DETROIT — General Motors will “move quickly” to wind down the Saturn brand after a deal to sell the line unexpectedly fell through, the company’s treasurer said Thursday.
The automaker is eager to shed the four money-losing brands — Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab — slated to go as part of GM’s government-run restructuring.
GM had hoped to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive Group, but the deal collapsed Wednesday after Penske failed to secure an agreement to have France’s Renault supply autos for dealers once GM stops building Saturns in about two years.
Without a buyer for the brand, the Saturn dealer network will cease to exist by next October, but many dealerships could close before then.
“We will move quickly to wind down Saturn so we can get on with the four-core brand strategy,” GM Treasurer Walter Borst said, speaking at an analysts’ conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The automaker is “redoubling” efforts to finalize a deal to sell Hummer to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., and anticipates the sale will close by the end of the year, Borst said. Dow Jones Newswires
