General Motors will close Saturn and wind down its dealership network after a deal to sell the faltering brand to Penske Automotive Group collapsed, the automaker said Wednesday.The breakdown of a deal that had been widely expected to close this week will force some 350 Saturn dealerships to close and could cut thousands of auto retail jobs that would have been preserved under a plan by auto magnate Roger Penske.
Shares of Penske Automotive ..were down almost 10 percent Wednesday in aftermarket trade. The breakdown of the deal was announced after the New York Stock Exchange closed.
GM’s failure to complete the deal also adds uncertainty to the automaker’s production plans as it struggles to regain its footing following a $50-billion taxpayer funded restructuring.
“This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality,” GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a statement…
TOTUS to announce Auto Plan at 11:00am EST…they let Bob Nardelli keep his job can you believe that? the WOTS is that Chrysler will be filing a prepackaged bankruptcy of some sort…Nardelli was the poster child for ceo pay when he left Home Depot after mere months with mondo millions and tanked that stock before Cerberus gave him the Chrysler gig…
It’s a Hard Knock Life Baby, make that JEEP shine like the top of the Chrysler Building!!!(or Nardellis head!), I wonder if someone will cover my JEEP warranty?!
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Wow!!! This man WAS GM the past few years, he was widely viewed as the leader of the Big 3, which isn’t really fiar since Ford’s Alan Mulally is the man who pulled a miracle and kept FORD out of this Pandora’s Box that Government Help has become…
So TOTUS is announcing Rattner’s Plan manyana, and Wagoner gets dumped on Sunday night? Oh man the bond holders must be screwed…which would mean American business is screwed IMO if they screw tr
he debt holders….breaking contracts and all…I mean who is in charge of GM now? Not Rattner surely..I said dont call me shirely….lol
Possibly the greatest of the Brill Building classics. Someone put this up awhile back but it disappeared, so here it is again. Robert Goulet was just goofing around but Steve Allen put down rock and roll every chance he could. Well, he’s gone now and Mary Weiss is still singing. So there.
General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner is stepping down as head of the embattled automaker CNBC has learned Sunday.
Wagoner’s resignation comes as the company awaits president Barack Obama’s reports on efforts to save GM and Chrysler
It is unclear if Wagoner’s resignation is one of the stipulations for the federal government to lend billions more to GM. But sources close to the talks say tough conditions will be attached to any future aid.
President Obama will update the public on the Treasury Department’s next step in helping GM and Chrysler on Monday afternoon.
A senior White House official did not deny to CNBC that the Obama administration influenced Wagoner’s departure.
Asked if the administration forced him out, the senior official replied, “‘forced’ is a little strong.”
Wagoner has served as CEO since 2000. Under his leadership, GM has steadily lost market share in North America while becoming the dominant automaker in China, where it is currently number one