Penske’s deal to buy Saturn from GM and outsource manufacturing to another manufacturer has fallen through.  It was believe that Penske was negotiating with Renault to take over the manufacture of Saturns but the details apparently could not be worked out.

Penske Automotive released a statement that said they had negotiated an agreement with another manufacturer but that agreement had been rejected by the manufacturer’s board of directors.

With the Penske deal off the table GM will shut down Saturn by Octoboer 2010.  This will result in the closure of Saturn’s 350 dealerships and the loss of 13,000 US jobs.

Just another bad headline for the American auto industry.  Hats off to The Captain for giving it a try.  Its a shame he wasn’t able to make a go of it.  I was really looking forward to the possibility of Saturns in the Koni Challenge.  He never said they’d be there but I just assumed it would be inevitable.