RON430

I know that GM has Saturn on the block but I treat this with mixed emotions. Daimler may have not done ChryCo any good but I believe Saturn deserved, and maybe deserves, better.

GM Says Black Oak Among ‘Multiple’ Saturn Bidders

By Jeff Green and Katie Merx

April 15 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. said a group including Black Oak Partners LLC and some dealers is one of “multiple bidders” for the automaker’s Saturn division, as GM cuts back under its survival plan.

The Black Oak group initially would sell GM vehicles through Saturn’s 440 U.S. and Canadian dealers and later might add models from other automakers, focusing on fuel efficiency, according to its statement today. Steve Janisse, a GM spokesman, wouldn’t identify any of the other potential buyers.

“There are multiple bidders and they are a diverse group,” Janisse said. Detroit-based GM plans to update Saturn dealers late this week or early next week, he said.

GM faces a June 1 deadline for a possible government- ordered bankruptcy, and is trying to shed Saturn as well as its Hummer and Saab brands. The Obama administration said last month the largest U.S. automaker’s plan to return to profit wasn’t aggressive enough and told it to cut $47 billion in unsecured claims by more than the 59 percent GM proposed in February.

Black Oak, a private equity firm that doesn’t provide financial data or have a Web site, also has investments in banking, oil and real estate, said Jeff Beaver, a spokesman. The group, which didn’t disclose any financial terms, isn’t giving any information on its funding, he said.

The investors want to buy assets including Saturn’s intellectual property and trademarks without assuming any GM debt tied to the unit, said John S. Pappanastos, another spokesman for Oklahoma City-based Black Oak. Dealers would continue to own their outlets, he said.

‘Having Problems’

A sale by GM is “better than shutting the doors completely,” said Carl Galeana, who owns two Saturn dealerships in suburban Detroit. “They were having problems with the government.”

GM rose 11 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $1.89 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have declined 41 percent this year, the most among the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The Black Oak group would form a new Saturn Distribution Corp. to sell vehicles through the brand’s network and doesn’t plan to build cars, according to its statement.

The group expects to be able to run Saturn profitably with about 250,000 annual sales, said Pappanastos. The division sold 188,004 vehicles in the U.S. last year, a 22 percent decline from 240,091 in 2007. Its sales tumbled 59 percent in this year’s first quarter.

Pappanastos is chief executive officer of Black Oak unit EFG Cos, and is on loan to the investor group. He said that its other members aren’t being disclosed and that more information may be released next week.

GM said in a Feb. 17 report to the U.S. government that the company had $1.1 billion in annual operating losses from Saturn, Hummer and Saab.

Reviewing Options

On March 5, GM said it retained Stephen Girsky to advise the Saturn division and dealers on the process of either selling the unit or spinning it off. If neither option works, Saturn would be closed by 2011.

A letter sent to dealers last month said a plan for Saturn would be completed 60 days from Feb. 18. A task force of dealers is working with Saturn officials on the plan, and GM had been asked to provide the initial funding for the review.

GM established the Saturn brand in 1985, five years before selling the first vehicle. Most of the brand’s U.S. dealers are stand-alone outlets, according to GM. Sales reached a peak in 1994 at 286,003 vehicles, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...qEc&refer=home

Of course a deal that doesn't assume any of the liabilities or debts of Saturn may not net GM very much. The devil will probably be in the details of this one.

mmarshall

Thanks, RON. That's great news, IMO. Saturn got the shaft from GM management, which ruined it. I hope that whoever buys them (if they are sold) will bring back the plastic body panels, unique Saturn powertrains, and the spin-off transmission filter.....superb features that GM and Saturn, foolishly, dumped a number of years ago. And, of course, keep the superb, customer-friendly sales/service policies.

RON430

^^ I don't know what that comment from Black Oak is about later selling vehicles from other manufacturers is about but there is a business model there that could work. There are foreign brands that would like to get access to the US market that could find this attractive not to mention a Tesla or Fisker. Saturn's dealer/service network could be very attractive. Of course, they could end up with a support nightmare but then, that's what biz is all about. Do it right and succeed.

SLegacy99

They should make something of Saturn like Ford is working on revamping Mercury.

mmarshall

Can't really compare the two situations, though. The closest comparison, in GM, to the Ford-Mercury relationship is Chevy and Pontiac (or Chevy trucks and GMC trucks), not Saturn. The Chevy-Pontiac relationship, in GM is very much like the Ford-Mercury relationship, in that they each sell more or less rebadged version of each other's vehicles. That is not necessarily the case at Saturn, which, despite the Sky roadster which is taken from the Pontiac Solstice, sells mainly rebadged German Opel-derived vehicles from world platforms.

IS-SV

"Of course a deal that doesn't assume any of the liabilities or debts of Saturn may not net GM very much. The devil will probably be in the details of this one."


