Saab rescue

[Flummo]

Yes, it seems that Koenigsegg (with investors backing them up) is about to become the owner of SAAB. The details are not done yet, but hopefully that will work out just fine.

Even being swedish, I have not really liked the SAABs from the last 30 years, but now I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe this can lead to SAABs with descent performance... =D>

[Giblet]

Aren't Saabs just Suburus now?

Is the Saab marque just a name or do they still have a line of their own cars as well?

Koenigsegg surprises me... I didn't think a super car manufacturer would be making enough money in these current financial times.

I love driving the CCX in sims and racing games.

[Flummo]

The 9-2 "saabaru" was one of GMs (failed) attempts to sell more cars with the name SAAB. Completely ridiculus if you ask me. There are still "genuine" SAABs made, as the 9-5.

About supercar manufacturers making money thesedays: Koenigsegg manufactures very few cars, and has a waitinglist about 1½ year long if I remember correctly. If one or another buyer decides to not buy a car because of the financial situation Koenigsegg will still have more orders than they need to work at 100% capacity. And, besides, for the people buying this kind of cars a couple of millions more or less in the bank won't make much diffrence anyway.

[modbaraban]

Will all Saabs go mad now? Geez. What's next, TVR buys Vauxhall?

[WhiteBlue]

Geez. What's next, TVR buys Vauxhall?

I believe that Vauxhall is in the Opel package which is likely to go to a Russian bank with Magna being the managing partner.

[jon-mullen]

Kind of like if Ferarri owned Fiat instead of the other way around.

Somewhere xpensive is writing a very very long post. Let's hope he doesn't see this.

[Belatti]

Kind of like if Ferarri owned Fiat instead of the other way around.

Somewhere xpensive is writing a very very long post. Let's hope he doesn't see this.

He maybe occupied f***ing his bosses wife in a Porsche. Its a hard thing to do... unless the Porsche is a Cayenne

BTW, some time ago I heard about Porsche buying VW-Audi... I know Porsches are xpensive but I didnt know that bussines was that profitable, whe you think about VW-Audi-Lambo-SEAT you think about a big big volume of cars.

[sebbe]

Porsche buying VW-Audi...

Yeap, you're completely right about that. It was the idea before crisis, now they've changed their minds. Moreover, there are some Saudis investing in Porsche to leverage it.

About Koenigsegg buying Saab... I don't know what to say about it. I'm glad it's not Gell-O o some kind of another fictitious Chinese company belonging to the Chinese Government.

I sure love my 900 and I hope to go back to Trollhättan to spend another day at the car museum.

Saab = Slår alla andra bilar!

[PNSD]

Saab Automotive and Saab Aerospace are complete seperate entities arnt they? Thats why it bugs me on their adverts when they say, "We know how to keep our planes in the air, so we can use that to keep our cars on the ground"

Or something along those lines!

I have always liked Saabs, call me boring, an old man but there's something special about a well-built tank like luxary machine :p

[jon-mullen]

SAAB: Born from Jets
is the one they run here.

I like that Jerry Seinfeld is Porsche freak but on the show he always had a Saab, I guess so he wouldn't come off like a c*ck.

[xpensive]

A downright ridicilous proposal, when Koeniggsegg has no money whatsoever, never had. Those 20 cars a year rarely returned a sweating Krona, but they've been skilful at tapping the taxpayers for "development" support.

Fundings are supposed to come from some Norwegian investors with more cash than brains.
According to one of my more influential Oslo-mistresses that is.

But what the f**k, if you gonna drive straight to hell, you might as well go in first class I guess.

[tomislavp4]

I think it´s a good thing, better than some american or chinese company anyway It is said that these investors, most notably Bård Eker, have bunch of green to put on SAAB and my guess is that they want to make the brand a worthy competitior to the germans. Both SAAB and Koenigsegg have developed good biofuel engines and that could be counted as a plus if you compare them to AMG´s and M´s. We´ll have to see what happens...

[zanna]

This is good news. Maybe Saab can actually build some cool cars now. One thing for sure, they’ll be much more interesting now that Swedes will presumably do all of the design work. I just hope it doesn’t price Saab out of their current range. If they turn out to be well built and truly competitive (versus the likes of BMW, Audi, etc.), they might actually stand a chance.

[mx_tifoso]

Saab dead.

PRESS RELEASE

Saab Sale Cannot Be Concluded
Brand to be Wound Down

2009-12-18

Detroit. General Motors announced today that the intended sale of Saab Automobile AB would not be concluded. After the withdrawal of Koenigsegg Group AB last month, GM had been in discussions with Spyker Cars about its interest in acquiring Saab. During the due diligence, certain issues arose that both parties believe could not be resolved. As a result, GM will start an orderly wind-down of Saab operations.

"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution," said GM Europe President Nick Reilly. "We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars. We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner. This is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation process. Consequently, we expect Saab to satisfy debts including supplier payments, and to wind down production and the distribution channel in an orderly manner while looking after our customers."

Saab will continue to honor warranties, while providing service and spare parts to current Saab owners around the world.

As part of its efforts to become a leaner organization, GM began seeking a buyer for Saab's operations in January. Last week, Saab Automobile AB announced that it had closed on the sale of certain Saab 9-3, current 9-5 and powertrain technology and tooling to Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd. (BAIC). GM expects today's announcement to have no impact on the earlier sale.

As the company continues to reinvent itself, GM has been faced with some very difficult but necessary business decisions. The focus will remain on the four core brands – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC – and several regional brands, including Opel / Vauxhall in Europe. This will enable the company to devote more engineering and marketing resources to each brand and model.

[Ted68]

This is too bad.

GM rebadges mediocre SUVs and Subarus as SAABs for 10 years so a fine small manufacturer with more imagination and quality than GM ever had is lost. Why did GM buy them in the first place? GM should have left SAABs identity intact and built on it as Ford did with Aston, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover. Or, GM shuold have looked to see how a small manufacturer actually builds a good quality car on a smaller scale. Isn't that what they are attempting to do now with their scaled down lines and "reinvention?" Too bad they killed off years ago what they should have embraced.

My opinion is GM should shut down US manufacturing and just import it's models from it's European and Australian arms. If rebadging is all Detroit can do, let them do it. Leave the US manufacturing to light and medium duty trucks only. Thats all they've really done anyway for 30 years.