Saab Straightline Archives

Spyker has outlined its plans for Saab as the deal with General Motors inches closer to reality. There aren't any real surprises, unless you think continuing with Saab's current lineup is somehow shocking.

According to Spyker officials, it will run Saab as a separate company and it aims to send the 9-3, 9-4X and 9-5 to the U.S. market. The redesigned 9-5 is expected to arrive this summer while the 9-4X will come in early 2011 and the 9-3 in early 2012.

IL News: Spyker Outlines Saab Future Product Plan

Categories: Auto Industry,Future Vehicles,General Motors,Luxury Cars,Saab,Sedans

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.

Categories: General Motors,Saab

Yep, it's a done deal, Saab will be sold to the tiny Spyker company provided no objections rise up from any government agencies.

"Today's announcement is great news for Saab employees, dealers and suppliers, great news for millions of Saab customers and fans worldwide, and great news for GM," said John Smith, GM vice president for corporate planning and alliances.

"General Motors, Spyker Cars, and the Swedish government worked very hard and creatively for a deal that would secure a sustainable future for this unique and iconic brand, and we're all happy for the positive outcome," Smith said.

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

Even with their company on the verge of closure, a few die-hard Saab engineers are still sequestered in the Arctic Circle hoping that the mere prospect of future product might convince someone to drop a few billion dollars on GM's doorstep in exchange for Saab.

Seems a shame that a car could get so far into its development and then just disappear. Too bad they can't make a Super GT car out of it.

Categories: Auto Industry,Saab,Spy Photos,Wagons

Saab Managing Director Jan Ake Jonsson has been shown the door along with Saab's entire managing board. But not to worry, says General Motors, this is all part of the orderly wind-down process. Stephen Taylor and Peter Torngren, both of AlixPartners, the firm GM has retained to oversee the wind-down of Saab, will take the place of the executive team.

Interestingly, Jonsson has been asked to stay on and witness the slow killing of the automaker that has employed him since 1973, Automotive News reports. Jonsson became Managing Director in 2005. It's unclear what role he will play in the wind-down.

Separately, GM said it continues to "evaluate proposals" for a potential last-hour purchase of Saab. Presumably, these are the proposals from the Dutch automaker Spyker and the Luxembourg-based investment group Genii Capital, which includes Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.

This despite interim GM CEO Ed Whitacre's ominous "We are shutting down Saab" comment to reporters yesterday at the Detroit auto show.

Automotive News (sub.req)

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

Saab is staring death in the face this afternoon. General Motors interim CEO Ed Whitacre gave a grim report about the Swedish brand's future at an afternoon roundtable in Detroit.

"Just show up with the money and you can have it," he told reporters. "Nobody's come with the money. We're in the wind-down mode."

And so we gather that the unprofitable Dutch carmaker Spyker still hasn't come up with the financing to buy Saab.

"I don't really know how you can try any harder, Whitacre said further. "We've solicited buyers, we've talked to a number of people. I don't know that you could do anything more than we've done."

In other news, Whitacre predicts GM will be profitable in 2010. Also, he recently bought a Cadillac CTS-V as a personal car.

Inside Line News

Auto Observer

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

Saab enthusiasts will converge near General Motors' Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit on Tuesday to urge GM to save Saab by selling the company intact -- presumably to Spyker. Spyker CEO Victor Muller has said that January 7 is the deadline to work out a purchase deal.

The diehards plan to meet at the Ren Center food court for lunch at noon and then congregate in a public lot at the corner of Atwater and St. Antoine at 1 p.m. on Jan. 5. Consider that an open invitation if you're in Detroit and upset over the drawn-out death of the troubled Swedish automaker.

Saab History

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

Reuters is reporting that Saab will start production of the redesigned 9-5 sedan at its Trollhatten, Sweden, plant in January. Production of the 9-3 convertible will also resume, as General Motors continues to entertain purchase bids for Saab.

"We have the orders [for the new 9-5] and we have to deliver them as usual," Saab spokesman Eric Geers is quoted as saying. "We also have the orders for the 9-3 and others. The factory has to continue again."

Geers named Spyker among the active bidders, and a text message to Reuters from Spyker chairman Victor Muller indicated GM has extended the deadline to firm up a deal until January 7.

Reuters

Inside Line News

Categories: Auto Industry,Convertibles,General Motors,Saab,Sedans

We're sure no one at GM means to offend the Swedish Sweedish people whose automaker has just been put to death, and we know Twitter is all about being "in the moment," but geez, how about using spellcheck before you tweet? Or an atlas...

