Local Saturn stores could consolidate

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp.'s Saturn brand will either be sold or phased out by the end of this year, nearly two years faster than previously announced, the brand's top executive said.

Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak on Tuesday said the brand, once billed as a different kind of car company, most likely will be sold, given the interest of several buyers who have surfaced. She says GM will take other bids for the brand until June 1.

The news shouldn't immediately affect operations among local Saturn dealers.

Tyler Corder, chief financial officer of Findlay Automotive Group, said the dealer would consider consolidating its two Saturn stores on Gibson Road and West Sahara Avenue into one location, but it's not a move the company would make soon.

"We're monitoring the situation closely, and we're in contact with the government and GM," Corder said. "There are several interested (Saturn) buyers, but we're not sure how it's going to work. We're waiting to make a decision until we know what's happening."

GM has said it wants to sell or get rid of Saturn, Hummer and Saab as it restructures, so it can once again become profitable.

In February, the company said it would keep Saturn going through the end of the 2011 model year, which is late summer in 2011.

But because of the interested buyers and demands to restructure faster, GM decided to pull the sale deadline forward, Lajdziak said.

GM is living on $15.4 billion in federal loans and must win concessions from its unions, reduce debt and make other cost-cutting moves before a June 1 government deadline.

The company has said it will shed the brands, cut jobs and close more factories as it tries to prove to the government it is worthy of additional loan money. If it can't meet the deadline, GM will head into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Lajdziak would not say when GM expects to announce a Saturn sale, but conceded the company will be on a fast timeline to complete a deal by the end of the year.

Review-Journal writer Jennifer Robison contributed to this report.