General Motors is itching to get rid of Saturn, according to a recent Auto News report. The big G is looking to close out Saturn Auto Makers & dealers by the Spring of 2010, March to be exact. This is contrary (or an update) from original reports that GM would hold onto Saturn until October 2010.

“All of our efforts will be to sell down our remaining 2009 inventory,” said Susan Docherty, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales, “We’ll have a little bit of carryover of that into the first quarter of 2010, but the objective is to keep our inventory somewhere between 425,000 to 450,000 units.” General Motors will most likely clear out the 2009-model-year inventory by January. The company will shutter its Pontiac and Saturn brands by the end of the first quarter, Docherty said. GM has about 10,000 Pontiac left and 8,000 Saturns. “We’re actually winding down those products quicker than we had anticipated,” she added.

According to CNN: “Car dealership operator Penske Automotive Group announced on Wednesday that it has canceled plans to acquire General Motors’ Saturn unit. As a result, GM said it will wind down the brand and dealer network, potentially putting 13,000 Saturn dealership jobs at risk. The announcement comes nearly four months after Penske agreed to buy the rights to the 19-year old brand from GM when the automaker was in bankruptcy.

As part of the deal, GM would have continued making Saturn’s three best-selling models — the Aura sedan, as well as the Vue and Outlook cross-over SUVs — for the rest of this year and next. Penske, which would have been the distributor but not the manufacturer of the vehicles, would have sold the cars on behalf of GM. Penske said it would find another third-party manufacturer to make new Saturns in 2011.

But negotiations with another, unnamed manufacturer fell through after an agreement was rejected by that manufacturer’s board, according to Penske. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the manufacturer in question is Renault.” It seems Saturn will go the way of Pontiac by the end of 2010 or sometime in 2011. And much like Pontiac, Sat. had plenty of potential, but in a world where car makers merge/close at the drop of a dime (literally) anything is possible.

Remember earlier this year when we announced moving van renters Penske would buy out Saturn & possible keep it alive? Well, it’s still on…allegedly. A recent Automotive News (sub. req.) article talked of Roger Penske, 72, an auto magnate who saved Detroit Diesel, will take control of the cast-off General Motors brand. No one at the company will speak of this takeover until after the deal goes through, which could happen this week…maybe. Dealers already know if Penske takes up the challenge, he intends to remake Saturn with less generous operating rules and a smaller factory organization to support it.

The car maker is ready for a makeover – and probably has no choice in the matter. We may know more by week’s end – and hope Saturn can still be saved.

pic: TopSpeed

There’s still a chance for Opel; rumors have bounced around since 2006 & 2007 that Cadillac and Chevy will take on Opel designs as their own. But for now Buick and Saturn are out, but let’s pray Opel isn’t.

We’ve had the idea of turning unsold Saturn SUV’s like the Vue into moving vans for new owner Penske – but one cartoonist has a viral photo that gives us an even better function for leftover Saturn cars. Or maybe this is a leaked concept for their 2012 Vue model. Regardless, I think everyone would like to see this go into production as soon as the economy turns around…hmm, maybe Saturn should make that a 2015 model.

Now Penske Automotive Group (who statistically sell the second most amount of new cars in America, along with truck leasing, shipping/logistics and racing) and at the head of this “Let’s Buy Saturn” pact. Penske has a pretty good history with car brands – they handled the introduction of Smart in North America and the turnaround of Detroit Diesel from a money-losing operation into profit-generation. Roger Penske, chairman of the company, has some stiff competition when it comes to picking up Saturn, but he’s got a pretty nice track record to back him up.

According to Kicking Tires: “The company also said it would stop producing new Saturns after the 2009 model year and Hummers by the end of 2009. Previously, GM had said it would build Saturn through 2011. The 2009 model year is currently being sold; GM generally switches over to the new model year during the summer. This means no new Saturns – and likely no new Hummers – will roll off assembly lines after this summer.”

GM has been attempting to sell both brands without much success. Saturn dealers, however, are reportedly attempting to buy the rights to their brand name from GM and spin off a separate company that would sell cars from many different automakers.

The imminent closure of the brands may mean aggressive incentives to help sell the last models. Experts, however, caution consumers not to expect too much too soon. Jesse Toprak, senior industry analyst with Edmunds.com, told the Detroit News, “The best prices and deals on Pontiacs and other dying brands are going to be in the months to come, not right away.” Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds, adds that “buyers will find the best bargains if they’re willing to be flexible on color and amenities.”

The proposal from a group led by Black Oak Partners LLC is among several that GM has received for the brand, said GM spokesman Mike Morrissey.

“We are working with all those groups,” Morrissey said. “It’s too early to speculate as to what the ultimate outcome is going to be.”

Jennifer Threet, a spokeswoman for the Black Oak group, said it delivered a proposal to GM last week and is awaiting a formal meeting.

The group said in a statement issued Wednesday that it would get vehicles from GM initially, but it expects to sell smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles from other global manufacturers.

GM put the Saturn brand up for review and possible sale last year. The company must shed Saturn and other brands as part of its restructuring plan to justify billions in government loans that it needs to stay in business.

Carl F. Galeana, who owns two Saturn dealerships north of Detroit, said the interest shows that the Saturn brand is worth something despite GM’s willingness to part with it.

“There’s people out there that realize that Saturn is a valuable brand. It’s telling our customers that Saturn is going to be there in the long run,” he said.

Morrissey would not disclose the other potential buyers, saying that most are covered by nondisclosure clauses in their contracts.

Sheldon Sandler, managing director of Bel Air Partners, a New Jersey-based firm that helps car dealers find options when they want out of the business, said it’s tough to evaluate Black Oak’s offer without knowing what kind of commitment and resources it would be willing to put into Saturn.

But Sandler said that such a deal would create something completely new, because an independent company would be telling manufacturers what to make for its dealerships, rather than the manufactures deciding what goes on dealer lots.

“It’s upside down from what the traditional distribution process looked like,” Sandler said. “I think it’s exciting.”

GM said in a restructuring plan submitted to the government in February that it will only keep Saturn running through the 2011 model year, but it’s open to the possibility of spinning off the brand to retailers or investors. It had placed the brand under review for possible sale in December.

Saturn’s 440 U.S. and Canadian dealers, with laid-back salesmen and no-haggle pricing, often match luxury brands’ scores in independent customer satisfaction surveys. Their locations could be a ready retail network for a foreign automaker to come to the U.S.

In a statement, the Black Oak group said it would form a new Saturn Distribution Co. that would keep a vehicle design function but will not manufacture vehicles. Designers would help other automakers tailor their products to Saturn’s style and customer needs, the statement said.

The new Saturn would offer vehicles from global manufacturers that would be sold in most cases under the Saturn brand, the statement said.

According to World Car Fans & Buickpedia: News just in is that General Motors is considering placing Opel badges on some Buick vehicles and then selling them to customers in America. One of the first cars nominated as a candidate for this is the Opel Insignia, say people close to GM’s product plans. It would enter the US as a Buick Regal sedan if this happened.

Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, told Automotive News that Opel is one of GM’s brands that could provide her brands with some good product leveraging.