“I think that Saturn is going to be very strong in the near future,” said Greg Hodges Jr. “It went the best that it could have went for Saturn, with Penske, good business person, good stability.”

Saturn of Augusta on Gordon Highway employs 25 people and is part of the Charleston-based Stokes-Hodges dealer group.

Penske Automotive Group is the second largest publicly-traded automotive retailer in the United States. The Detroit-based firm has 310 dealerships.

GM on Tuesday announced that it had sold another of its brands, Hummer, to a Chinese company, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.

Mr. Hodges said he’s pleased Saturn will remain an American automaker.

“The good thing is (GM) kept it in the United States. Instead of selling to a Chinese or Indian company, they sold the brand to an American company, which sticks to the heritage of the company,” Mr. Hodges said.

Mr. Hodges said he was optimistic that Saturn would continue, but there was always some worry that the brand would die at the end of the year when GM said it would stop making the vehicles.