The Auto Writer

GM’s Saturn brand which was conceived back in 1984 as “a different kind of car company” and later pulled into GM’s vast and almost bottomless brand network, has been given an important reprieve. Roger Penske, the automotive mogul who is the exclusive sell of Smart cars in the US, has apparently won the right to purchase Saturn from GM according to industry sources.

Penske, who operates the Penske Automotive Group, one of the largest new car dealer networks in the world, will get the brand, trademarks, service, parts and distribution network for Saturn. The new Saturn will then source cars from various automakers including General Motors and probably Renault, the latter likely vehicles supplied by Renault Samsung of South Korea which markets Nissan models as their own.

Transforming Saturn Into A Big Box Retailer

Eventually, Saturn may resemble more of a “Best Buy” retailing model, selling a number of different vehicles supplied by a variety of global manufacturers. Indeed, Saturn could become an important toehold for Chinese manufacturers to sell their cars in North America in addition to whatever other vehicles Penske can secure for the brand.

GM is in the process of shedding excess operations in a bid to remake itself as a leaner, tightly focused entity. Last week, GM agreed in principle to sell its Opel/Vauxhall unit to Magna International, a Canadian auto parts company and earlier this week GM announced that they had found a buyer for Hummer – Tengzhong, a Chinese industrial equipment manufacturer. GM appears near to completing its sale of Saab, with two bidders looking at purchasing its Swedish brand. The final brand to be removed from GM’s portfolio is Pontiac which the automaker says that they will simply close down in 2010.

By this fall, GM should end up with four US brands going forward: Cadillac, GMC, Buick and Chevrolet. The company will still operate GM Daewoo and Holden along with various other partnerships in China and elsewhere around the globe.

Source: The Wall Street Journal