Earlier this week General Motors officially turned off the lights and locked the doors at its Boxwood Road assembly plant for the last time, marking the end of the line for the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.

The two vehicles (along with the Opel GT) were manufactured at the plant in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being closed as a part of GM’s restructuring process.

General Motors has decided to eliminate the Pontiac brand and sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group. The announcement to close the plant came on July 1st when GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time GM gave short notice to plant workers saying the facility would be shuttered by the end of July.

GM spokesman John Raut said the final vehicle to roll off the assembly line was a silver Pontiac Solstice.

[Source: SaturnFans]

Today the sun rose on a New General Motors, a move which will also see the sun set on a lot of people’s careers. GM emerged from bankruptcy protection at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time with news of a serious corporate restructuring plan that will take effect over the next few months.

Due to leadership (and in some cases arm-twisting) by the Obama Administration, the new GM,  headed by CEO Fritz Henderson, is poised to return to its once-great status after shedding its debt and healthcare obligations by a massive $48 billion. Much of this comes as the UAW made serious concessions in accepting a new contract with the automaker. GM also hopes to significantly reduce its cash-burn after eliminating a third of it’s dealership network. Additionally, the automaker looks to profit from the sale of the Saturn, Saab and Hummer brands, as well as through selling-off much of its stake in its European operations, including Opel to Canadian autoparts manufacturer Magna International.

“Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers,” CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

Henderson’s plan will see 6,000 (or 20 percent of) white-collar employees lose their jobs by October, with 35 percent of all executives being dismissed. Many executives will be cut from the company’s old Automotive Strategy Board and Automotive Product Board, a complex, multi-tiered system of management which will be axed in favor of a small committee that will meet weekly to make decisions about the future of the company.

Henderson says the move will cut those making the decisions at GM in half as the automaker focuses on its four key brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

Sales and Marketing will also no longer be under the leadership of one individual, as that part of the company is split. Sales will report directly to Henderson, who was unclear about what that meant for the current Sales & Marketing boss, Mark LaNeve. GM will also bring back veteran Bob Lutz to manage marketing, as well as design, brands and communications.

This will be a particularly vital role as GM looks to introduce a new line of vehicles into the marketplace to help re-brand the company. In total 10 new vehicles will launch in the U.S. in the next 18 months, with 17 overseas.

[Source: Automotive News]

While GM has reached a deal with Penske to sell off its Saturn brand, the future for dealers is anything but certain and Korean automaker Kia is hoping to capitalize on that.

Kia dealerships are often in either rural areas or less popular urban areas because land in high-traffic and densely populated urban areas is just too expensive. With both GM and Chrysler eliminating dealerships in urban areas, Kia intends to take advantage of this opportunity and make a big push. And with many well-appointed and nicely designed Saturn dealers conveniently located in those higher traffic areas, Kia hopes to convince Saturn retailers into switching to the Kia line.

In an interview with Automotive News, Kia executives said that the fact the Saturn dealerships are new and ideally-located is important, but the main factor is their availability.

Kia is targeting Saturn dealers in three main ways. First, it is looking to buy Saturn dealerships that are closing or closed and convert them to Kia dealerships. Second, it is seeing if any operational Saturn dealerships are interested in switching to Kia. And third, Kia is seeing if Saturn dealers who aren’t interested in the first two are interested in opening up a separate Kia franchise.

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog]

General Motors has reached an agreement with the Penske Automotive Group on the sale of its Saturn brand. An official announcement is expected to be made by both parties later today.

The Penske Automotive Group was thought to be one of the front-runners in the bidding war, which also reportedly included Nissan/Renault, Mitsubishi and investment firm Telesto Ventures.

The news comes just days after GM sold off its Hummer brand to Chinese industrial equipment manufacturer Tengzhong.

The Penske Automotive Group is comprised of several key automotive related companies and boasts the second largest dealer network in the U.S., accounting for sales of 171,872 vehicles in 2008.

Penske also distributes the SMART car throughout the United States under a deal with Mercedes parent company Daimler.

