Saturn

Also known as Saturn Corporation

Cause of death

Killed by cost

Made by

General Motors

A sale to Penske collapsed at the last moment and GM had no appetite to keep funding it.

Saturn was GM's attempt to build a different kind of car company inside itself: separate plants, separate labour agreement, no-haggle pricing, and famously enthusiastic owners who attended reunions at the factory. GM gradually reabsorbed it into the corporate parts bin, which removed the entire point. A deal to sell the brand to Penske fell through in 2009, and it closed with Pontiac the following year.