GM - Saturn - Penske deal is DEAD!

[hyperv6]

Great points Cmicasa !

I too like the HX concept but if GMC were to pick it up at this point they would have to lose the Hummer front clip. For some reason even with the H2

and H3 being based on the Tahoe and Trailblazer people still think they are the same beast as the H1. I would still like to see the H4 concpet move forward as a GMC to go against Jeep. Using the Alpha and a Ecotec they could make a GMC that is more Jeep than Jeep is today.

As for dealers I spoke to some friends that work for Saturn today. They expect their dealers to be absorbed by their parent company that owns many dealers. They may become a Kia or the like dealer for the same owner. Also parts and repairs will be handed over to the other GM dealers and should not be an issue to get parts or service.

Sad to say not all dealers are owned by a larger chain so some will not have anything to fall back on or anywhere to go.

[Camino LS6]

I would still like to see the H4 concpet move forward as a GMC to go against Jeep. Using the Alpha and a Ecotec they could make a GMC that is more Jeep than Jeep is today.

Yup, I think the current Wrangler is vulnerable to competition and something like the HX could eat its lunch.

[hyperv6]

Yup, I think the current Wrangler is vulnerable to competition and something like the HX could eat its lunch.

It is crazy how the Wrangler 4 door is selling. Most of the traditional Off Road Jeep jeep people [The ones who really get dirty] hate them. They think they are too big for trails. They also like the small ones but not as much in some ways as the older Jeep. They buy the new Wranglers but feel they are just too car like.

[buyacargetacheck]

The analyst who stated that Renault/Nissan pulling out of the Penske deal is basically a lack of confidence in the US market for the next 2 years is correct. The Chinese are crazy to want to invest in Hummer and Saab. Those brands would be better off dead. There's just no more money to be made. The new GM isn't out of the woods either.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Cmicasa the Great ->>"As I said before... my real wish is that the Hummer deal falls thru as well, leading GM to merge it with GMC. It was a very profitable brand and doesn't actually need it's name to do what it was doing. The Hummer name could be made into a Trim level in line with the Denali one. Denali being the upper-level near lux version of GMC and the Hummer line being the off-road part of the Division."<<

Makes excellent sense, would love to see it !

Yup, I think the current Wrangler is vulnerable to competition and something like the HX could eat its lunch.

Last night I participated in a live wechat with Susan Docherty in regards to the new 2010 GMC Terrain. I posed that question to her - GM abandoning the four-wheel drive market with the loss of Hummer and GMC moving to more on-road based crossovers - if there were any plans/ideas to keep Hummer alive as a line added to GMC (like the Denali models). Her response? Hummer is a done deal and it's not coming back to the new GM four core brands in any way. I did post that the Hx (H4) concept is too great to lose, and that GM really needs this as a Jeep Wrangler competitor (she posted no reply to that statement). Hopefully GM/GMC will wise up and retain the Hx (H4) for it's own use. I'm still interested in that for my personal vehicle

[The O.C.]

I'll just miss the dent resistant plastic body panels, but those were gone a while ago anyway! To me, Saturn died when Spring Hill built, polymer clad vehicles stopped showing up at the dealers!

I agree. GM basically took everything unique about the brand and squandered it......the plastic body panels, the Spring Hill facility, rolling the corporation into the GM structure, you name it.....

[The O.C.]

I expect the same, but mostly because GM already ran off most Saturn enthusiasts from the brand.If this was 5-10 years go, there would be plenty of fans throwing a fit. As-is, half the Saturn enthusiasts I know are saying "good riddance" because they don't like what the brand has become, and are tired of watching GM trample what it was and could have been. Though I bet there are plenty of people with similar sentiment for Pontiac's death.

Just think.....today (hypothetically speaking if Saturn weren't dying) could you see Saturn pull off such a "Homecoming" like they did so many years ago.....and would they have so many enthusiastic Saturn owners even showing up?

Like Peter says....."www.notgonnahappen.com"

[Blake Noble]

Give Hummer back to AMGeneral (if they're still around) ...

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

I am out of the loop because I have been away at a conference. I have not had access for days and I read about Saturn through the Wall Street Journal they left at my hotel room door. My heart goes out to the Saturn retailers, sales people and staff. The owners are hurting too. There will not be the out cry like it was with Oldsmobile and Pontiac.

I said in a thread recently that GM was going to kill another brand. They have. We lost Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn and maybe Opel too depending on how that plays out. That has not been finalized. I read all the posts here and it is sad how like I said GM is not seen favorably right now. This situation is bigger than we think.

I would not want to be a GM executive right now.

You all had some very good posts here. The old GM is still haunting new GM. This means more lost sales and customers too.

Edited October 3, 2009 by NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

[PurdueGuy]

Just think.....today (hypothetically speaking if Saturn weren't dying) could you see Saturn pull off such a "Homecoming" like they did so many years ago.....and would they have so many enthusiastic Saturn owners even showing up?

Like Peter says....."www.notgonnahappen.com"

That's pretty much what I said - there aren't many Saturn enthusiasts, because GM ruined the brand already.

Give Hummer back to AMGeneral (if they're still around) ...

There's nothing to give back - AMGeneral still builds the original "hummer" for the military. All GM ever had in regards to that was the rights to distribution of the domestic/consumer version of the vehicle - they didn't take over ownership of the vehicle or anything like that. Hummer as a brand was a brand new entity that simply picked up on a nickname for the H1, then added reskinned GM products as the H2 and H3. AMGeneral kept building the military versions and will continue to do so - there's nothing to "give back".