Saab is gone

itarumaa

Accordingly the finnish media GM has decided to cancel Saab, the discusions with the buyer Spyker have been failed.

I don´t know if there is any more hope left for Saab, does not look good.

Stevie Dakota

More here, I'm not a SAAB fan but would be sorry to see them go.

GM to 'wind down' Saab business
GM has been trying to sell Saab since January.
GM says it has failed to sell its Swedish car brand Saab and will begin "an orderly wind-down of Saab operations".
It had been in talks with the Dutch speciality car maker Spyker. Talks with Sweden's Koenigsegg also fell through earlier this year.
"We regret that we are not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars," said GM Europe boss Nick Reilly.
GM has been trying to sell Saab as part of its turnaround plans since January.
Mr Reilly added that all debts would be paid and that the winding-down would be "an orderly process".

Tabnabs

I wouldn't be surprised if there was yet another twist in this saga.

GM set to wind down Saab

US car maker General Motors is to shut down Saab as talks collapse with Dutch sportscar manufacturer Spyker over the acquisition of GM's Swedish unit, Reuters reports

GM said in a statement it failed to reach an agreement with Dutch sports car maker Spyker on a sale of the division, following the withdrawal of a bid from Sweden's Koenigsegg Group AB.

"GM had been in discussions with Spyker Cars about its interest in acquiring Saab," the Detroit firm's statement said.

"During the due diligence, certain issues arose that both parties believe could not be resolved."

"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," GM Europe president Nick Reilly said.

"In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution. 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."

GM said the move to end Saab operations was among "some very difficult but necessary business decisions" as the new US auto giant tries to restore profitability after a massive bankruptcy restructuring aided by the US and Canadian governments.

The company has decided to end its Saturn and Pontiac brands in the United States and has reached a deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese buyer.

Earlier this week, GM agreed to sell some Saab assets to China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.

State-owned BAIC will acquire the technology for Saab's 9-3 and 9-5 car models, turbine engines and gearboxes, allowing the Chinese firm to develop its own-brand cars using the Swedish carmaker's technology.

GM said that in the wind-down of Saab, it would satisfy debts including supplier payments and would continue to honor warranties and provide parts to Saab owners around the world.

Saab employs some 3,400 people in Sweden and sold just over 93,000 cars worldwide in 2008.

Under GM's stewardship spanning almost two decades, Saab rarely posted a profit and last year lost 3 billion kronor ($341 million at the time).

AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

source

unkel

That's a damned shame

Why did GM not offer some sort of acceptable deal first to Koenigsegg or then to Spyker?

conor_mc

Must be a tactical thing - they won't sell it for whatever price Koenigsegg or Spyker were willing to pay, but they'll wind it down and get nothing for it?

Stevie Dakota

I'm gutted to hear Saturn is gone too....

w123

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

I'm gutted to hear Saturn is gone too....

And pontiac - What'll the Bandit drive now????

Davidth88

If you think back , wasn't Saab the first car maker to use turbo's on ' a common man's car '??

shame

Barname

What will the freaks drive now?

Saab Ed

Barname wrote: »

What will the freaks drive now?

Just the normal run of the mill mundane sh!te that everybody eles drives I guess

Stevie Dakota

Does this mean the new 9-5 ready will never see the light of day? Hard to believe.

mike65

The freaks haven't driven Saabs in years.

VinnyTGM

Terrible new's.

patrickc

sad day :mad:

anthony4335

Better indulge myself in buying one soon so. Always been a fan but never actually bought one. Shamefull news, however I think they went downhill when they got rid of the fastback 93, absolutely loved the 3 door version.

CrowdedHouse

Saab had become irrelevant anyway.

jimmyw

Well us saab drivers might have to go to an opel dealer for our parts and servicing, so they might get more business;)

deman

Sad news. I had a Saab 900 some years ago and it was a great little reliable car although quite thirsty.

Barname

mike65 wrote: »

The freaks haven't driven Saabs in years.

