CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Negotiations to sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group ended with no deal.  Now, instead of selling Saturn, General Motors will close the brand altogether.

In a network news story back in 1985, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said, "the Saturn project is more than just a car if GM has its way. It will take the American car business into a whole new orbit."

That orbit looked so bright at the beginning.

GM engineers were going head to head with the Japanese in sub-compact automobiles. In the early 80's, General Motors spent billions to re-invent and re-energize the company with the Saturn brand.

Talking to reporters in 1982, GM Chairman Roger Smith said, "This car we hope will be less labor intensive, less material intensive, less capital intensive and less everything intensive."

Twenty-one states, including Ohio, tried to get the Saturn plant built in their backyard. Thirteen thousand jobs were eventually created, millions of dollars pumped into the economy.

But as GM went deeper into debt, the company announced that it was going to jettison the Saturn Brand.

In June, Roger Penske said he was ready to buy Saturn to keep the company moving forward.

Penske boasted that, "We can be at 200,000 vehicles over the next couple years at Saturn."

That won't happen. GM pulled the plug with Penske Wednesday. That means 350 Saturn dealerships, including 4 here in Northeast Ohio, will be forced to shut down.

Many Saturn owners, like Caitlin Kollar, say they feel betrayed by GM's decision.

Kollar said, "We heard GM was getting rid of the brand. But then we heard they were going to sell it or it was going to stay on it's own. So I wasn't worried. But then today, I found out, and I was really bummed out."

Kollar added, "Now I am a little concerned about what I'm going to do."

Many Saturn owners say they have been loyal to the brand for years.

Darlene Cabot has owned several Saturn vehicles and said, "The only American car I'll buy is a Saturn. If Saturn goes away, I'll buy Toyota or Honda."

"I loved my Saturn cars," she added, "they were really dependable".

Dean Feliciano shook his head as he loaded groceries into his Saturn. "This is ridiculous isn't it. It was a waste of money wasn't it? Way to go, GM." 

GM said today that its Saturn dealers had already signed a "wind-down agreement."

No date given yet for the closing of the 350 dealerships.