After General Motors made it clear in its viability report submitted to the U.S. Treasury that the future of Saturn was uncertain at best, it appears as though Saturn’s network of dealers has its own plan.
Dan Januska, owner of Saturn of Scottsdale, told the Wall Street Journal that the dealers have been in talks to work with a foreign automaker from either China or India. The deal would see Saturn dealers keep their dealerships and retain the Saturn brand, and sell vehicles badged as Saturns, but made by another manufacturer, possibly Chery, Tata, Geely or Build Your Dreams (BYD).
“There are not a whole lot of alternatives,” said Januska to the Journal, “Someone is going to see the value of us and I don’t know who it will be.”
GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner commented on the possibility of the sale of the Saturn name (something General Motors would certainly like to see happen), stating that, “It’s a good distribution network. If someone comes up with an offer, we’re very open to that.”
As we already reported, General Motors stated in its viability plan that it will continue to produce and deliver vehicles to Saturn dealers until 2012, after which GM has no plans for the brand.
[Source: LeftLaneNews via the Wall Street Journal]
![Meredes CLS Shooting Brake: Lookin’ Fine in Winter Time [Spy Photos]](http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/wp-content/uploads//2012/02/Mercedes-CLS-Shooting-Brake-thumb.jpg "Meredes CLS Shooting Brake: Lookin’ Fine in Winter Time [Spy Photos]")
Chinese brands have egos too; if they buy the Saturn Distribution Network, they will most certainly want change the name to their brand. Why would the new brands want to be associated with a brand that tanked?
Perhaps the US can streamline the efforts for BYD. Its cars still have to pass the stringent safety and emission standards of the U.S. market. This will help the Saturn dealers continue to stay around.
My guess is that BYD is the favored choice of the Chinese Brands to get here first and to use the Saturn Distribution Network. Warren Buffett seems to like them enough to invest heavy in them.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:32 pm