With the deal to complete the sale of the Saturn brand to Roger Penske just around the corner, the question is starting to be asked, “Can Roger Save Saturn?” There is no doubt that Roger Penske has had many challenges and successes in his day, but he may soon face the biggest challenge of all, saving the Saturn brand. In a recent article, The New York Times talks about whether or not this automotive giant can save the tarnished brand.

None of us know what the outcome will be, but if anyone has a chance of resuscitating the Saturn Brand its Roger Penske.

[Source: New York Times: Read Entire Article]

Here’s an old Sports Illustrated article from 1988 that talks about Roger Penske Racing. The article also gives some insight into Roger Penske’s personality from people who’ve worked with him.

“He demands a do-or-die loyalty; his employees must be willing to walk off the bridge for him,” says Derrick Walker, Penske Racing’s general manager for nine years. “If you try to leave, or even think about it, it’s a mortal insult to him. He’ll react like, ‘Go! I’ll follow you to the door and change the locks behind you!’ ”

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[Source: Sports Illustrated, Read Entire Story]

Paul Eisenstein has written a great article that gives us a little more insight into Roger Penske’s modus operandi. The one thing that seems to be stand out the most about Roger is his desire to win. Roger Penske doesn’t like to lose at anything and that’s just what Saturn needs. For the past decade the management at GM hasn’t cared if Saturn was a winner or a loser. If the Penske-Saturn deal goes through, then in a few years I think you may finally see Saturn capture that long awaited checkered flag.

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[Source: MSNBC, Read Entire Story]

Michael Vaughan from Autos.CTV.ca talks about Roger owning the Saturn Brand. He asks a very poignant question and that is - So how can Roger succeed where General Motors blew away billions? Many of us all ready know that Roger has said that Saturn will be profitable on day one.

According to Michael Vaugh this how Roger will make it happen….

Well the first point is Penske won’t have to worry about the factories that build the cars. This time around Saturn is only going to be a distributor of cars — other people’s cars. Roger and his team can now shop the world for custom-made cars from other manufacturers that he thinks will fill the bill with his adoring American public.

Roger is an American Icon that will create enthusiasm around the Saturn Brand.

Americans instantly recognize him as the serious looking, handsome guy wearing earphones in the pits as his team takes the checked flag. He’s the representation of old fashioned American virtues of hard work and team play.

Gearhead blogs since the deal was announced have been overflowing with comments like “We love Roger” and “the guy has a golden touch.”

If he pulls off the deal for Saturn, and makes it work, Penske will have caused the biggest change in how cars are sold since the dawn of the auto industry.

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[Source: CTV.tv Autos, Read Entire Story]

From Jamie Lincoln Kitman, The Washington Post: There’s a reason why finding buyers for the carmaker’s German Opel division and domestic Saturn brand has been easy: They’re the most promising divisions GM owns. Getting rid of them was dumb and pretty much seals the company’s fate.

For GM, junking Saturn represents opportunity lost. Creating the brand in the late 1980s gave the firm its only great post-Vietnam-era marketing success story. A make that appealed to people who didn’t like Detroit’s constant horsepower and styling wars, Saturn may not have been “a different kind of car,” as its colorful advertisements had it, but it did attract a different kind of customer, one GM had lost to the likes of Toyota and Honda. Educated and reasonably affluent, these customers wanted to buy American again, yet a remarkable 87 percent didn’t know that Saturn was part of General Motors. That was part of the plan.

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[Source: The Washington Post - Read the Entire Article]