The Auto Writer

I was tweeting away on Twitter yesterday when the news came in: Koenigsegg, the Swedish exotic car manufacturer, decided not to purchase Saab after all. Apparently, General Motors management was surprised as well as it issued one of its briefest press releases in recent memory disclosing Koenigsegg backed out of the deal.

“We’re obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase,” said GM President and CEO, Fritz Henderson. “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.”

Saab Demise

The Saab collapse does not bode well for the historic brand which has been a part of GM’s portfolio since 1990 and has contributed to the automaker’s losses for nearly two decades. Unlike Opel/Vauxhall, which GM really wanted to keep and decided to hold onto after months of haggling with prospective buyers, GM has expressed no interest in bolstering up Saab.

Saab probably won’t sell 100,000 units this year worldwide, making it one of the smallest holdings owned by GM other than Hummer. GM had promised previously to shut the brand down and will likely follow through with that promise unless a white knight suddenly emerges. Opel is critical to GM’s small car future, while Saab sells no new products unique to itself.

Volvo, Saab?

Some have speculated that Volvo and Saab could be merged, but Ford is busy working on finalizing its own deal with one or two parties interested in the brand. Even then, the more popular Volvo may leave for one-third the price Ford paid for it ten years ago, reflecting a depressed global car market with millions of units of excess capacity.

Source: General Motors