although cars weren’t bad and had a very loyal following, that following has either gone or never developed to a point of being formidable customer base. Dealerships are empty of customers and has been for a number of years. That is why company stopped development of its own cars and became Opel’s entry into US.I fail to recognize success here, call me blind. At the best it was a “little train that could” but didn’t.
Have to concur with Johnny on this one: can’t see value in desolated of customers network.

Penske is just shopping for bargains. In times like these there is more opportunity to get something for nothing then there is in good times. One thing is for sure, its a buyers market.

I guess Saturn is going to become a sports car maker, but not like Pontiac.

You can argue semantics all you want, but no one has answered the question – where will Penske source the next generation of Saturns?

When Roger Penske wants something, he get’s it. What a better way to improve a brand, then by racing. If he dose win the bid, you can bet all of his racing teams will be powered by one brand. And a whole new line of performance cars will be born. I for one hope he dose win the bid!!!…