tomhudson's Journal: RIP Saturn Canada - Penske shuts it down.

There are 350 US Saturn dealers, and 60 Canadian, so the Canadian dealerships represented 15%.

Warning: link is in french http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/automobile/200908/28/01-896828-saturn-sur-les-derniers-milles.php

My quicky translation:

Because Saturn won't have a small car in the next two years, the new purchaser of the brand, Penske, doesn't see any possible way the Canadian division can be profitable. Saturn Canada will therefore disappear and the 60 dealers in the network will be left to drown.

The dealers, 15 of which are located in Quebec, learned the news Monday, in the course of a conference call with General Motors. "We were always hopeful, but not any more," said Bernard Grenier, owner of Terrebonne Saturn.

For 2010, Saturn will only produce the Vue SUV, the Outlook crossover, and the Aura intermediate-sized sedan.

The return of the Astra compact, sold only in Canada, is not foreseen.

"Without a small car, the chances of survival in Canada are pretty thin," said Mr. Grenier.

Penske doesn't believe in it, and GM hasn't found another buyer for the network.

"In Canada, there's a very large territory to cover for the small sales volume," explained Jean-Claude Gravel, whose group runs Saturn dealerships on the South Shore and Nun's Island.

The dealers will cease to sell Saturn vehicles by the 31st of December at the latest.

From what La Press Affaires has learned, the dealers continued to reassure customers right up to this week that the brand would survive in Canada, adding that they were waiting for the 2010 vehicles to arrive in October. The dealers will dump their current stock and close their doors.

Already, the prices are "very, very, very reduced," says Jean-Claude Gravel. Owners of Saturn cars will be able to obtain service and have their warranties honoured by the GM dealer network.

According to Bernard Grenier, the disappearnace of Saturn Canada wil leave a hole in the way they did business. "the cars were sold without negotiating, without haggling, and our approach was based on service to the client."

Premiere Automotive, based in Illinois, has indicated to La Presse Affaires that they cannot comment on Saturn, since the transaction with GM has not yet officially been completed.

According to the agreement, Penske will continue to sell Saturns through the 350 American dealers. GM will build Saturns for Penske. Aside from the Saturn dealership network, Penske owns 160 dealers in the US and 150 others around the world.

Astra?

[Mark_in_Brazil]

A car called Astra is sold under the Chevrolet brand in Brazil. Is it the same one?

Re:

[tomhudson]

Yes, it's the same car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Astra [wikipedia.org]

The Opel Astra is a small family car designed and manufactured by Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors.

It is branded as an Opel in continental Europe, the Republic of Ireland, the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, South Africa, India and Taiwan, as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, as Holden in Australasia, as Chevrolet Astra in Latin America and as Saturn in the United States and Canada.

The Astra is now built in Germany,

I haven't heard Penske plans either

[damn_registrars]

I haven't heard anything about what Penske is planning to do with Saturn when the GM obligations run out. Currently, AFAIK every vehicle that is sold as a "Saturn" in the US is a re-badged GM vehicle that already exists here under another name. Hence Saturn, which used to be a moderately innovative economy badge, became completely redundant.

It is unfortunate that those 60 dealers in Canada will be lost. Hopefully those people will be able to find work elsewhere. It does seem from my observations that