As you surely know by now, GM has successfully entered into a binding agreement with Spyker Cars to transfer ownership of Saab.
You will read many happy quotes from happy executives about how happy this makes them. And it's hard to imagine who might be angry with the deal right about now, except maybe one Mr. Koenigsegg. Or maybe he's the happiest of all. Time will tell. The one thing we're most happy about is that the survival of the Saab brand will mean that lazy automotive journalists will continue to use one of the industry's most time-honored headline-writing cliches: A Saab Story.
Anyway, here are some of those details we promised you in our headline:
-- Spyker will pay GM $74 million in two installments: $50 million at the completion of the deal (hoped for mid-February) and $24 million on July 15, 2010.
-- Additionally, GM will retain $326 million worth of redeemable preference shares in the company.
-- According the GM's John Smith, "There is additional consideration for GM as well." He won't be talking about what that might be.
-- GM will provide power train components to the new entity "for the long term."
-- GM will provide the 9-4X crossover, which shares its underpinnings with the Cadillac SRX
-- The new entity will continue to build the new 9-5, a few of which are currently being built in Sweden. Full production is expected to begin in April.
-- GM will provide "transition-oriented" engineering services.
-- Mr. N. Antonov, a Russian investor in Spyker that reportedly gave GM the creeps, has been bought out and will retire as a member of Spyker's Supervisory Board effective when the deal with GM is closed.
-- GM assures owners in the U.S. that there will be no lapse in warranty coverage during the switchover in ownership.
desmolicious says:
01:29 PM, 01/26/10
"Mr. N. Antonov, a Russian investor in Spyker that reportedly gave GM the creeps"
C'mon, ya gotta follow up on that story line!
efinils2 says:
02:00 PM, 01/26/10
Great news! Now please, redesign the 9-3, as it has been sitting pretty a little too long. On the other hand, so what happens to the Chinese that bought the tooling equipment? Do they get to keep it?
brn says:
03:31 PM, 01/26/10
If Spyker has a 18.5% stake and GM has a 81.5% stake, how is that a transfer of ownership?
bodyblue says:
04:29 PM, 01/26/10
What a waste in time and money....SAAB is dead...let it die. I ceased to mean anything years and years ago......it is not even a niche product any more....it is just a failure.....just like GM. Kill them both.