Saturn alerts customers it is considering a spinoff

Saturn has begun alerting customers that it may be spun off by General Motors as an independent marketing and distribution company. In a letter sent to about 1.5 million Saturn owners Wednesday night, Saturn said it would have to line up products to sell--either from other manufacturers or from GM in the role of a vendor--after GM's current commitment to build Saturn products ends after the 2012 model year. "The Saturn Distribution Corporation already exists as an indirect subsidiary of GM," wrote Jill Lajdziak, general manager of Saturn, in the letter.

Dodge Viper operations draw limited interest

Chrysler LLC's Viper sports car business has drawn only limited interest from buyers, according to court statements filed in connection with the automaker's bankruptcy hearing. Chrysler recently offered to sell the entire Conner Avenue plant in Detroit, which builds the Dodge Viper sports car, for $10 million, Chrysler Chairman Bob Nardelli said in a statement. "We received no purchaser interest," he said.

New Mercedes ML (2012) Revealed

The Mercedes ML grows up for 2012 The imminent demise of the big SUV has been predicted by the hair-shirt-wearing, green halo brigade for years, but cars like the new 2012 Mercedes ML are like every successful creation – they evolve to survive. So the news that’s come with the first photos of the 2012 ML that we will see the big Mercedes SUV sporting a lowly four-pot is much less of a shock than it would have been a few years ago. But it’s much less of a shock because four-pot turbos have evolved to give us more than a six-pot would have done just a few years before, which makes a 4-pot in a Mercedes ML almost appealing.