Saturn will not sell the Smart brand, says Penske

As earlier reported, Roger Penske, the former racecar driver and owner of the second largest dealership in the US, has become the new owner of GM’s Saturn brand. In an interview, Penske revealed that he plans to focus on making electric vehicles as the main goal of Saturn brand under his proprietorship.

He also silenced speculations that Saturn dealers may be forced to vend cars with the Smart brand, saying that Saturn showrooms will certainly not sell this brand. The new Saturn owner said that the government’s focus on funding alternative-powered cars may thrust him to really focus on EVs under Saturn. The agreement with GM provides for the continued production of the Aura, Outlook and Vue for Saturn at least for the succeeding three years, after which Penske can negotiate with GM to continue production models. The new owner also seeks to fill the lineup of Saturn since the Astra hatch and Sky roadster will be lost to him. It is his intention to go global in search for products that can be brought to the US with an estimated 12-18 months before those cars will hit dealerships. He also denied talks about deals to import cars made by Renault and Samsung by pointing out that he has been in discussion with a number of car manufacturers.
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inspirion7 - 6/10/2009 11:47:01 AM

+1 Boost

Smart. Joke.

pageman - 6/10/2009 11:56:33 AM

+1 Boost

This is huge for the Penske Group. Electric vehicles are the future and to get into this technology early as Tesla has will pay off huge down the road.
Someone has to be the leader in electric vehicles and Saturn could be the "Grandfather" of electric vehicles. So when people think of purchasing one or exploring into one, they will think of Saturn. Only if Saturn markets it properly and focuses on this.
Tesla on-the-other-hand, ONLY makes EVs and are getting a huge following. Teslas website has reported massive amounts of a traffic increase over the past few months.
People are interested and many that were drawn to GMs EV1 will be looking at Tesla as well.
Good luck Saturn. Our planet can't sustain burning fossil fuels any longer.

montyz81 - 6/10/2009 2:30:49 PM

+1 Boost

If you read between the lines here, you can see that he seems closer to a deal with Ren/Nis. They are planning to almost bypass Hybrids and go straight to EVs. Penske is making basically the same statement. Is a deal almost done between Nissan/Reneault and Penxske??