GM has a similar opportunity with the Volt, since it too is a name that has garnered a lot of attention and recognition. They could produce a line of Volts perhaps under different brands, different configurations, and different sizes that use the Voltec powertrain.

As interesting as it seems, that  idea apparently isn’t in the plans according to Global Chevrolet Director Brent Dewar who was asked about it recently at a Reuters summit.

“Our thought is to take the Volt technology to other products,”  he told the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit.  “The Volt was the original vehicle that we started, but I wouldn’t see that as a brand marketing direction for us.”

The only other Voltec products we know GM is considering producing is the sporty and stylish Cadillac Converj which would be tweaked for performance, yet offer the same 40 mile range, and an extended range electric version of the Chevy Orlando MPV which is expected to launch as a gas version.

Source (Reuters)

Well, it looks like none of that is going to happen.

GM issued a statement tonight that states “Penske Automotive Group (PAG) has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn.”

Apparently this decision came because Penske was unable to source products beyond those that GM would continue to build for the next year.

As a result of this decision GM will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealerships.

And so the Saturn brand once exciting and new will now be laid to rest along with Pontiac and Oldsmobile before it.

Is this good or bad? Certainly less competitors means more sales for the brands that remain. Bad though for Saturn dealers and their employees.

On another unrelated but not cheerful note, Bob Kruse who is GMs director of hybrids and EVs has decided to leave the company. He had executive oversight of the Chevy Volt program. He apparently decided to use his experience and knowledge to start up his own EV consulting firm, to help other automakers get successful EV programs (and government grants) off the ground.

He will be replaced by Mickey Bly who actually was involved with the Volt program even before Kruse. All of the other key execs including co- creators Jon Lauckner and Bob Lutz, Tony Posawatz and Frank Weber remain committed to the program.

The loss of this one person, who will rapidly be replaced will have no effect on the Volt program whatsoever.

“There’s no good time to lose good people,” GM spokesman Rob Peterson said. “But that said, the Volt team goes way beyond one person.”

And the show goes on.

“Small cars represent one of the fastest-growing segments in both the U.S. and around the world,” said Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America. “ GM will be the only automaker, foreign or domestic, to build small cars in the U.S . , and we believe Orion Assembly and Pontiac Stamping are well suited to deliver a high-quality, fuel-efficient car that competes with anything in the marketplace.”

Clark said the new subcompact also known as a B-class vehicle would not be the Chevrolet Spark that most had speculated, calling it instead, “a yet-to-be announced product.”  The current Aveo which is slated to be discontinued is GM’s current B-class car. Some speculate the Chevy Viva will be the new car.

“We’re thinking the B-car will sell north of 100,000 vehicles,” said Clarke, though he acknowledged only about 40,000 Aveos are sold yearly now. “We’re thinking this segment will grow because of higher fuel prices as well as the attractiveness and utility of the vehicle.”

There are no indications the car will be a hybrid though GM says the car “will add to the automaker’s growing portfolio of U.S.-built, highly fuel-efficient cars, including the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt.”

Production will begin in 2011 and 1400 jobs will be restored by this plan.

Source (GM)

Since June 1st the sell off has been happening fast and furious.  First we heard that Tengzhong of China will buy Hummer, then it was reported that Penske Automotive plans to buy Saturn, and now it has been announced Swedish supercarmaker Koenigsegg plans to buy Saab.

The Saab deal will be funded in part by $600 million in capital from the European Investment Bank and guaranteed by the Swedish government. GM has stated in a press release that it will “continue to provide Saab with architecture and powertrain technology during a defined time period.”

Koenigsegg is known for producing low-volume million-dollar ridiculously fast supercars, in fact their staff of 45 only built 18 cars last year.  A new report indicates that Koenigsegg is actually planning to use the Saab production facilities to build among other things electric cars.  In particular, the company had previously unveiled a 512 hp solar-electric 4 seat supercar concept called the Quant at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year.

This vehicle uses two large rear-wheel electric motors and incorporates solar panels into the hood and roof which won’t generate significant energy except to help run on-board peripherals.  The same company making the panels however, NLV of Sweden, has also developed a new type of battery for the car called “Flow Accumulator Energy Storage.”  This device has an energy density of over 170 wh/kg, can store up to 300 miles of range and be recharged in 15 to 20 minutes.

Koenigsegg stated at the time of the reveal that it hoped to be able to produce the car in a few years.

It is now being reported that the company’s new access to Saab hardware, resources, facilities, and technology will enable it to actually bring this car into production.

This news is on the heels of Tengzhong China indicating it intends to make fuel efficienct new green Hummer models and Penske’s plans to sell electric Saturns.

So it seems the discarded parts of the old GM may very well blossom into advanced technology electric car companies of their own rights.

Who would have thought?

Source (Edmunds) and (Autoblog)

Today they have announced that they have a proposed contract with the Penske Automotive Group to acquire the Saturn brand. The price tag will be between $100 and $200 million, and the sale, expected to be completed by the fall, would save 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs.

GM would continue to produce the current Aura, VUE, and Outlook for the brand for the next 2 years, discontinuing the Astra and Sky. After that Penske will look to outsource vehicle production and is already in talks with several global automakers with the most likely appearing to be Renault Samsung Motors of Korea.

“This is the combination of two iconic teams: Saturn and Penske,” said Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak. “GM had the vision to create Saturn and has the desire to see it succeed in the future.”

“There has been a groundswell of support for Saturn, with our retailers and owners urging us to save the brand,” said Lajdziak. “We heard their call loud and clear, and it inspired us as we worked to secure Saturn’s future.”

