GM to shut down Saturn after Penske walks away

General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

"This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality," Henderson said in a written statement. "PAG’s announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers."

In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based auto retailer says an agreement with another manufacturer to continue producing Saturn vehicles after GM stopped making them fell through, leading Penske to terminate talks with GM.

Penske said it negotiated terms and conditions to make Saturn cars with another manufacturer, but that company’s board of directors rejected the agreement. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon would not identify the other manufacturer.

In June, GM and Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships, although GM would produce the vehicles for a limited period of time.

It was expected that GM would announce the completion of Saturn’s sale to Penske in the coming days.

See the full article at Yahoo News.

California May Ban Black Cars

The California legislature is considering regulating the color of cars and reflectivity of paint to reduce the energy requirements to cool them. A presentation on the proposed legislation by the California Air Resources Board is below.

The problem isn’t the color per se, but the reflectivity of the paint overall. And dark colors just don’t reflect well, so they are likely out. “Jet black remains an issue,” says the report.

Anyone who’s ever entered a very hot car knows that it can be cooled down immediately by driving a few feet with the windows open, effectively neutralizing any color-caused heat issues before engaging the air conditioner. But whatever, black is evil.

The new regulations would be phased in beginning in 2012, so if you want that black car, you better buy it soon. More on Autoblog and CrunchGear.

And you thought that black Toyota Pious you bought made you such a good person. Think again, you tree hating energy slob. Luckily, black websites are still ok, even though they, too, use more energy.

[ed]Wow, I think Batman might get screwed in this deal![/ed]

Source: TechCrunch.

Nissan uses test track as parking lot for unsold cars

If there were ever a sign of these troubled times in the automobile industry, this is it. The photo you’re looking at was taken recently at Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, the largest car plant in the United Kingdom and the most productive in Europe. Well, it may be productive, but with supply outpacing demand, Nissan has apparently been left with too much stock. The factory’s parking lots are overfilled, so they’ve begun parking cars on the facility’s test track. Of course, that means Nissan can’t use the track to test new cars, but if nobody’s buying them, that ought to be the least of their worries.

Read the full story  at Autoblog

Cruel irony

Autoblog had a nice write-up of the new Nissan 370Z yesterday. When I lived in Vegas I owned a first-year 350Z that was absolutely a blast to drive on long and open desert roads.

Well after looking at some of the photos it became obvious that they did some of the testing just a few minutes from where I used to live in Red Rock Canyon. Oh the cruelty! Their picture on top, my picture on the bottom:

Notice the mountain top in the background of both pictures — yup, that’s Red Rock!