Koenigsegg Backs Out of Saab Deal

[FenwickHockey65]

Breaking: Saab Buyer Backs Out
First Penske with Saturn, now Saab buyer says no thanks.
www.gminsidenews.com
November 24, 2009

From GM: DETROIT -- General Motors confirmed today that the proposed sale of its Saab subsidiary to Koenigsegg Group AB was terminated at the discretion of the buyer.

"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."

[BigRigMike]

Is there any chance that Magna would want Saab?

[Easy Go]

Europe is over-saturated with automakers. Saab, like Opel, is parasitic to GM's future at this point in time. I say chop it off and save the good leg.

[Cmicasa the Great XvX]

Once again... another unprofitable GM brand has avoided being nabbed by a potential competitor.. and given it's walking papers to the Great Beyond. Like Saturn... Saab represented a part of GM that never really worked in terms of sales and profitability. If someone asked me.. I'd tell them that I never expected the deals to go thru in the first place... and that GM had planned all along to offer them to potential buyers that hey knu had no experience or real desire to play ball in the worldwide Auto Industry. I mean... come on.. Penske??? Koenigsegg??? Neither have the experience to manage the manufacturing, marketing, or labor of companies that sell even in Saabs 60K+ range per year.. let alone Saturn's 250K + range. Personally I'd rather see both DEAD... then go to the Asians or Europeans.

It's ironic that I say that about Saab.. as it's roots are Swedish... but every bit of its technology is GM/ 20+ years will do that to U. And on the eve of Opel's restructuring plan being revealed.. what do we learn??? That GM and Koenigsegg's agreement has now dissolved. OH YEAH.. I smell SWEET conspiracy, and it smells like roses HOT DAMMIT!!! It smells LIKE ROSES!!!

Pontiac DEAD. Saturn DEAD. Saab DEAD. Hummer??? hmmmm... (Please Lord let this insult of a deal fall too... please let GM take Hummer's Cool.. and push it blatantly into the division we call GMC...) Hey waaaaaitaminute!!! Pontiac died.. we got the Caprice Police car. Saturn died we gott he Regal and Astra. Saab is dead.. Can we please get that 9-5 as the next IMPALA??? And that 9-4X as the next Rendezvous???

The vehicles are literally ready for launch. Anyone looking at the 9-5 and not seeing a vehicle that is low-key enuff to make it as a Chevy Impala is absolutely bonkers. I mean it is plain in a way that screams "200K sales per year." It's low key in a way that screams another 200K sales per year in Europe as a Chevy Flagship.. .or even dare I say... OPEL FLAGSHIP. Yup. That's a no-brainer in a loooooong line of no-brainers. Opel currently has the Insignia, a car the same size as our upcoming regal as it's top ride. WHY would GM not take the 9-5 and make it the Flagship of the Opel brand in Europe? Why wouold they not take that very same car and give it slightly less expensive leather... a cloth seat option, and a 3.6L Turbo and make it the 2011 Chevy Impala to RIP the A-Hole outta the Ford Taurus the way Big Milo did to Lil Willy in their cell on the block back at San Quinton.

U remember??? :( The day Lil Willy didn't give Milo his pudding cup.

OK... As for the 9-4. Well it's been my wish since finding out that the CUV was getting the go ahead that it go to Buick as a vehicle compliment the Enclave. A downgraded SRX if U will. Different styling, same drivetrains as the current SRX, but with the SRX being made AWD only and given the 3.6L as it's base engine (think CTS-Coupe) and a turbo 3.0L/3.6 with 435HP as a V. Let me say again.... AWD ONLY- 3.6L with 315HP as a base and a turbo 3+L with 435HP as a V Allowing it to instantly beat the s**t outta the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne simultaneously stifling punk ass non-buyers like GMI's Msgero about whether it was a competitor to the always in the shop Germans.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Dammit.... Why the cold feet all of a sudden with these companies.

Well...they'd better be smart about it and kill it.

[The_Blur]

This is bad news. Why does the press have to come back to this? Did these companies jump on board so they could stab GM in the back later? I hope GM keeps Saab and buys out Koenigsegg later.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Easy Go

Europe is over-saturated with automakers. Saab, like Opel, is parasitic to GM's future at this point in time. I say chop it off and save the good leg.

Thats what they were trying to do by selling it. Killing a brand costs a lot of money, selling it generates short term cash (at the cost of introducing a new competitor).