I have seen freaks driving them, recently, very recently

what have the rest of them been driving? Hyundai's?

oregano

Us freaks stopped driving them the moment the "can only take the key out of the absurdly placed ignition when the car is parked in reverse" function was gotten rid of in, I think, the early 90s when the lunatics started to make 9-3 saloons...

1.

I always like the older versions. Didn't have much time for the newer models.

jimmyw

Will that mean the new 9-5 that was due to be launched next year not go into production then.

peasant

oregano wrote: »

Us freaks stopped driving them the moment the "can only take the key out of the absurdly placed ignition when the car is parked in reverse" function was gotten rid of in, I think, the early 90s when the lunatics started to make 9-3 saloons...

ditching the hatchbacks for saloons/estates was a bit more significant than the key position IMO (after all, the 9000 had a "normal" ignition key)

fryup

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Saab had become irrelevant anyway.

here here, drab boring cars , like their drivers :pac:

jimmyw

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Saab had become irrelevant anyway.

fryup wrote: »

here here, drab boring cars , like their drivers :pac:

Did ye ever drive one?

recessionpatch

saab used to be a great car

1948Wolseley

jimmyw wrote: »

Will that mean the new 9-5 that was due to be launched next year not go into production then.

Yep, that's terrible. Saw some pictures of it in Car magazine earlier in the year and it looked like a brilliant machine.

InTheTrees

Thats really sad. My dad had a 900GLE followed by a GLi back into the 80's and I loved driving those cars. Built like tanks.

mike65

Watch the market in tidy 99s and 900s smarten up.

EPM

1948Wolseley wrote: »

Yep, that's terrible. Saw some pictures of it in Car magazine earlier in the year and it looked like a brilliant machine.

That will have to be bought by someone surely. Such a pity, but the GM era cars were a major let down

HashSlinging

History in the making, I really liked SAABs, such a great marque in the 80 - 90s.

I blame dame edna

**remember point and laugh at next SAAB driver

Zonda999

This is indeed sad news but i still think the swedish government may will step in and do something. Saab employ 3400 people which would surely cause anger in Sweden, if they were let go.Gm have said that the sweish government not wanting to become a stakeholder in saab was the biggest obstacle to securing saabs futue, maybe the imminent threat of this many lay offs will change their minds. Had/have great respect for the saabs of the pre-GM era

Pdfile

id love konngeigzagg to buy saab, think about it, in the days of good saabs ( anything till 1992/3 ) they had aerodynamics, heaps of poke.... FWD ( bit of a let down i admit ) but with crazy swed's who can make stupid fast cars and saab who make stupidly safe/economical cars....


Thats a mixture that makes Serious Win.

Mr Benevolent

I doubt the Swedish government have the funds to shore up SAAB at the moment and they really shouldn't have to anyway. The Irish government didn't step in when Dell fecked off. If SAAB couldn't keep itself together on its own and later under GM then it should be left to close. It's always been a niche brand, they don't do much that appeals to a broader spectrum and they don't have a fantastic name like other niche manufacturers. Any buyout deal now will simply delay the inevitable slow death SAAB is already suffering.

The good news is the the SAAB enthusiast market will gear up a notch when the brand finally shuts down. Hell I'd even buy one.

mumblin deaf ro

Swedish Govt have said all along that they won't bail SAAB out and it seems the swedish public are behind them on that.

This has been coming for a long time but was avoidable - apparently both K-segg and Spyker were put off when they realised what an unholy mess it would be to try and extricate Saab from the GM system.

Not sure what's going to happen to the new 9-5 - looks unlikely to go ahead unless BAIC buy it along with the old 9-5 and the current 9-3, which they bought recently.

As ever, the full lowdown is here www.saabsunited.com

Mailman

SAAB haven't turned a profit any year since GM purchased it roughly 20 years ago(source Euronews).
GM can't keep supporting it and who'd want to buy it with a solid track record for loosing money.
The last model 9-3 and 9-5 platforms are being sold to a Chinese company according to Autocar magazine.
Hard to see where new 9-5 platform will be deployed within GM as it is too advanced to be profitable in US and rebadging it as an Opel Omega is a kiss of death.