“We have agreed upon a framework that we believe will build momentum for the Saturn brand,” said Penske Automotive Group Chairman Roger Penske. “Saturn has a passionate customer base and outstanding dealer network. For nearly 20 years Saturn has focused on treating the customer right. We share that philosophy, and we want to build on those strengths.”

In an interview, Roger Penske suggested that among the first cars the new Saturn might outsource could be electrics.  “Electric vehicles will be right at the forefront,” he said.  And in new agreements with foreign supplier those cars “might be the first vehicles produced in the U.S.”

Source (GM), (Bloomberg)

It has recently been disclosed that GM is in advanced talks with Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sichuan Tengzhong to purchase the Hummer brand. Shedding Hummer has been an important aspect of GM’s reorganization plan to be able to bring the automaker down to its four core brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick.

Much has been made in the media about the irony of a Chinese company buying Hummer and the fact that it will give them a foothold in the US market as dealerships are taken over.

In more irony, the company has also indicated its interest in making Hummer a fuel efficient brand.

Tengzhong will keep the current Hummer executive team and continue to manufacture the vehicles in Shreveport, Louisiana. Jim Taylor is Hummer’s general manager and was recently interviewed about the transition.

Taylor confirmed the Hummer production would stay in the US at least in the short-term.

"We’re there until the end of 2010, for sure. After that, we have a lot of choices," he said. "As far as I can see in the next product development cycle, it would all come from here.

Of course Hummers sold in the US would have to achieve the newly approved federal CAFE regulations.
"We need to head towards CAFÉ compliance – which means smaller and more fuel efficient, or we’re dialed out," says Taylor. "Think of the smaller H4 we were showing at the auto show and it could safely conjectured we would enter into that space."

The reporter pointed out Raser’s recently unveiled plug-in hybrid hummer demonstration vehicle that could get 100 mpg and asked if the new company might pursue that course.

"It’s a big number to take on, a ground-up hybrid or electric vehicle, but it’d make a lot of sense for the Hummer brand," he said. "We just have to look at the financial side to see if it’s something we can stomach." He did note that there is a "100%" likelihood that in 5 years an alternative propulsion Hummer will hit the roads.

Source (TheDetroitBureau )

However, GM’s newly released viability plan indicates that all support for the Saturn brand will be terminated by the end of 2009. This has led some to believe the plug-in 2-mode hybrid program will die along with it.

Not so fast.

“The plug-in technology survives!” says GM spokesperson Brian Corbett.

“It will be applied to a vehicle offered by one of four core brands,” he says. “We’ll be announcing which one in the not too distant future.”

The drivetrain for the vehicle features GM’s 2-mode hybrid system which uses two powerful electric motors, one for low speed and one for high speed assist and a complex software control system. The plug-in version has an added lithium-ion pack that could allow up to 10 miles EV and overall twice the fuel efficiency of comparable non-hybrid models.

Reports have surfaced including an acknowledgment from GM that a group of investors led by Black Oak Partners LLC and some Saturn dealers has submitted a proposal.  This proposal is in addition to several others.

The proposal is to spin off Saturn as, you guessed it, a different kind of car company.  Where did I hear that before?

A new company would be formed called the “Saturn Distribution Co.”  It would utilize the high customer satisfaction ratings that Saturn’s 450 national dealerships enjoy as a network to sell vehicles.

The cars that would be sold however would be sourced from several different carmakers including large international brands.  The cars would be built to order as new the Saturn would retain its own design center and create vehicles based on what customers want.

So now instead of the manufacturer telling the dealer what to sell, the dealers would tell multiple manufactures what cars it whats to sell.  Sort of a Best Buy of cars. EREVs anyone?

Meanwhile there are new reports that even the GMC brand may have to be shed along with Saturn and Pontiac in an effort to make GM viable, based on discussions with the Obama administration.  This would then lead to a three-brand new GM; Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick, each presumably with a Voltec car.

Source (AP)

“We want to see a strong automotive industry emerge from this recession,” he said, also indicating the government needs to assure that GM “can emerge strong enough without having to have government help on an ongoing basis.”

Currently a quick-rinse bankruptcy is not ruled out and CEO Henderson said of the company’s required restructuring “If it can’t be done outside of a bankruptcy process, it will be done within it.”

Some pundits are reporting that all this bankruptcy talk may actually be a high-stakes game of chicken noting Obama to be an avid poker player. The idea is that bondholders and the union will wither to accept concessions in the remaining weeks rather than face the prospect of greater losses in bankruptcy court.

Meanwhile GM presses on with the preview today of a new upcoming vehicle, the 2010 GMC Terrain. The bold radically-styled new truck is based on the same platform as the upcoming Chevy Equinox. Impressively it uses a 2.4 L 4-cylinder gas engine delivering 182 horsepower and achieving a remarkable 30 mpg highway. The sister-car Equinox has already been value-priced at a $23,185. I know, no plug no sale.

It is conjectured that this vehicle could become an extended-range electric car as well since it already has the proper architecture.

We have been told by GM executives that multiple Voltec concepts would be shown this year.  The Cadillac Converj and Opel/Vauxhall Ampera have already been shown.

Since Pontiac, Saab, and Saturn are being shed as apart of GM’s restructuring, Buick is the best candidate to get the third Voltec car.

The Excelle is a model currently only sold in China, but it is speculated the car could be brought to Europe or even North America.

GM officials have responded to my questions about this as “speculation”.

Recently is was announced by JD Power and Associates that Buick has achieved first place for vehicle quality, tying with Jaguar and upsetting long running number one Lexus.

Since we are imagining here, I will go on record speculating that such a car would be called the Buick Electra.

Source (LeftLaneNews)