GM Buys 50% of Penske’s VM Motori Diesel Maker
July 17, 2007

General Motors announced Monday it had reached a joint venture agreement with Penske Corp. to purchase 50 percent equity of VM Motori S.p.A, a designer and manufacturer of diesel engines based in Cento, Italy.

This investment builds on GM’s existing relationship with VM Motori. At the Geneva Motor Show in March, GM announced it will jointly develop a new 2.9-liter V6 turbodiesel engine with VM Motori to launch in the 2009 Cadillac CTS in Europe.

That engine could make its way across the Atlantic in the next-generation Cadillac CTS and the Saturn Aura. Last week, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in his FastLane blog that GM would introduce diesels in a Cadillac sedan and a Saturn with rollout to crossovers and other models to follow.

“Diesel engines have a very important role in GM's global advanced propulsion strategy,” said Tom Stephens, group vice president, GM Global Powertrain and Quality. “We are leveraging expertise and resources within our company and through technology partners to ensure we develop the world’s best powertrains.”

GM currently offers 17 diesel engine variants in 45 vehicle lines around the world. GM sells more than 1 million diesel engines annually, with products that offer a range of choices from the 1.3-liter four-cylinder diesel engine sold in the Opel Agila and Corsa, up to the 6.6L V8 Duramax diesel sold in full-size vans, heavy-duty pickups and medium-duty trucks in the U.S.

VM Motori, founded in 1947, specializes in engine design and production for a variety of uses, including light commercial vehicles. Detroit-based Penske Corp., headed by racecar team owner and entrepreneur Roger Penske, is in the transportation and retail car sales and services business. Penske was granted the distribution rights by Mercedes-Benz to distribute the Smart car in the U.S.

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