Mustang tuner Saleen out of business

[littlecammi]

Apparently everything at Saleen headquarters was auctioned off today over the internet, including new Mustang GTs (which would have been converted into Saleens), various car parts (sets of 19" rims, boxes of custom headrests, etc.), equipment for building the cars, office equipment, etc.

I think there are similarities with the Fender electric guitar company. Founder Leo Fender sold his company to Columbia Broadcasting Systems (CBS) in 1965, and CBS tried to increase profits by producing a lot more guitars. But their mass-produced guitars were not nearly as good quality as those produced previously. CBS wound up selling Fender guitars at a big loss. The Fenders worth the most today are the guitars built before the sale, always referred to as "pre-CBS". Steve Saleen sold his namesake company three or four years ago to an investment group who then also purchased ASC and tried to increase profits by producing more Saleen Mustangs and Saleen F150s. It is apparent that the current poor economy did not need large quantity of Saleens. Roush and Shelby have been building lots of specialty Mustangs the last few years as well, thus stealing possible Saleen sales. And now with Challenger here and Camaro on the horizon, more Mustang sales will be lost. Especially to Dodge and Chevy enthusiasts who had gravitated to the S197 Mustang GT simply because it was the only American musclecar game in town the last few years.

[kevin2323]

He now has his new company SMS making superchargers for the challenger and camaro.

[DGthe3]

One mustang tuner goes away. Soon there will be others to take its place (including SMS)

[The_Blur]

While we can all hate on the Mustang tuners for making too many bad business decisions, it's hard to say goodbye to Saleen. That company is legendary for muscle car history. The fact that such a large company was built around tuning muscle cars brought other companies to the market with parts and competitive ideas. Without Saleen, it's hard to imagine whether muscle car tuning would be as big as it is today.

[09'Z28]

they will be missed (by me at least)

The First

The most recent

and of course the one i'm sure is your most favorite

[Lifted07Sierra]

Ummm Saleen is not quitting on the mustang and is not out of business

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Lifted07Sierra

Ummm Saleen is not quitting on the mustang and is not out of business

I didn't think so either, but Saleen changing ownership is no less devastating than InBev's purchase of everyone's favorite St. Louis beer company.

EDIT: Having gone to Saleen's website, I find no evidence of business with anyone regarding ownership change. I should've looked before since the original poster failed to cite any sources. This thread is completely incorrect and false.

[Lifted07Sierra]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I didn't think so either, but Saleen changing ownership is no less devastating than InBev's purchase of everyone's favorite St. Louis beer company.

Ill have to get ahold of Molly about this

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Lifted07Sierra

Ummm Saleen is not quitting on the mustang and is not out of business

The man or the company?

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

The man or the company?

I'm guessing neither. There are no press releases about leaving the company or ownership changing hands.

[BowtieGuy]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I'm guessing neither. There are no press releases about leaving the company or ownership changing hands.

The original company he founded was sold to another company some time ago I think, and now he has a new one directed toward more non Ford products. I have no sources other than what I read just very recently, though I do not remember where.

[littlecammi]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

The original poster failed to cite any sources. This thread is completely incorrect and false.

Sorry I didn't include the source originally.

Auction Block: Saleen Inc Surprise Fire Sale

Story by Sam Haymart from: TheMustangNews.com - Saleen Inc Surprise Fire Sale

The four horsemen of the apocalypse or a last ditch effort to stay alive?

08-12-08: In clearinghouse style auction with little warning, Saleen Inc/ASC is putting what looks like the entire operation up for sale today. Virtually everything in the house is on sale including some 20 brand new unconverted 2008 Mustang GT’s, all remaining Saleen parts that would have been put onto cars. If that was not haunting enough, the entire factory lot of machines, tools, cabinets, office equipment is being sold off as well.

This does not bode well for the company which says it is “restructuring and consolidating”. The auction being handled by Meidma Recovery & Sales is reminiscent to the one that was held for Unique Performance of Texas. That company had been raided by the authorities and sold off to the highest bidders right down to boxes of No. 2 pencils.

