If you have always wanted a new Saturn, Pontiac, or Saab, this could be your week. Until January 4, GM will be liquidating its discontinued brands, some for almost 50% off. StreetInsider has more:
General Motors Co. needs to move large inventories of discontinued Saturn and Pontiac vehicles and plans to offer dealers large incentives to do so, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The move to liquidate these products could inflate the company’s December sales and offer a cost cut of up to 46 percent off of the sticker price for buyers.
In what is being billed as a year-end fire sale, GM has informed dealers that it will pay the $7,000 for every new Pontiac or Saturn that is moved to rental or service fleets that are operated by the dealers. This will allow the vehicles to be sold at a more attractive price as a used automobile as technically the dealership would be the first owner.
This move will speed up the restructuring process of GM, but will increase the cost of deleting the two brands. The cost of this move has not yet been disclosed publicly.
GM has an estimated two to three months of inventory of Pontiac and Saturn vehicles on the lots totaling 14,500 new automobiles according to Ward’s Auto Reports. Another car-data service, Edmunds estimates that the incentives will allow the company to sell 10,300 cars to reduce inventory to 4,200.
Kiplinger’s Finance (via Time) reports on some of the better fire-sale deals:
GM is offering the biggest discounts on its dying Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands. You can get up to $3,500 back or 0% financing on a Pontiac Vibe small wagon (the Toyota Matrix’s twin). The 2009 Saturn Aura, a midsize sedan built on the same platform as the Chevy Malibu, has a hefty $4,000 rebate. And Saab 9-3 and 9-5 models come with up to $7,000 cash back to customers, as dealers try to unload inventory in the wake of uncertainty about Saab’s future.
Would-be car buyers are understandably concerned about the prospects of buying a car that won’t be made in the near future. Will warranties be valid even after the brand is discontinued? Will parts be available when repairs are necessary? Will it be easy to find a mechanic who knows how to fix the car? Will the resale or trade-in value of the car hold up?
The answers to those questions, respectively, are yes, probably yes, probably yes, and probably no.
GM’s liquidation could be a killer deal for the right person.
