Last Auto News – Saturn Gets a Stay of Execution

Last Auto News –

Despite promising Congress that it would sell or close its underperforming Saturn brand, General Motors apparently plans to keep the Saturn line alive until 2012. The General will not, however, promise to put much work into keeping it viable.

Motor Trend explains, “General Motors’ Saturn brand will live to see a few more years, according to company officials who disclosed the information to dealers late last week. During the 90-minute meeting, executives stated that Saturn has been allocated enough funding for it to survive until 2012, possibly 2013.” However, Autoblog cautions, “The Saturns currently being produced might not get any new updates or engineering before then.” Saturn dealers will apparently have to survive selling 2009 models in a 2012 market — long after revolutionary models like the Chevy Volt may have revitalized the rest of GM’s brands.

The brand will attempt to stay alive by streamlining its operations, not improving its cars. Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak told Motor Trend that “the brand’s main focus this year is to revise its business structure to allow it to be more efficient and ultimately, profitable … A more definitive future outline should be determined in three to four weeks time.”

Profitability could be challenging for Saturn. Autoblog points out that that milestone has only been reached “once in Saturn’s 20 years.” The news, then, probably doesn’t mean Saturn will survive indefinitely. “It…means that Saturn could still be killed, it simply won’t happen for another three or four years.”

Still, bargain-hunters should keep an eye on Saturn dealerships. As grim news about the company’s future continues to emerge, foot traffic in Saturn dealerships is likely to decline even further — and prices will drop along with it. Research the best car deals with U.S. News’ car rankings and reviews.