DETROIT - General Motors' Saturn brand will either be sold or phased out by the end of this year, nearly two years faster than previously announced.

Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak said Tuesday the brand, once billed as a different kind of car company, most likely will be sold, given the interest of buyers who have surfaced. She says GM will take bids until June 1.

GM has said it wants to sell or get rid of Saturn, Hummer and Saab as it restructures, so it can once again become profitable. It's also getting rid of the Pontiac brand.

In February, the company said it would keep Saturn going through the end of the 2011 model year, which is late summer in 2011.

But because of the interested buyers and demands to restructure faster, GM decided to pull the sale deadline forward, Lajdziak said.

GM is living on $15.4 billion in federal loans and must win concessions from its unions, reduce debt and make other cost-cutting moves before a June 1 government deadline.

The company has said it will shed the brands, cut jobs and close more factories as it tries to prove to the government it is worthy of additional loan money. If it can't meet the deadline, GM will head into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.