bye bye saab

[stover]

GM is shutting down Saab

NEW YORK (AP) -- General Motors Co. said Friday it will shut down Saab after talks to sell the brand to a Dutch carmaker collapsed, marking the third time this year that a deal by GM to sell an unwanted brand has fallen through.



GM said it had a small window of time to complete the deal and issues arose during the sale talks with Spyker Cars that could not be resolved. GM Vice President John Smith said representatives from GM, Spyker and the Swedish government were still in discussions Friday morning when talks fell apart. Smith declined to elaborate on the reasons.



"We've been trying to restart, if you will, an investment process without a great deal of time," Smith, who is in charge of GM's corporate planning and alliances, said during a conference call with reporters. "Like everybody, we would have preferred a different outcome, and we all worked very hard for that different outcome and we've come up short."



Spyker said the sale proved too complicated to complete quickly.



"We worked 24/7 for three weeks, but the complexity of the transaction in combination with the strict deadline simply did not allow us to complete the transaction" in a timely fashion, CEO Victor Muller said in a statement.



Saab employs about 3,400 people worldwide, most of whom work at its main plant in Trollhatten, Sweden. It also has a parts distribution center and a design center in separate locations in Sweden and an engine plant in Finland.



The brand has 1,100 dealers, whom GM said will continue to honor warranties as the brand winds down.



"It's devastating. It was a very unique brand," said Ray Ciccolo, owner of two Saab dealerships in the Boston area, one of which has been in business since 1957.



The announcement marks the death of brand with a small yet loyal following. To enthusiasts, the Swedish company became appreciated for quirks like placing the ignition lock between the front seats rather than on the steering column. It was the first to offer heated seating in 1971.



GM bought a 50 percent stake and management control of Saab for $600 million after it split from Swedish truck maker Scania in 1989. It bought full ownership in 2000 for $125 million. But even after the GM takeover, Saab remained closely associated with Sweden and its history of making safe, reliable cars.



GM never made money on the acquisition and industry analysts complained that under GM, Saab lost its uniqueness in the crowded luxury segment.



GM first sought a buyer for Saab in January as part of its restructuring, which included plans to cut the number of its brands to four from eight. It was previously in talks to sell Saab to a consortium led by the Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB, but it turned to Spyker after Koenigsegg withdrew from the talks in November.



GM's Smith said it is possible other buyers could emerge, adding that the brand still has vehicles in development "that might be attractive to some folks." But no such buyers have stepped forward and the liquidation of the brand will begin in early January.



"I can't rule it out, but I guess the clock starts now ... on those kinds of expressions of interest," Smith said. He declined to say how much the wind down of the brand might cost.



On Monday, China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings -- originally part of the Koenigsegg consortium -- announced it had agreed to buy some powertrain technology from Saab. It gave no details of costs or timing of that purchase.



On Friday, Beijing Autos said it wants to explore further cooperation with GM's Saab Automobile such as "new energy vehicles." However, Smith said the company has not shown any interest in buying the rest of the brand.



The Swedish government called the decision "surprising and regretful."



"It's GM who took this decision, on their own grounds, and they have to answer to that by themselves," Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson said at a news conference in Trollhattan.



Stefan Lofven, head of the Swedish industrial workers' union IF Metall, said the news came as a shock.



"I had believed in that this possibility (Spyker) could work, even though there had been some speculation circulating about its viability," Lofven said.



Hakan Johansson, a Saab worker at the Trollhattan plant, told broadcaster Swedish Radio that the announcement "is not a good Christmas gift."



GM's failure to sell Saab is the third deal to sell an unwanted brand that has fallen through this year.



In September, auto dealership chain owner Roger Penske scrapped plans to buy Saturn after an agreement to get cars from France's Renault fell through. GM is now phasing out Saturn.



GM's board last month ended a deal to sell the European Opel brand to a group led by Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc., fearing that Opel was too heavily integrated into GM's global operations and that GM technology would fall into the hands of competitors.



GM will keep and restructure Opel, which unlike Saab, is considered critical to its international vehicle development.



One success has been GM's effort to sell Hummer. The brand is going to Chinese heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp.



Niche brands like Saab have been especially hard hit by the drop in auto sales as the few customers in the market are looking for more mainstream models, said Rebecca Lindland, auto industry analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight.



Those difficulties make it hard for GM to sell off some of its smaller brands as restructures. GM failed to find a buyer for Saturn earlier this year and backed off plans to sell Opel to a consortium of buyers.



"This is a bad time to sell your house and it is a bad time to sell car companies," Lindland said. "This market is incredibly challenging right now because these are capital intensive purchases."



Sales of Saab cars reached its all-time high in 2006, when GM sold 133,000 cars globally. Since then sales dwindled to 125,000 in 2007 and 93,000 in 2008.



In the U.S., Saab sold 7,812 cars through November this year, down 61 percent from the same period last year. Most of those sales came from two models, the 9-7X SUV and the 9-3 sports sedan.



Associated Press Writers Stephen Manning in Washington and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.

source: http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...alks-collapse/

[Scapegoat]

meh...

[FocusDude]

I'm not a huge Saab fan, but those old ugly ass hatches were awesome, and I would not mind having one. My uneducated opinion is that GM drove Saab in to the ground- Just seems there was more respect for the brand prior to GM's takeover.

[R_Rambo]

I liked the new 9-3 but the aero had an msrp of 45k just a bit too hefty and even then 9-3 non areo were still in the 30k region new. People just dont want to spend that much on cars right now which explains why sales were down 61%

[ndubz]

This sucks. Why doesnt the sweedish government just take them over

[Z31Fanatic]

Originally Posted by ndubz

This sucks. Why doesnt the sweedish government just take them over

How can the swedish government take over when Saab is owned by GM?



Oh wait, they can't because Obama is not their president

[ndubz]

Originally Posted by Z31Fanatic

How can the swedish government take over when Saab is owned by GM?



Oh wait, they can't because Obama is not their president

Because sweden is a socialist economy, and Saab is a swedish brand. Therefore they should buy Saab from GM, especially considering they already own a good portion of saab as a company.

[Bender]

Very very sad - never be another Viggen...


Being socialist does not mean they would want to buy a poor investment.

[jjm4life]

Originally Posted by Bender

Being socialist does not mean they would want to buy a poor investment.

tell that to obama

sucks to see saab go. i bet most of the 9k cars they sold this year was in new england. i dont know what it is, but saabs have always been so popular up here.

[itsSTock69]

Originally Posted by FocusDude

My uneducated pinion is that GM drove Saab in to the ground- Just seems there was more respect for the brand prior to GM's takeover.

Eh, not so much. Saab was in pretty bad shape before GM even stepped in. You can make the argument that GM took away Saab's quirkyness/uniqueness by sharing parts and designs across the other divisions, but those moves also led to a boost in sales, albeit only temporarily. There is a good chance that Saab would have folded a long time ago if they didn't get purchased by GM in the first place.

[Evo8kid]

The best thing GM ever did

[vdcoff]

i hate GM, but i love my car so oh well

[mckchr67]

I would agree that saab was on the downward spin long before GM got involved with them. GM, mainly gave a better parts basis for all the non-reliable and poorly made parts. I know everything I have fixed on my car has been made a heck of a lot cheaper due to having GM related parts. I will say that my Saab is the best economy/daily beater car I will ever own.

[BOOSTTECH]

Very true..... i work next to a saab that started packin up well over a month ago