I received a letter from Jill Lajdziak, the GM of saturn. She thanked me for my support, and said that the brand would be closed down (due the the breakdown of the Penske deal).
A sad day-is there anyway that the brand could be saved?
I wish TESLA could take it over!
Limbaugh’s not blowin money on a sports team anymore. Maybe he could buy the brand?
I hate to make a useless post, but in reading the title, I opened this wondering what was wrong with the planet. Apparently there are also automobiles…
Thankfully, Jupiter is safe. (For now.)
Better get your tires rotated now, just in case it can’t.
I was wondering why they 86-ed the Saturn brand, of all the crap names they’re making. Saturn has a certain attitude, and my SL2 has been nothing but reliable. The dealership and service guys were great, and it was a brand with a culture.
I mean, couldn’t we do without Pontiac and Oldsmobile? Blech…
“If we let them get Saturn now, they’ll be after Uranus next!”
Funny you say that because their factories were just bought by an electric competitor called ‘Fiskar’(sp?) I wonder if it’s the scissor maker.
We are. Oldsmobile is done and Pontiac is being phased out.
Pretty cars.
No, it was a brand with a cult. The brand was never profitable, and it never made a real impact in the popular consciousness other than as a cheap econobox. None of the current models are anything but rebadged GM products. There’s really no point in keeping the line.
And this is from a former Saturn owner.
It’s funny, I never understood the love for Saturn’s I always thought they were hideous.
I have a 2000 Saturn SL1 and it gets 38 mpg with an automatic. The engine has a steel timing chain. The plugs and wires are easy to change. The car can be towed without a trailer which is why you see motor homes pulling them. The body is a space frame design that uses flexible body panels so it doesn’t dent or rust.
In 125,000 miles I’ve replaced the battery and plugs/wires plus normal fluid changes. It has been a trouble free, economical car. Unfortunately, Saturn did away with their core cars and rebadged other cars which makes them expendable. If I had a barn I would buy a couple of them and rebuild the motors/transmissions.
Hmm, it seems like there was this late millenial idea that practical cars had to be ugly. I’m glad that the electric car companies are not sticking with the notion.
Yeah, until Penske realized how beholden to GM he’d remain. Saturn was not just a sales model but it was also a group of products that started separate but grew closer to the standard as time went on. Had he wanted a car company Roger (after 45 years of following his star I claim a little familiarity) should’ve made his offer in the early 90s.
OTOH, he should take to his heart this truism: “To make a small fortune by owning a car company you start with a LARGE fortune.” He beat the odds and should be happy.
Though it’s a pleasant change! (I’m not wasting my time linking to ugly electrics of the past four decades. 
)
Well, Saturn hasn’t made Saturns in a while. Last few years, they have retooled and re badged Opels. The plastic paneling, a great idea, went bye-bye.
I still own one of the last SC2’s made, and it’s a great car. But the Astra was meh.
GM is toast. They should have kept Saturn and Pontiac and shitcanned Buick and GMC. Buick make people yawn, and GMC is useless if Chevy keeps the truck line. But Saturn had the Astra, and Pontiac had the G8 (not to mention the little roadster they both shared). What does Buick have that made it a keeper?
Buick has great sales and reputation in China, plus it doesn’t really overlap with the other GM brands.
Pontiacs can all be sold under the Chevy brand, as can the Astra if they want. The Saturn brand never made an impact so killing he dealer network isn’t a big problem. If the cars are good, GM will still sell them no matter the brand.