Sutliff pursues Rider deal

Nick Malawskey

When General Motors announced at the end of September it was shuttering its Saturn division, the news came a shock to many people — including John Sutliff, the owner of Sutliff Motors.

CDT photo/Michelle Bixby

The Saturn dealership on North Atherton Street could become Sutliff Buick, GMC and Cadillac if it purchases some of Rider Auto’s assets.

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Sutliff, who owns Saturn of State College, said his company has “a history with Saturn and it has held a special place in our hearts.”

Now it appears the dealership will find a second life as “Sutliff Buick, GMC and Cadillac” as the auto group moves to purchase Rider Auto’s General Motors assets.

A sales agreement between the two dealerships was approved Tuesday by Judge John J. Thomas, in the U.S. Middle District Bankruptcy Court in Wilkes-Barre, contingent on a small modification in the sale agreement’s language.

“Today was a win,” Sutliff said. “We are going to continue — and we are going to continue as a GM dealership.”

The various groups involved in the sale — which include Rider’s debtors as well as the two dealership owners — have seven days to agree on final language within the sales agreement. Tim Hoy, Sutliff’s attorney, said the language to be agreed upon deals mostly with Rider’s Pontiac assets, a brand that is also being phased out by General Motors.

Once the language is agreed upon, the parties can execute the finalized agreement. Hoy said he expects the parties involved to file consent agreements by the end of the week.

While the finalized sales agreement will not be made public until it is entered into the court record, Hoy did say that it provides for the purchase of Rider Auto’s General Motors assets by Sutliff. That includes the group’s GMC, Buick and Cadillac franchise agreements, as well as the vehicle and parts inventory.

It does not include Rider Auto’s property on West College Avenue or its other vehicle franchises or assets.

The agreement comes as Sutliff is winding down its Saturn operations across its network of dealerships. The brand was discontinued after Penske Auto Group abruptly walked away from negotiations with GM to purchase the brand after Penske was unable to secure a manufacturer beyond the next two years.

The collapse of the negotiations left some 350 Saturn franchises without a manufacturer in the United States, as General Motors informed them they had until October of 2010 to close down their operations.

“When GM announced a year ago they were going to put Saturn on the auction block ... that made all the Saturn dealership owners a little leery ... and we went looking for another option, just in case what happened happened,” Sutliff said.

Sutliff Auto operated four Saturn dealerships in central Pennsylvania in addition to the State College location.

At least two of those dealerships — Lancaster and York — will be closed, while operations will continue at Saturn of Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg. Sutliff said that location will the “last lot standing” as the group moves all of its Saturn vehicles to the dealership.

“We’re hopeful to secure another franchise (for that location) in the next year,” he said.

Sutliff said he is expecting to close on another franchise agreement for the Saturn of Harrisburg location within the next few months.

“We would love nothing better than to continue our operations in all markets,” he said. “But unfortunately that is not possible.”

Rider Auto, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2008, also holds franchises and assets related to the sale of Mazda, Hyundai and Saab. It was not immediately clear if a bidder has been found for those operations. Rider Auto’s attorney, Robert Chernicoff, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Saturn of State College has about 30 employees. Sutliff said he hopes to close the deal by the end of November.

Nick Malawskey may be reached at 235-3928.