SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 NEWS) - General Motors says it will shut down its Saturn division because an agreement to sell it to Penske Automotive Group Inc. fell apart.
The Bloomfield, Mich., dealership headed by Roger Penske walked away from the deal to acquire the brand after it could’t find a manufacturer to supply vehicles to it after a contract with GM runs out in 2011.
Nearly 350 dealerships nationwide and 13-thousand employees will be hit by the closure including four right here in Utah. Through the first eight months of this year, they sold 57,223 new vehicles, down 60 percent from the year-earlier period.
Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon said the company had reached a tentative deal with another automaker to make cars for Saturn, but that company's board of directors rejected the agreement. He would not identify the other automaker. Pordon said there is little if any chance that the talks could be reopened.
The Saturn announcement came on the same day GM and Chrysler met on Capitol Hill with dealers and lawmakers as talks began on the companies' plans to close around 3,000 dealerships. GM is cutting 2,400 dealerships from its 6,000-dealer network by the fall of 2010. Congress is weighing legislation that could force the automakers to reverse their closure decisions.
GM will stop making Saturns as soon as possible, but no layoffs are expected, said spokeswoman Sherrie Childers Arb.
