Swedish Government Says No to Money for Saab, Bankruptcy Likely

I'd prefer that to our tax dollars going to help basically a Swedish company.
We have to save our tax dollars to help those that took out $200,000 in 'equity' when they refinanced their homes.....

I agree about the case study. I hope there is life after bankruptcy for carmakers.

Megacompanies cannot run boutique companies/niche products. Volvo & Mazda semi-flourished under Ford b/c Ford left them the hell alone for the most part and just stole their good manufacturing pieces.

GM manhandled Saab & then ran it into the ground. The Swedish government has every right to be offended.

That said, there is a chance to make Saab viable again if the government's willing to get into the business of making cars...I think the Saab = Apple idea is viable.

Good for the Swedes! At least someone in SOME government is wise enough to realize that a government shouldn't be running a car manufacturer.

This ridiculous bailout of the two Detroit dinosaurs has "British Leyland" written all over it.

Well we now definitely know that Saab was born from Jets. GM is letting it fly away!

Why do so many seem to think Saab is all GM's doing? Saab was losing money when GM bought them, and eventually became profitable afterward. So if GM is responsible for their situation now, then they should similarly be credited with their past success. I am not a Saabist or Saabophile, nor a GM apologist. I just think there are so many mis-perceptions out there, many of which stem from a near religious hatred of GM.

I don't think anyone's saying that GM screwed Saab up in the first place. We're saying they shouldn't be asking for the Swedish governments help on this.

As Minister Olofsson said, it seems like GM has "removed its hand from Saab". Implying that they once had a hold on the company, but is now relinquishing it because the entire industry is bad. I'm sure it was a blow to Swedish pride when an American company stepped in and took their beloved Saab from them.

A side note: it's interesting that Obama was touting the "Swedish banking model" just the other day, and now Sweden is saying "no" to bailing out a car company. Little ironic, no?

The acquisition of Saab by GM at the time reminded me of the Japanese buying American real estate and art at inflated prices in the 1980's, and then complaining that they had been fleeced with their eyes wide shut.

Saab always was an over-rated marque, valued more for its poseur value than anything else.

And, I should know, I had a 1988 900S turbo that gave me more trouble than any Ford which ever came out of River Rouge, and I stupidly defended it because I appreciated its snob value enough to ignore its ineffectiveness for three years. In 1992 I traded it for a new Accord EX which was more economical, much more reliable, faster, more stylish, handled better, and depreciated about half as much, all at the same time.

Let the Swedish auto workers and government go their own way, and see how they like dealing with bosses from Mumbai and Beijing. But, I doubt that American Poseurs will want to own a car built by the Chinese any more than one built by GM.

Sic transit Saab, and good riddance.

Snob value of a Saab??? poseur value???

I've known a number of Saab owners of the years and none of them bought the car for image. Quite the opposite really.

Saabs were alway quirky understated cars compared to their German competitors.

I'll miss Saab but I've been seeing this coming for a while.

It will be a sad day for all of those who don't like to go through life driving the same bland cars as everyone else.