Saturn Dealers, Owners Shocked Over End Of Brand

STEPHEN MANNING

WASHINGTON (AP) — Charlie Eickmeyer says he was a fan of Saturn vehicles years before he was able to drive. Today he's in shock.

So were employees at Day Automotive Group in Pittsburgh when they read the news online that a deal to rescue Saturn had fallen through. And Mike Martin is left wondering how he can move the Saturns left on his lot or what to do with the employees at his Manassas, Va. dealership now that the brand is apparently doomed.

"It seemed like the deal was going through," said Eickmeyer, 34, who started following Saturn when he was 10 years old and now runs a Web site for enthusiasts of the brand. "I was really excited about the next chapter in Saturn's history."

The chapter was supposed to be a future under former race car driver Roger Penske with the novel approach of filling dealerships with cars made overseas and rebranded as Saturns.

Instead, the collapse of talks between GM and Penske Automotive Group Inc. this week likely means the end of the nearly 25-year-old brand, sending Saturn dealers like Martin and Day Automotive scrambling over what to do with their soon-to-be empty showrooms and leaving the company's loyal owners mourning the apparent demise of a company that built its reputation on customer care.