It may still fly, if a buyer surfaces.
General Motors Corporation is apparently growing more confident that it can sell its Saturn brand. GM said Monday morning that there are a number of competing bids for Saturn, and there is sufficient interest to complete a deal prior to the end of the year.
“The process to sell (Saturn) is moving ahead,” GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson told TheDetroitBureau.com, saying it planned to move forward with the disposition of the Saturn distribution network, which is partially owned by the GM and Saturn dealers.
“A number of potential buyers have surfaced and expressed interest in the Saturn brand and retail network. GM will be reviewing expressions of interest from the potential buyers and will look to secure an agreement with a specific buyer later this year,” GM said in a statement.
GM said it had retained S.J. Girsky & Company of New York to act as an advisor for this transaction. Saturn will continue to keep its retailers updated on its progress throughout this process, GM said.
Saturn currently has about 400 dealerships and the number has been declining, as smaller dealers give up on the brand in the wake of the announcement GM would try to sell the network.
The most likely buyer for Saturn is an automaker that doesn’t yet have a presence in the U.S., according to once source, who asked for anonymity.
The Saturn distribution network was created in the early 1990s when GM launched the new brand. It was a way of giving dealers who committed to building Saturn stores an “ownership” stake in the “new kind of car company.”
Wilkinson, however, said GM was not prepared to sell off the historic Pontiac nameplate. “We are not entertaining offers for Pontiac. The announcement was that we were phasing it out, not soliciting offers from potential buyers,” Wilkinson emphasized.
At least one offer for the Pontiac name has surfaced since last week when GM chief executive Fritz Henderson said struggling automaker was prepared to close down the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010 as part of GM’s ongoing restructuring.
A GM dealer from Flint, Michigan, said he was interested acquiring the Pontiac name. There is also some thought that other manufacturers could be interested in the 82-year nameplate with its long history of power and performance.
GM also in the process of selling or closing its Hummer and Saab units; and is also trying to sell its Opel and Vauxhall brands, as part of a separate deal that would restructure GM of Europe.