CamperMan

Barname wrote: »

What will the freaks drive now?

Volvo's

Saab Ed

fryup wrote: »

here here, drab boring cars , like their drivers :pac:

Its always better to suggest why something else is better rather than why something is worse. To suggest the latter usually shows a lack of ability to counter argue the point with any substaciated facts which in turn shows a lack of knowledge on the information at hand and wreeks of of a general sense of ignorance by the person making the point.


That is all :D:D

mumblin deaf ro

Mailman wrote: »

Hard to see where new 9-5 platform will be deployed within GM as it is too advanced to be profitable in US and rebadging it as an Opel Omega is a kiss of death.

It's already in use - in slightly shortened form - in the Insignia which Saab engineers played a large part in developing.

mumblin deaf ro

In terms of what Saab fans will now drive, from message boards it seems that fans of classic Saabs have been migrating to Subaru for the last while.

Mailman

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

It's already in use - in slightly shortened form - in the Insignia which Saab engineers played a large part in developing.

I know this but GM have no live European brand left with which to sell it in to the Premium Market. If GM could turn 9-5 in to an Opel Omega it'd be great for consumer choice but GM don't have the money needed to rebuild Consumer perceptions of the Opel/Vauxhall brandname.
Like the European Mondeo the car is too advanced for US market when carrying a US brandname, customers won't pay a premium for it.

VolvoMan

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

Swedish Govt have said all along that they won't bail SAAB out and it seems the swedish public are behind them on that.

The current Swedish government are a bunch of gormless, irrational eco-mentalists and wouldn't bail them out if they employed 50,000 people.

Mailman wrote: »

SAAB haven't turned a profit any year since GM purchased it roughly 20 years ago(source Euronews).

Apparently they did in 1995.

Tragedy

I think it's not really relevant to bring up "Saab hasn't turned a profit since GM bought it". Saab was managed by GM, it not turning a profit over 20 years despite investment speaks towards GM's incompentence - not the people working at Saab's.

Saab could only use GM platforms, GM engines and GM parts. Hard to engineer yourself away from mediocrity when limited like that, but they put in some good attempts.

Mailman

VolvoMan wrote: »

Apparently they did in 1995.

And that's why I quoted source.
'94 and '95 actually according to http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/cps_02/cps_02_00236.html but the profits were tiny in comparrison to the losses it was making in all the other years.

bazzachazza

RIP:(

PWR

keep your good nick Saab cars serviced, they will become more nichey and cool, as all the other cars bland in to the middle ground.

EPM

Good time to buy a nice 900...

mumblin deaf ro

Saab needs to sell about 140,000 cars to break even - a few years ago it was at about 120,000. With access to the Chinese market through a combined BAIC/K-segg deal it would have surely broken even soon.

Anyway, it will soon be ancient history. In an era when the German companies seem to have a new model or variant out every month, Saab producing a new car twice a decade in an already crowded and competitive market segment was always going to be a losing strategy, especially with non-unique platforms. It seems that niche car makers have to make low-volume high margin products to survive, which was miles from where Saab was positioned.

Personally, I was hoping that Saab would develop its cargine and turbocharging expertise so that it would become almost a tuning house for other limited-run special editions of other marques combined with jaguar XF-level cars that Saab fans would be able to buy third or fourth hand from wealthy professionals á la my 900 turbo.

mumblin deaf ro

Maybe this isn't over yet*

* - adjust your credibility sensor for my tendency towards wishful thinking.

http://www.saabsunited.com/2009/12/breaking-news-reports-of-swedish-government-meetings.html

unkel

speriamo

L1011

I can see the recent continual "bits of GM" suitor Fiat buying the carcass of Saab for badge-engineered Alfa's (on a Chrysler chassis!) in the future if GM do wind it down completely.