Capitalism, And Roger Penske, To The Rescue

Townhall.com ^ | June 7, 2009 | Austin Hill

[babyfreep]

ping

[taildragger]

No it is Palin Mulally 2012.... :-)....

[deport]

In the process, it is believed that Penske’s acquisition will in the short-run save some 13,000 American jobs, and eventually create more.

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It is hard to get a straight answer or at least one that is agreed upon across the board. 13,000 jobs via the Saturn brand and in the GM closing announcements it was mentioned some 25,000 total jobs lost. I know that Saturn doesn’t equal half of the GM losses.

That said any jobs that Penske can salvage will help the economy for sure.

[org.whodat]

The guy made and offer, yesterday it was reported his offer would be considered. Is this another one of those I heard it from a friend of a friend.

[Moonman62]

Sure, but Penske isn’t the corporate miracle worker he’s being made out to be. This is a self preservation move for him.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Post #4 ROFL

[org.whodat]

Question is will Penske write a check are is he looking for a share of the bailout tax payers money. I would bet he's trying to get into the tax payers pocket!!!

[deport]

What were Saturn’s sales in 2008? Somewhere around 200,000 units I think.

[brownsfan]

Importing Korean cars and calling them Saturns? I’d buy a Hyundai first. The only benefit in this deal is to Roger Penske. That’s capitalism. But, another part of the capitalism deal is for Penske to convince me that buying a “Saturn” is a good choice.

Not likely to happen.

[Cedric]

Whatever you say.

[hoosiermama]

GO Hoosiers! FIrst we sue em, them we buy em. Penske owns NASCAR IIRC....He knows cars and he knows business: Penske has made a name for himself by taking struggling companies and fixing them, such as Hertz Truck Leasing in the 1980s and Detroit Diesel Corp. in the 1990s.
In 1999, he invested $83 million into United Auto Group Inc., now called the Penske Automotive Group. The group is the second-largest auto dealer in the United States and is the sole U.S. distributor of the Smart car.
Today, Penske said he would not be combining Saturn and Smart car operations.

[freekitty]

I wouldn’t count on Ford being free enterprise.

[whitedog57]

I agree. I will never buy a GM or Chrysler ever again. Ford and Saturn only.

[11th Commandment]

So he is going to use the Saturn platform to importer foreign cars. Just how does that help us?

If "US" means U.S. Workers, let me name a few:

US sales people, US auto mechanics, US investors who have millions in Saturn Franchises, US Clerical workers in Dealerships. In my world all of these US citizens are just as valuable as people who build cars; in the US government's view, they are second class to UAW workers.

[Wolfie]

Indeed. If he’s just marketing more stuff made somewhere else, then who cares? We have plenty of that already.

[Red Dog #1]

I suspect an enormous factor weighing for Penske’s plans not to manufacture the cars is avoiding substantial long term pension cost.

[Walleye_Walter]

Ford is still a free enterprise that hasn’t accepted any “bailout” money.

Any reason to believe otherwise?

[GVnana]

I still want a Jeep. I have no idea what’s going to happen to that name.

[ccmay]

I say he buys up some of the wreckage at Chrysler too, especially some of their successful newer lines like the Challenger, and puts his own name on the new (non-union) company. I think he can figure out how to make cars people want to buy and can afford.

[Paladin2]

"Will Saturn become Uranus?"

Only if they acquire the Probe name from Ford.