As a former race car driver, Roger Penske continues to be involved in motorsports, and currently runs teams in three major racing series: the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the Indy Racing League (IRL).

The sale of Saturn would leave GM with just the Swedish brand Saab to dispose of. It has been reported that buyers for Saab have been narrowed down to just two: Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg and the U.S.-based Renco Group.

The news was reported this morning in the New York Times, which also said that after an initial contract with GM runs out, the Penske operated Saturn brand is expected to sell Renault vehicles in the United States. Does this mean North America will finally get cars like the Clio and Megane…. or even the Megane R.S.? (pictured above)

[Source: New York Times]

With news of a tentative deal to sell off Hummer coming yesterday, GM still hasn’t made any decisions about its Saturn or Saab brands – but apparently it has plenty of offers to entertain.

GM CFO Ray Young said that Saturn has as many as 16 suitors, while the Swedish Saab brand has three.

The list of Saturn buyers is reported to include Penske Automotive Group, Malcolm Bricklin, Mitsubishi, Nissan/Renault and investment firm Telesto Ventures.

Young did say that it is interested in working with the Saturn buyer when it comes to vehicle assembly.

As for Saab, Swedish business paper Dagens Industri is reporting that the three buyers are U.S. financier Ira Rennert and his Renco Group, Fiat and Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg.

[Source: Detroit Free Press and Reuters]

By solidifying a deal to take control of GM’s European operations, Canada’s Magna International Inc. is eager to start producing Opel cars in Canada.

“We want to build Opel cars in Canada,” said company founder and CEO Frank Stronach. “Canada should have its own Canadian company … a truly Canadian automobile industry.”

The third largest auto parts supplier in the world, Magna certainly has the resources and the know-how – it just doesn’t have the facilities to build cars in Canada. That, however, might all change as Chrysler may close operations and General Motors Canada recently shut down its truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario.

The lower value of the Canadian currently would likely help matters and should be enough to easily offset the cost of shipping vehicles to Europe – although it’s not clear that Canadian-built cars would be for the European market, as moving production outside of Germany would certainly be a devastating public relations move.

What Stronach may have in mind is for Opel-based cars to be built in Canada for distribution in Canada and the U.S. As Magna is also currently bidding to take control of Saturn from GM, it’s entirely possible that production of those models, all but one of which are based on Opel vehicles, could happen in Magna’s backyard.

There is also a strong possibility that Magna will expand into the Russian car market.

Magna’s partners in the Opel deal include Sberbank of Russia and both Stronach and Magna have strong ties to Russia. Stronach actually did work as an auto industry adviser for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian Magna investor Oleg Deripaska (the owner of Russian truck maker GAZ) has had long standing aspirations to sell consumer cars.

Building Opel models in Russia is a strong possibility, however, it is unlikely those models would be exported to Europe.

General Motors is expected to announce final candidates for the sale of Saturn in the next few weeks.

[Source: The Globe and Mail]

While President Obama and General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson are both expected to hold press conferences today, officially GM has already filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.

Once the world’s largest automaker and a symbol of the success of free market economics, GM is now a symbol of failure. In the 1950s it employed over 500,000 people and produced more than half of all the vehicles sold in the United States. Now it also holds the dubious title of the world’s third-largest bankruptcy – and the largest bankruptcy for a manufacturing company.

General Motors, backed by yet another government loan from the U.S. Treasury is expected to get the same fast-tracked bankruptcy proceedings as the smaller U.S. automaker Chrysler – which filed for Chapter 11 just one month ago and which already appears to be emerging. Just yesterday a judge approved the sale of Chrysler’s assets to a group comprised of Fiat, the U.S. government and the UAW. The Chrysler Chapter 11 proceedings were seen by many as a practice for the much larger General Motors corporation.

As a part of the Chapter 11 filing GM will receive $30 billion from the Obama administration, giving it a 60 percent stake in the once-great automaker. The Canadian government will take a 12 percent stake by providing an additonal $9.5 billion, while the UAW gets a 17.5 percent share and bondholders get 10 percent.

