The Penske Saturn deal is dead

General Motors announced today that it will wind down the Saturn brand after a deal to sell Saturn to Roger Penske and the Penske Automotive Group fell through.

The collapse of the deal means that 350 Saturn dealerships will be closed and thousands of automotive retail jobs will be lost.

"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 Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

According to published reports the deal collapsed because Penske was unable to secure a deal from potential partner Renault SA to provide cars after the Saturn pipeline of automobiles ran dry.

"Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction," Penske said in the statement.

GM said that it will announce plans to close the dealership shortly.