Categories: General Motors,Saab,Trends

It's time to start thinking about eulogies, because General Motors announced today that it will begin winding down Saab operations. The much talked about deal with Spyker is dead.

The sale of existing 9-5 and 9-3 parts and tooling to Beijing Auto (BAIC) has no effect on today's announcement and that sale will still go through as planned. (In addition, Edmunds.com's senior industry analyst Michelle Krebs has learned that never-launched models like the 9-3X above, and the redesigned 9-5 and all-new 9-4X, could indeed show up in the future if GM comes across a company wishing to buy the rights and technology for them.)

The proceeds from that sale ($197 million) will undoubtedly help ease the wind-down process. As this is not a forced liquidation, Saab should be able to make all payments to suppliers while honoring warranty commitments to customers. The company will also continue to provide service and parts for its cars worldwide (though it's unclear how many years into the future GM will continue this).

IL News -- Saab Dead: GM Says "Sale Cannot Be Concluded"

Auto Observer: GM's Sale of Saab Fails; Swedish Brand to Die

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

A report in a Swedish business journal, Dagens Industri, picked up by Automotive News, claims Beijing Automotive (BAIC) paid $197 million (1.4 billion Swedish krona) to acquire current-generation 9-5 (and select 9-3) technology and tooling.

This sum is enough to pull Saab back from the edge of financial collapse, and allow it to keep operating for 3 more months while an additional purchase deal, or deals, are made, the report indicates. The Dutch automaker Spyker is still thought to be a prospective buyer.

Saab, you'll recall, still has the rights, technology and tooling to the redesigned 9-5, at least a portion of the current 9-3 line and, we assume, the 9-4X.

Dagens Industri (in Swedish) via Automotive News

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

Updated

The Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive (BAIC) has purchased the rights to the current Saab 9-5 (pictured above, not the redesigned sedan that debuted in Frankfurt) and "certain" Saab 9-3 components, along with the tooling needed to build them, GM and Saab said in a statement this morning.

The deal does not include the rights to the Saab brand name any of the model names, so current 9-5 tooling will be shipped to China and used there to build BAIC vehicles. State-owned BAIC has never actually built its own vehicles, so it's hailing this acquisition as a landmark step toward making that a reality. 

It's unclear which 9-3 components and/or models BAIC has purchased at this point, but Saab notes that some portion of the current 9-3 line (including the convertible) will continue production in Trollhattan, Sweden. Saab says further it plans to start production of the new 9-5 there, too -- assuming a buyer(s) can be found before GM throws in the towel.  

The Financial Times reports that talks continue with other potential buyers, including the Dutch carmaker Spyker.

BAIC earlier teamed with Koenigsegg in a bid to buy all of Saab. That deal fell apart in late November.

Financial Times (sub.req)

Saab Newsroom

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab,Sedans

Updates to the Saab Twitter account are infrequent, but today the company posted a link to these photos from the redesigned Saab 9-5's tour through 12 European cities. Here we see perfectly normal people looking at the new 9-5 that might not ever be built (oh, wait, we've seen that before at a Tesla event) by a company that's about to be liquidated and sold off in slices.

IL News: Chinese Bidders Eye Saab's Carcass

Continue reading Saab: Everything's Fine, Really.

Categories: Auto Industry,Saab,Sedans

Saab has been in limbo since the anticipated sale to the Swedish sportscar builder Koenigsegg fell through last week. Responding to local media questions today, Chris Preuss, General Motors vice president of communications, said that the GM's board of directors has "expanded the time frame to evaluation any actions that could support the Saab business.

"If no viable condition exists for Saab at the end of December, we will begin an orderly wind-down."

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Saab

The deal to purchase Saab is officially off. Koenigsegg, the small Swedish sportscar builder, has officially terminated the agreement it had made with General Motors.

Both companies have released brief statements, and Koenigsegg's is the more cryptic: "The time factor has always been critical for our strategy to breathe new life into the company."

We think that might translate to something like, "Saab has been in such a poor state for so long that it's too late for us to save it."

We suspect that Koenigsegg had been having doubts about this deal for some time. The future certainly didn't look cheery when it was announced that 81 Saab dealers in the U.S. would be terminated under the new ownership.

GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson had this to say in his statement: "We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase. Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB. Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week."

Reuters

Categories: General Motors,Saab