But as for Opel, they represent a genuine value to GM. They're one of 4 major engineering groups around the world for GM and specialize in midsize cars. The others are Korea's Daewoo (small cars), Australia's Holden (rear drive), and then of course America (pretty much everything else). I'm not sure why they were so keen on selling them in the first place. Maybe because its one of the few brands that could be sold with its own engineering team and therefore attractive to non-automakers.

[Easy Go]

Opel has never made a profit over any meaningful period of time. It's incredibly expensive to conduct ANY business in Western Europe and like I said - Europe is already saturated and over capacity.

So bring the handful of Opel/Saab engineers worth keeping to North America (Opel outsources a huge share of their engineering) and then see if there's a business case to keeping Opel merely as a channel for selling other GM vehicles in Europe. If not... bye bye. Let Merkel and the unions sit around and blame each other for their labor troubles once GM is no longer there to point the finger at.

I would rather see Opel shut down than have GM's technology shared with Magna and Putin, Inc. only to be used against GM competitively. I'm glad the board finally saw the light of day there.

Please don't get me wrong - I'm not against all of Opel/Saab. I just think there is so little of it worth hanging onto that it very well may not be worth the trouble to keep afloat.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Easy Go

Opel has never made a profit over any meaningful period of time. It's incredibly expensive to conduct ANY business in Western Europe and like I said - Europe is already saturated and over capacity.

So bring the handful of Opel/Saab engineers worth keeping to North America (Opel outsources a huge share of their engineering) and then see if there's a business case to keeping Opel merely as a channel for selling other GM vehicles in Europe. If not... bye bye. Let Merkel and the unions sit around and blame each other for their labor troubles once GM is no longer there to point the finger at.

I would rather see Opel shut down than have GM's technology shared with Magna and Putin, Inc. only to be used against GM competitively. I'm glad the board finally saw the light of day there.

Please don't get me wrong - I'm not against all of Opel/Saab. I just think there is so little of it worth hanging onto that it very well may not be worth the trouble to keep afloat.

But every GM brand outsources a lot of engineering. Take Chevrolet for example. 4/6 cars they sell in America had much of the platform work done overseas. The Malibu, Cobalt and Ecotec engines were engineered by Opel. The Aveo and upcoming Cruze by Daewoo. The Camaro by Holden. Trucks and crossovers are a different matter, but condeming Opel because they outsource ignores the fact that GM is a global company and has learned that duplicating engineering efforts around the world is a pointless and wasteful endeavour.

Tech wise ... I understand the reluctance towards the Russians, but Magna is mainly a Canadian parts supplier. They even build vehicles for BWM, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, and yes GM (incidentally, its a Saab ... originally engineered by Opel).

[diddiyo]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Did these companies jump on board so they could stab GM in the back later?

did germany jump on board to save opel so GM could stab them in the back later?

sadly it seems like these strategies are normal business nowadays...

[Easy Go]

I never condemned Opel because they outsource.

My point is that the business case for holding onto the entirety of Opel is weak. There are certain pieces of Opel that have value - some specific engineering resources, perhaps, along with the dealer network (maybe) if somehow it ever made business sense to sell Chevys in Europe. Maybe keep 2-3 assembly plants across all of Europe.

North American operations hasn't been able to keep itself afloat - much less European operations. They have to stand alone as a business case or, like I said, chop off the leg to save the other one.

[Easy Go]

Originally Posted by diddiyo

did germany jump on board to save opel so GM could stab them in the back later?

sadly it seems like these strategies are normal business nowadays...

yes - Magna and Putin, Inc. would have been purchasing technology rights on the cheap compared to what GM spent on developing that technology. Lessons taken from Japan and China when they were developing their manufacturing infrastructure. The West invents it, does all the research ($$$), and the East would just copy it.

It's not up to Opel to decide who gets to do what with the technology that was developed on their premises. It's up to GM, and I'm proud of the Board's decision to hit the pause button.

[Overflow]

I think Saab is own it's own now. But I could be wrong.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Alizxa

General Motors sold it, and I know Koenigsegg considered buying them, but they backed out of the deal. So who owns Saab?

Spyker, a small Swedish supercar maker. Well, they used to make supercars. Since buying Saab I believe they've sold off that part of the business to get more cash to keep Saab running