Detroit's brand chopping list

Saab 9-3X SportCombi

Why keep it: Why bother selling it? Saab makes some nice cars, but its market share is so small it probably wouldn't get much in a sale, especially in the current market where money to do almost anything is hard to come by.

Why dump it:: GM needs to look like it's doing something to return to viability. Whatever GM does with Saab might make little real difference, in the end, but it will allow GM to show that it is shedding non-core brands.

And Saab might be easier to extricate from the rest of GM than, say, Buick or GMC, since most Saabs are more clearly differentiated from other GM products.

NEXT: Saturn