Utah Saturn dealers to close

Saying goodbye to a business you have spent nearly two decades cultivating is not easy. Just ask Tyler Corder, the chief financial officer of the Las Vegas-based Findlay Automotive Group.

On Wednesday, General Motors Co. announced it would shut down its entire Saturn division after an agreement to sell it to Penske Automotive Group Inc. fell apart. And Findlay — comprising 21 dealerships in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Utah — owns two Saturn dealerships in St. George and Henderson, Nev.

The Findlay Group has operated the St. George Saturn dealership since June 1994, Corder said. The Las Vegas-area store opened in October 1990.

The St. George location is one of four Saturn dealerships in Utah.

Corder said that while his company will continue to be prosperous, losing one of its brands will be sad.

"Obviously, it's not good news for us … in the Henderson (store), we can keep (our Saturn workers) employed in other dealerships and in St. George we're fortunate that we've been awarded two new franchises," Corder said Wednesday.

He said that would allow the 25 St. George workers to maintain their employment in one of the new dealerships. In addition, the closure will mean transitioning the soon-to-be defunct Saturn store into one of the new franchises.

Despite those positive aspects of the situation, Corder told the Deseret News he was still quite disenchanted with this recent turn of events.

"Our ideal situation would be to have Saturn continue," he said. "We were very optimistic that the Penske deal was going to happen … We're very disappointed about the news today."

Jeff Wetzel owns the remaining Saturn dealerships in Utah — in Salt Lake, Orem and Riverdale. Deseret News attempts to contact Wetzel on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The collapse of GM's deal with former race car driver and auto dealer magnate Roger Penske marks the end of a brand that was supposed to revolutionize the way small cars were built and sold in America.

The deal with Penske was supposed to be finalized Wednesday. But the unexpected end came when his company, Penske Automotive Group Inc., was unable to find a manufacturer to supply vehicles for the brand's dealerships. GM had agreed to keep building Saturn models like the Aura, Outlook and Vue through at least 2011, but after that, Saturn would have to come up with its own products.

Penske's tentative deal to buy Saturn was announced in early June.

"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," GM chief executive officer Fritz Henderson said. He said Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.