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Automotive Industry
AUTOS: No Penske Bid For Saturn Yet
Roger Penske is considering making a bid for GM’s ailing Saturn division.
Tom Jensen  |  Posted May 08, 2009   Charlotte, NC
The Penske Automotive Group owned by Roger Penske (Right) has ended discussions with GM to acquire Saturn. (Photo: Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Automotive entrepreneur Roger Penske said Friday that while he is interested in acquire the Saturn division from General Motors, he has not yet made a bid for Saturn and may not.

Speaking at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his annual Indianapolis 500 kick-off press conference, Penske said a lot would have to happen in a short time for a Saturn deal to come together.

“I think the publicity is way ahead of the process,” said the 72-year-old Penske, who is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Penske Corporation and its affiliates.

Those affiliates include Penske Automotive Group, Inc., based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 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 158 franchises in 19 states and Puerto Rico and 152 franchises located outside the United States, primarily in the United Kingdom.

“Saturn obviously is one of the divisions which General Motors is either going to sell or close down, and we have a distribution experience bringing the Smart Car into the United States, we had a two-step distribution system,” said Penske. “We own Detroit Diesel. At this particular time we've made no offer to GM, we're in a due diligence stage, and it's a very short time frame. So at the moment lots of things have to play out before we'd make a formal bid.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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