Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, may keep Saturn as it undergoes a needed pruning of its brands, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said.

“All the options with Saturn are on the table,” Wagoner said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

The automaker has been meeting with Saturn dealers during the past month and “I hope we will come to a conclusion in the near term,” he said.

Possible asset sales and eliminating brands are part of GM’s plan to restructure its business in exchange for $13.4 billion in U.S. aid to avoid running short of operating cash. The Detroit- based automaker said Dec. 2 it was considering options for Saab and its Saturn brand and would shrink offerings for Pontiac, expanding an earlier plan to sell Hummer.

Talks on the future of the Saturn brand are still at an early stage, GM North America President Troy Clarke told reporters yesterday, adding that asset sales may be delayed until GM’s long-term outlook is more secure.

GM wants to solidify a funding plan for Saab within eight weeks and has been in talks with European governments and one automaker, Carl-Peter Forster, the Sweden-based division’s chairman, said yesterday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

“If we have an autonomous company, or quasi-autonomous company that is well-funded, the pressure to sell it is not that evident anymore,” Forster told reporters.

GM rose 12 cents to $4.15 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have declined 82 percent in the past 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Koenig in New York at wkoenig@bloomberg.net; Mike Ramsey in Detroit at mramsey6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 12, 2009 16:19 EST