I need to see the selling price for this sale, doubt it's very impressive.

RON430

As I put up in the ChryCo thread (and they probably all need to ge merged) is that the rumors today is that Black Oak has no intention of operating the dealer network with Saturn vehicles, they just want to spiff them and "flip my auto dealer network". The second rumor is that Fiat is one of the potential buyers so they could flip off ChryCo (and the UAW and CAW) and just take the dealer network. Either way, I doubt Saturn vehicles have any future.

LexFather

Saturn is viable. Just name it something that sounds Asian and Americans will buy it in droves

I8ABMR

Both companies have a hell of a job ahead of them. Both brands could fall of the face of the earth and I am not sure many will even notice. Saturns, imo, are better cars than Mercureys, but its no Honda.

GS69

Report: GM agrees to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive Group - egmCarTech

A source familiar with the negotiations has told Bloomberg that General Motors will sell its Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group. A final deal may be announced later today.

The source said that Penske will pay $100 million to $200 million for Saturn, winning over another bid by a group led by Oklahoma City-based private equity firm Black Oak Partners - so far known as Telesto Ventures.

Penske so far has two options after GM ends a contract to build Saturn models through 2011. The first is to provide the Saturn dealer network with Mitsubishi based vehicles. Secondly, Penske had recently been reported to be talking to Renault Samsung Motors. Co in South Korea, which is owned 80.1 percent by Renault.

No final say on if Penske plans on using Renault Samsung’s current models or plans to use Renault’s platforms to build new ones.

bagwell

this is good news -- always liked Saturn's products.

IS-SV

Look at that price, petty cash in the corporate world. Really shows how little it's worth unfortunately.

mmarshall

I was going to post the Penske offer, but GS69 beat me to it. Still, $100-200 million sure doesn't sound like much for a company (or, rather, division) that size. I would have guessed probably $3-5 Billion. What is not clear is where Saturn's new vehicles would come from.....or what plants they would be built in. The article mentions Mitsubishi or Renault as possibilities, but Renault is aleady tied up with Nissan and Infiniti, and Mitsubishi still sells vehicles here under its own nameplate. Personally, I hope that Penske keeps Saturn's customer-friendly sales/service policies and finds a way to bring back the Saturn plastic body panels used in the 1990s, but I wouldn't bet on it. And Penske isn't known for generous warranties.....the American-spec Smart-for-Two, which his organization imports (it is a Mercedes design, but NOT imported by M-B USA),
carries only a 2/24 warranty, even on the drivetrain.

GS69

GM & Penske Confirm Saturn Deal; 3 Models to Survive

News comes today that, after last night’s rumors, General Motors will announce the sale of its Saturn unit to Roger Penske’s Penske Automotive Group later today. Though Penske will initially sell GM-built and designed Saturns, the brand could eventually import Saturn-badged vehicles built by other automakers.

GM and Penske have signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the Saturn unit. No price tag has been confirmed.

“This is the combination of two iconic teams: Saturn and Penske,” said Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak in a statement. “GM had the vision to create Saturn and has the desire to see it succeed in the future.”

“Saturn has a passionate customer base and outstanding dealer network,” said Penske in the same statement, which was released by GM. “For nearly 20 years Saturn has focused on treating the customer right. We share that philosophy, and we want to build on those strengths.”

Fourth Detroit automaker?
The deal will see GM giving Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Penske Saturn’s dealership network, but no factories, meaning the new automaker will need to source vehicles from other manufacturers.

GM confirmed that Penske will buy Aura, Vue (pictured) and Outlook models from GM on a contract basis for at least the near future. This could mean that the Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant that builds the Chevrolet Traverse might not be idled in November after all. Production of the Traverse, a platform mate of the Outlook, was expected to move to GM’s Delta Township, Michigan, plant, where it would presumably have taken the place of the Saturn variant on the assembly line. It’s not expected that the Traverse, Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave could all be built at Delta Township.

The slow-selling Saturn Sky and Astra won’t be sold by Penske.

A Penske-owned Saturn could eventually buy cars from Renault-owned Samsung Motors of Korea, which sells Samsung-badged vehicles based on Nissan designs, several reports have indicated. It is not expected that Penske would continue selling GM-engineered Saturn vehicles for the long term.

Penske would not likely distribute Smart vehicles through Saturn outlets due to contractual obligations to Mercedes-Benz. Penske merely acts as a U.S. distributor for the small cars.

mmarshall

Thanks, GS69.

If the Sky is discontinued, and the Solstice line is not transferred to Chevy, then the Miata will have lost two of its strongest competitors....that would be a shame.


I'm glad to see the Aura kept, though......with the exception of its lousy rear-seat headoom, it is probably the best Saturn product being sold today.