saturn cars
General Motors Co. is offering deep discounts on its remaining Saturn and Pontiac vehicles as it looks to move the leftover inventory of the soon-to-be-dead brands, according to a published report.
The automaker will pay dealers $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac left on their lot if the vehicle is moved to dealer-operated rental or service fleets, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited a letter mailed to dealers.
The decision to discount Saturns and Pontiacs comes as GM closes down both brands under the Detroit automaker's restructuring plan. The shutdown of Pontiac was announced earlier in the year. GM announced this fall it would discontinue Saturn after a deal collapsed to sell the brand to Penske Automotive Group Inc.
Sales of Saturn and Pontiac have declined sharply this year. Saturn sales have plunged 61.5 percent through November, according to Autodata Corp. Pontiac sales have slid 32.3 percent. GM's companywide decline is 31.8 percent.
The incentive brings Saturn's cheapest vehicle, the Astra compact car, to $9,495. Henderson, however, cautioned that the final price of the vehicles might be different.
GM's typical offers discounts that are much smaller. According to the auto research Web site Edmunds.com, GM's incentive spending in November totaled $4,270 per vehicle, on average.
General Motors Co. is offering deep discounts on its remaining Saturn and Pontiac vehicles as it looks to move the leftover inventory of the soon-to-be-dead brands, according to a published report.
The automaker will pay dealers $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac left on their lot if the vehicle is moved to dealer-operated rental or service fleets, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited a letter mailed to dealers.
The decision to discount Saturns and Pontiacs comes as GM closes down both brands under the Detroit automaker's restructuring plan. The shutdown of Pontiac was announced earlier in the year. GM announced this fall it would discontinue Saturn after a deal collapsed to sell the brand to Penske Automotive Group Inc.
Sales of Saturn and Pontiac have declined sharply this year. Saturn sales have plunged 61.5 percent through November, according to Autodata Corp. Pontiac sales have slid 32.3 percent. GM's companywide decline is 31.8 percent.
The incentive brings Saturn's cheapest vehicle, the Astra compact car, to $9,495. Henderson, however, cautioned that the final price of the vehicles might be different.
GM's typical offers discounts that are much smaller. According to the auto research Web site Edmunds.com, GM's incentive spending in November totaled $4,270 per vehicle, on average.
