BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG) an international automotive
retailer, today announced that it has terminated its discussions with
General Motors Company ("GM") to acquire the Saturn brand, citing
concerns directly related to the future supply of vehicles beyond the
supply period it had negotiated with GM.
Since announcing its discussions with GM on June 5, 2009, the company
has been in the due diligence process to determine the feasibility of
developing an independent distribution model for Saturn-branded products
and service parts in the United States, including the sourcing of
vehicles from GM and other potential suppliers. The company had
negotiated a definitive agreement with GM to source vehicles on a
contract-manufactured basis for a period of time. After this period, the
company would have been required to source vehicles from another third
party under a similar contract-manufacturing agreement.
Penske Automotive Group negotiated the terms and conditions of an
agreement with another manufacturer; however, that agreement was
rejected by that manufacturer's board of directors. Without that
agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties
related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from
moving forward with this transaction.
About Penske Automotive
Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (www.penskeautomotive.com)
headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, operates 310 retail
automotive franchises, representing 40 different brands and 25 collision
repair centers. Penske Automotive, which sells new and previously owned
vehicles, finance and insurance products and replacement parts, and
offers maintenance and repair services on all brands it represents, has
160 franchises in 17 states and Puerto Rico and 150 franchises located
outside the United States, primarily in the United Kingdom. Penske
Automotive is also the exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo through
its wholly owned subsidiary smart USA Distributor LLC. smart USA
supports 78 smart retail centers in the United States. Penske Automotive
is a member of the Fortune 500 and Russell 1000 and has approximately
14,000 employees. smart and fortwo are registered trademarks of Daimler
AG.
Source: Penske Automotive Group, Inc.
Contact: Penske Automotive Group, Inc.
Bob O'Shaughnessy
Chief Financial Officer
248-648-2800
boshaughnessy@penskeautomotive.com
Or
Anthony R. Pordon
Senior Vice President
248-648-2540
tpordon@penskeautomotive.com