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Renault interested in purchasing Saturn

05/06/2009, 3:30 PM

By Drew Johnson

It was revealed last week that Roger Penske is interested in buying the Saturn brand from GM, but it appears as though Mr. Penske could face some competition from Renault. According to a new report, Renault is actively pursuing acquiring the Saturn brand from GM.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Renault is one of several automakers currently showing interest in the Saturn nameplate. Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has attempted to partner with U.S. automakers in the past (GM and Chrysler) but to no avail. Purchasing Saturn could give Renault that U.S. foothold Ghosn so desperately desires.

Renault, the parent company of Nissan, could use the Saturn brand and its dealer network to distribute Renault and Samsung – the automaker’s South Korean division — vehicle in the U.S. Saturn-badged vehicles would initially be produced outside of North America, but production could move here if demand warranted. Nissan already has its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, not far from Saturn’s former Spring Hill manufacturing plant.

It remains unclear if there is a clear frontrunner for the Saturn brand, but it looks as though the 20-year old division will indeed live on.

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05/06, 3:43 PM

posted by:

save saab

Saturn importing Renault is great but what is Samsung? Isn’t that an electronics company?

05/06, 3:48 PM

posted by:

JakeK66

WHO CALLED IT? I DID!!!!

05/06, 3:50 PM

posted by:

F50

Yeah Samsung is an electronics company, anyways maybe Renault would make use of Saturn, Renault might have some good cars, but don’t they have Nissan?

05/06, 3:50 PM

posted by:

Euro Devotion

“Renault Samsung Motors is a South Korean automobile manufacturer. It was first established as Samsung Motors in 1994 and started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis. Negotiations with Renault started in December 1998 and in September 2000 Renault bought a 70% stake for $512 million.” -wiki

The cars are all Nissan rebadges.

05/06, 3:50 PM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

You da man Jake! Now take a deep breath and think about whether or not this is something you want.

05/06, 3:52 PM

posted by:

Flatred

Yeah! Bring on the Megane R26R!

05/06, 3:53 PM

posted by:

Blakkarr

It makes sense and I’m glad there is apparently hope for SATURN.

But what about PONTIAC? They got a buying even before a “for sale” sign was posted.

Heaven help me, I’m actually getting concerned about HUMMER. Ditch the H2 and focus on the H3 and aim at being a real JEEP Rival and there is hope for HUMMER. IF CHRYSLER manages to hold onto JEEP, Wrangler and all, then maybe INTERNATIONAL could see a way to picking up HUMMER instead.

That leaves only SAAB. Maybe VOLVO? The longest shot would be TOYOTA. More likely some CHINESE company.

05/06, 4:13 PM

posted by:

slider5634

“Maybe Renault would make use of Saturn, Renault might have some good cars, but don’t they have Nissan?”

Yes, they do have Nissan, and while some design influence does come from Renault in Nissan’s US product base, none of the current US Nissans are direct rebadges of European Renaults — atleast as far as I know. This would definitely create a justified reason to directly import Renaults and either just sell them, or rebadge them.

05/06, 4:36 PM

posted by:

carstuff

With all these suiters GM may get some serious money out of one of them. Who woulda thunk?

05/06, 4:37 PM

posted by:

Flatred

Renault and Nissan share most of their parts (actually almost all of them incl.engines) but the design departments while working together (you can see the influence in both brand) are still separate. But none of the Nissan US are Renault rebadged.
I think it would be good for Saturn. Renault is very similar and target the same audience (like Opel) and it makes a lot of sense.
As for Pontiac, it would be nice but GM has no desire on saving/selling it and just want to kill it. Shame!

05/06, 4:44 PM

posted by:

Borat

I wish we could negotiate with French government some other purchases as well: what about them buying back Louisiana? After all Renault is 15% owned by Republic of France. I forgot that we own 100% of GM and Chrysler.

05/06, 4:54 PM

posted by:

leftwingagenda

don’t forget the union portion, borat, we don’t own 100%…yet ;)

05/06, 4:58 PM

posted by:

JakeK66

Oh crap. I don’t really even know anymore JohnnyC. I swore before it would be Chrysler that Renault would take over, but then Fiat hit so I thought Saturn. It was only a matter of time they would do something as they swore by all accounts to want to be here in the US and not particularly in Nissan dealerships.

With all these foreign carmakers from Europe coming over with smaller cars, an all Democratic Congress and Presidency, economic conditions crappy, the fad of people freaking out about the environment and global climate shifts (albeit not global cooling – now global warming), oil problems, I had to make sure my calander said 2009 and not 1979.

05/06, 5:00 PM

posted by:

andy

a foothold he so desperately desires? isnt his/ their US foothold Nissan?

05/06, 5:52 PM

posted by:

CADDY-V

Flatred:
Gm is killing Pontiac so they can save money. If they sell it then they have no rights to it, but if they kill it they can bring Pontiac back when there money is a little better. They would never let Pontiac go it’s been in GM history for to long. Same reason you will never see GMC our any brand that has been around that long ever go, just put on hold.

05/06, 6:17 PM

posted by:

klazterp

GM hs no plans on relaunching Pontiac. The don’t sell it, because they don’t want a chinese company trading on the brandname. That would make a direct competitor for Chevrolet and/or Buick.
Pontiac will never fly again after the kill-off. There are more evocative bands around that could be re-introduced. Sad thing is, there are already too many car brands around. It wouldn’t be worth the marketing expenses.
Saturn is different: it hasn’t such a heritage that can be used and the dealer network is separate.

05/06, 6:42 PM

posted by:

SomeGreek

Exactly what i was thinking about, andy. They don’t need saturn, they won’t pay that money for it.

05/06, 6:43 PM

posted by:

SomeGreek

…that much money…

05/06, 9:18 PM

posted by:

idrinorbarsaku

i like this!

05/06, 10:07 PM

posted by:

mayer_ray_nagin

I think french ownership is a good idea as long as the put an IN-N-OUT Burger franchise in every dealership.

 
 
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