In this auction you will find everything you could want to build a new Saleen Mustang. Looking through the auction catalogue you can find brand new Saleen wheels starting at a minimum bid of $10. If you want a new 2008 Mustang GT coupe, there are 20 of them starting at $100 each. A full palette full of Saleen leather seat covers starts at a miserly $5 or you can buy a cat back exhaust system starting at $10.

All the factory furniture, tooling, and facilities are on the block as well. Computers, milling machines, work tables and office equipment hastily piled is listed for sale. Want a CAD/CAM station, they are selling them.

If you have a bank full of cash this could really be an opportunity as the auction has had little forward notice or publicity. It happens today from 8am to 6pm online HERE. Check out the catalog, drool over it. Act fast and bid well because you could really cash in.

What this means for Saleen Inc. remains to be seen. It is one thing to sell a couple of cars and parts. But when you are selling off all the tooling, equipment, and office infrastructure that enables building them it is ominous. Is this the final end to the troubled company?

[littlecammi]

Originally Posted by Lifted07Sierra

Saleen is not quitting on the Mustang and is not out of business.

Originally Posted by DGthe3

The man or the company?

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I'm guessing neither. There are no press releases about leaving the company or ownership changing hands.

There were press releases when Steve Saleen sold his company around three years ago (but stayed on as an executive), and more press releases when he quit over a year ago, and still more press releases when he announced his new company SMS sould be modifying new Challenger R/Ts.

Here is an earlier post of mine from the thread Camaro v6 VS Mustang GT:

Beginning in '09 Steve Saleen's new company SMS (he can't use his own last name as the rights to it belong to the investment group to which he sold his old company) will begin selling upgraded Challenger R/Ts. (He won't be using the more expensive SRT8 version with the 6.1L hemi, in order to keep costs down and his profit margin up.) SMS will offer a superchargered 5.7L hemi Challenger R/T (with stock internals) rated at 500+hp and a supercharged 5.7L with forged internals rated much higher. They will not be cheap.

Saleen knows exactly how to do this. His business model is based on his own history of modifying Mustangs for years. Saleen built his Mustang business up before all the other Mustang tuners joined in (Roush, Steeda, Griggs Racing, etc.). Now he'll be one of the first to sell modified Challengers. He won't be doing Mustangs (he'd have to compete against his namesake company there), but he may sell modified Camaros in addition to Challengers.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by littlecammi

There were press releases when Steve Saleen sold his company around three years ago (but stayed on as an executive), and more press releases when he quit over a year ago, and still more press releases when he announced his new company SMS sould be modifying new Challenger R/Ts.

Here is an earlier post of mine from the thread Camaro v6 VS Mustang GT:

Beginning in '09 Steve Saleen's new company SMS (he can't use his own last name as the rights to it belong to the investment group to which he sold his old company) will begin selling upgraded Challenger R/Ts. (He won't be using the more expensive SRT8 version with the 6.1L hemi, in order to keep costs down and his profit margin up.) SMS will offer a superchargered 5.7L hemi Challenger R/T (with stock internals) rated at 500+hp and a supercharged 5.7L with forged internals rated much higher. They will not be cheap.

Saleen knows exactly how to do this. His business model is based on his own history of modifying Mustangs for years. Saleen built his Mustang business up before all the other Mustang tuners joined in (Roush, Steeda, Griggs Racing, etc.). Now he'll be one of the first to sell modified Challengers. He won't be doing Mustangs (he'd have to compete against his namesake company there), but he may sell modified Camaros in addition to Challengers.

Having brought this information to light, I retract my previous post. Since I don't follow Mustang performance nearly as closely as I do GM products, I wasn't aware that Steve Saleen left the ownership position. Since this turn of events would be far less likely to be as publicized as being bought out or declaring bankruptcy, I wish I hadn't been so quick to discredit the original post—sorry about that, littlecami.