Penske May Bid on Saturn
Automotive entrepreneur Roger Penske, who helped launch the Smart car in the U.S., has emerged as a possible bidder for GM's Saturn brand.
By Philip Nussel of AutoWeek
The Saturn Sky Red Line is one of the brand's crown jewels.
Race team owner and automotive entrepreneur Roger Penske is a possible bidder for General Motors' Saturn brand, The Wall Street Journal reported this evening on its Web site, citing people familiar with the situation.
A Penske spokesman declined to comment, the Journal said.
Penske is CEO of suburban Detroit-based Penske Automotive Group, which ranks No. 2 behind AutoNation Inc.on the Automotive News list of the top 125 U.S. auto retailer groups with 2008 new vehicle sales of 171,872. The company, with 149 dealerships representing 40 brands, is due to report its first quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Penske last year helped launch Mercedes-Benz' smart brand of micro cars as its national distributor in the U.S.
He has a variety of other holdings throughout the U.S. auto industry, including truck leasing, logistics and auto racing. In 1988, he acquired the money-losing Detroit Diesel Corp. from General Motors and turned around the iconic heavy-duty engine maker in less than four years. He sold the company to DaimlerChrysler AG in 2000.
GM said earlier today it has a number of potential buyers for its Saturn brand and retail network and will look to secure an agreement with a specific buyer later this year.
GM retained S.J. Girsky & Co as an adviser to help it review expressions of interest from the potential buyers.
GM, which has taken $15.4 billion of U.S. government loans to operate since the start of the year, has scrambled to unload underperforming brands, including Saturn and Hummer, as part of a sweeping restructuring mandated by the U.S. government.
GM said it is proceeding with efforts to sell Saturn after receiving interest from several parties.
The announcement comes as GM faces a June 1 deadline to convince the U.S. autos task force overseeing its restructuring that it has a viable business plan. The automaker is racing to get concessionary deals from its bondholders and union and sell assets.
Last month, an investor group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC and some Saturn dealers said it has approached GM about buying the assets of the Saturn brand and distribution network.
A GM spokesman described the potential bid as "very interesting."
GM has confirmed it had been in discussions with Black Oak and said there were other investment groups interested in taking over Saturn, a struggling brand GM launched 25 years ago in a failed bid to head off market gains by Japanese imports.
Saturn brand sales dropped 22 percent in 2008, worse than the 18 percent decline in the overall market.