The Chapter 11 proceedings are expected to take anywhere from 60 to 90 days but the future of General Motors is anything but certain. In the short term the automaker will most likely push ahead, but the big question mark is if it can become financially viable and build cars that people want to buy – something which is further complicated by the government’s involvement.

While the Obama Administration was reluctant to get involved it almost had no choice as without government help both General Motors and Chrysler were doomed to failure – at a time when the U.S. economy already has enough troubles. But now that the government is involved it doesn’t appear to be willing to part with its economic engine. Even when GM and Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy, the government’s Autos Task Force will continue to be involved in the future of both companies.

With a 60 percent stake in General Motors and a political agenda, will the Obama Administration work with GM and Chrysler to ensure both companies build cars people want – or build cars it wants people to want?

Only time will tell.

[Source: Automotive News]

Oddly, it seems as though Saturn is far more interesting and far more loved as the up-for auction arm of a doomed for bankruptcy company than it ever was as regular old car brand. To date the Penske Automotive Group, automaker Nissan/Renault and investment firm Telesto Ventures have all been cited as potential buyers. Now we can add Mitsubishi to that list.

According to a report in the Detroit News the Japanese automaker is in talks with GM to supply its vehicles to the existing Saturn dealership network. The move would see Mitsu expand its number of dealerships in the U.S. by 380 – up from the current 430 dealerships.

The move seems unlikely as Mitsubishi is suffering in the current economic downturn. In April the company sold just 3,919 vehicle in the U.S., down 55.9 percent from the same month in 2008.

Mitsubishi is, however, eager to gain a larger percentage of the U.S. market and until recently was even engaged in talks with Chrysler to bring a small electric car called the Peapod Mobility to the U.S.

The company does appear to be beefing up it’s product line and rebranding its existing products. Company representatives have made it clear that the i MiEV electric micro-car (pictured above) will come to North America and a coupe version of the car has been explored in concept form. Additionally, Mitsu recently launched the Sportback version of the Lancer. As far as rebranding, the company is finally picking up on the success of the Lancer and Evo models and is giving that look to the rest of its line. We’ve already seen it with the 2009 Eclipse and the next generation Outlander promises to have an Evo-style nose.

[Source: Detroit News]

The possibility that Penske Automotive Group may in fact purchase the Saturn brand from General Motors has just increased significantly. Penske has acquired the services of former Chrysler President Tom LaSorda as an adviser on the bid.

Penske is the second largest dealership group in the U.S. and also distributes the SMART brand of cars in the U.S. for Mercedes parent company Daimler.

The Detroit News is reporting that the Penske bid may involve other partners, including Serra Automotive Inc. and the Suburban Collection. Serra Automotive is the 15th largest dealership group in the U.S. with 21 stores in six states. The Suburban Collection is the 13th largest group and boasts 7 Saturn dealerships.

While many of GM’s brands have received little attention from prospective buyers the list of parties interested in Saturn seems to grow daily. Bloomberg is reporting that Canada’s Magna International is interested in Saturn, while other recent reports indicate Renault/Nissan is interested.

Saturn has said it has engaged in talks with the investment firm Telesto Ventures about a possible sale.

Currently GM is eager to part with Saturn as it faces a June 1st restructuring deadline.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors will cut 1,124 dealerships loose by October of 2010. The struggling automaker on the verge of bankruptcy sent letters out to the dealerships last week as it searches for ways to reduce it’s current dealer network of 5,969 to just 3,600.

GM says it will not renew dealership agreements with the 1,124 companies when their contract renewal comes up in October of next year.

The dealerships being cut are considered to be poor performers and accounted for just 7 percent of GM’s U.S. sales last year.

Another 470 dealerships are also scheduled to be let go as GM parts with the Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands. An additional 35 stand-alone Pontiac dealerships will also be cut.

Those dealerships not already notified aren’t necessarily safe, however, as the remaining 4,300 stores is still 700 over the 3,600 cap.

The news of GM’s numerous dealership closings came just one day after Chrysler announced it would drop 789 U.S. dealerships.

[Source: Automotive News]