GM Planning to Revive Saturn?

Although it was initially thought that Saturn is just one of the divisions supposed to bite the dust during recession times, it may seem like its parent firm General Motors may take a chance on the American automaker. Speculations on this matter were started straight by an official source as Mark LaNeve, General Motors' US sales chief, pointed that the Saturn brand may be kept alive next year until the company “finds the right business model.”

General Motors initially announced that it plans to consider its options regarding Saturn, including selling the company, closing or merging it with another carmaker.

"We have a very successful consumer brand with Saturn. We need to find the right business model. We are completely behind Saturn,” LaNeve was quoted as saying during a broadcast to dealers by Dow Jones Newswires. According to Just-auto, GM's sales chief also acknowledged that hundreds of Saturn customers sent letters to the company, asking General Motors to keep the brand alive. In addition, Saturn currently owns a strong network of dealerships, which could be easily used by GM to revive the brand, LaNeve said.

On the other hand, LaNeve also gave us a few hints regarding the early 2009 market strategy, explaining that General Motors plans to offer “aggressive” incentives in order to clear out the 2008 stocks of cars and trucks and make room for new models.

"We need to sell to generate cash. We will be aggressive. Please, sell like crazy,” he told to dealerships attending to the meeting.

Talking about chances to sell Saab and Hummer brands, General Motors' chief of sales said there is no new information available for the time being, but more details regarding the company's efforts to “get rid” of the two divisions should be unveiled by the end of March 2009.