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“Roger Penske and Penske Automotive Group has purchases theSaturn brand,” Davies “It’s a great day for Davies says the sale means dealers and employeesd who’ve been on edge since GM announcedc it would jettison Saturn in March, can now breatjh a sigh of relief. “Today 350 dealership s were savedand 13,000 employees. This is fabulous Davies says. “We will be divorced from General Motors by the end ofthe year.” A repory from Bloomberg News, which cites an unidentifiede source, says Penske will pay between $100 million and $200 millioj for the deal.
Davies says companies are expected to release detailss of the deal later on including who the new manufacturing companyywill be. Penske Automotive Group, Inc., headquarteree in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. operates 310 retail automotiver franchises, representing 40 different brands. The successfull sale of it’s Saturnm brand is the next stepfor cash-strappede GM, which filed for bankruptcy Monday. In May, the auto maker announced it woulsd beclosing 1,100 dealerships and a full 40 percent of its dealedr network — some 2,600 locations by the end of next year. Earliee this week, Troy Pfaff of Pfaff Chevroley Inc. in Mulvane, Kan.
, receivefd a letter notifying him his dealership would be amonhthose cut. “It’s a tougu deal,” he says. “But nothing’sd really set in stoner because it’s all dependant on the bankruptcy.” He says even if the cour t allows GM to close theselected dealerships, he will remain a GM dealet until his contract expires next year. “I’m stilpl in business,” he says. “I’m open untill October 2010.
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