Saab rescue

[xpensive]

MrE in Swedish press today (my translation);

"I'd rather have a tooth pulled out that discussing with those suits again, no wonder they're not in F1"

[Richard]

Could we merge this thread with the other SAAB thread please? ... and rename to something generic such as "SAAB for sale"?

The other one is in a more appropriate form too, ie "Automotive news"

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6912&hilit=saab

[Richard]

Spyker are still in the hunt .....

"It is such a complicated transaction. It's not for no reason it has taken so long. It is extremely technical," he said. "It can go either way, but you can rest assured we are doing everything to close the deal."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P34120100126

[donskar]

According to BBC.com:

Sweden's Saab is being sold to Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker, General Motors (GM) has confirmed

.

[Pandamasque]

I'm happy SAAB is saved, but now I'm worried for both companies.

[donskar]

I'm happy SAAB is saved, but now I'm worried for both companies.

And with good reason. Ambrose Bierce would call this marriage "a union of a disability and a frost" (an impotent man and a frigid woman).

[Ciro Pabón]

Sorry for any inconvenience, I merged the "Koenisegg" and "Renault" save Saab threads into one, by popular request.

How funny, donskar: I'm reading "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and other stories". Bitter Bierce.

I wonder if Spyker acquired Saab or if GM bought Spyker.

Spyker has 110 employees and sells 50 cars per year. Saab sold 39,903 cars last year (down from 94,751 cars in 2008, no wonder GM "sold" it) and has 3,400 workers. Spyker bought Saab for 76 million devalued dollars but gave to GM 326 million in preferred shares in the new Spyker-Saab company.

So, maybe Spyker didn't married: Spyker-Saab went to live with their parents (GM).

However, “Nulla tenaci invia est via” ("Lack of roads is a road for the tenacious", or something like that. It's Spyker's motto). In spanish, "Se hace camino al andar" (you make a road by walking).

[xpensive]

The whole thing is insane, if the Saab engineers and the Michigan suits couldn't save Saab, the likes of Spyker
is not going to help much. But all those inolved had 400 million resons to keep a straight face in this charade.

[Richard]

Will this be like Rover's sale to the Pheonix 4? Will Spyker take SAAB for a ride and make some fast cash by stripping assets .... or are they in it for the long term?

The difference is that BMW stripped the Mini out of Rover, so Rover had no development potential. In this case, SAAB have the new 9-5 waiting in the wings, and a 9-3 at an advanced stage. Not only are they new models, but the are also a shift back to traditional SAAB innovation and sporting image with AWD. Remember what Quattro did for Audi?

Of course the new 9-5 will never be as popular as the Mini, but its a good dowry to get started with. If they can get enough momentum from the 9-5 to launch the 9-3 in 2012, then they might pull it off.

Interestingly it seems GM think there is some life in it. Hence the high proportion of preference shares (with tiny voting rights). It means they can claw back some of their investment if SAAB is a success - smart move.

[Pandamasque]

sniffpetrol:
"Hello SAAB? Yes, we're annoyingly obsessed with our irrelevant aviation heritage too! Let's get together!"

[bhall]

Here's a good write-up in the New York Times about Spyker's purchase of Saab.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/autom ... wanted=all

[xpensive]

So it's end of the line for the "Svenska Aeroplan AB" it seems, no cars produced since April and no salaries paid this month.

[Muulka]

This makes me sad- Saab was a really cool company.

And now architects are going to have nowhere to buy cars

[Lurk]

Salaries were paid yesterday. Maybe a hope [-o<

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Why dont the Chinese come in and save SAAB?

It makes perfect sense to me. Why save Rover, when you can have pedigree like SAAB?
We havent seen the last of the mercurial swede, I think some big players will be looking on waiting for the winding up order to get the cheapest deal.