A year ago GM announced Saab was under review and it was for sale. Several parties expressed interested such as BMW, Renault, the Hyundai-Kia group, Tata Motors, Geely Automobile, Fiat and Magna International though it seemed as most of the interested fizzled as fast it was started. The Swedish government had refused to provide the $565 million dollars in financial aid that GM had requested in order to save the struggling company as it was made perfectly clear their government nor tax payers would not own any car factories. This forced GM to elect for protection under administration which is equivalent to Chapter 11 in February 2009.
Koenigsegg backed group had been the most interested with Saab up until the end of November. Over the summer a deal had been signed but was yet to be completed regarding financial details regarding the transaction. The European Investment Bank did approve the loan for $599 million dollars which ironically enough was backed by the Swedish government but there was still a shortfall of over $3 billion dollars. Unfortunately due to time lines set forth by GM, Koenigsegg retracted their offer because they simply did not feel they could complete the transaction in the allocated time given. GM had hoped to achieve a buyer by the end of 2009 but they fell short and announced today that production on all Saab automobiles will start winding down in January as they continue to honor customers and their warranties and pay debts off in an organized fashion.
Saab makes for the third failed sale of a GM company this year.
G.M. should have sold Saab for $1.00 plus debt and liability. Now it will probably cost over a billion dollars to close it. It’s sad to see it go. What’s next?
Saab made some great handling cars but GM never put serious money into them to make them a serious luxury brand.