Saab all but dead, thanks GM

As it turns out, even the former owners of car companies can screw things up as we are now finding out in the latest chapter in the soon to over Saab "saga".

The sticking point in pretty much ALL the attempts to re-finance that have been negotiated by Saab is the fact that GM supplies a large (the largest) chunk of the parts that go into any Saab and GM has not yet seen any "bailout" deal that it likes well enough to consider continuing to supply Saab with engines and transmissions. In other words, NONE of the deals presented so far, leaves GM feeling comfortable about the exposure / risk to GM itself that might occur if/when Saab dies...assuming it continues to build cars, which it hasn't done in almost a month. (Some workers are still unpaid from the end of November).

The EXACT details of what kind of guarantees GM wants are not known, but either a much more substantial financial package needs to be arranged or some kind of guarantee that if Saab goes under GM won't lose a ton of money needs to be put in place.

No, the issue is that SAAB has access to much of GM's technology folder and given the fact that GM is already paired up with a Chinese automaker they can't allow SAAB to pair up with a different maker and give up all that tech.

The prevailing wisdom is that SAAB would have been dead a decade and a half ago, if not for GM reviving them last time.

It's not looking good for the Swede's. At least GM gave them some more time on the respirator. I think Fiat was the only other suitor at the time of sale.

integraguy wrote: As it turns out, even the former owners of car companies can screw things up as we are now finding out in the latest chapter in the soon to over Saab "saga". The sticking point in pretty much ALL the attempts to re-finance that have been negotiated by Saab is the fact that GM supplies a large (the largest) chunk of the parts that go into any Saab and GM has not yet seen any "bailout" deal that it likes well enough to consider continuing to supply Saab with engines and transmissions. In other words, NONE of the deals presented so far, leaves GM feeling comfortable about the exposure / risk to GM itself that might occur if/when Saab dies...assuming it continues to build cars, which it hasn't done in almost a month. (Some workers are still unpaid from the end of November). The EXACT details of what kind of guarantees GM wants are not known, but either a much more substantial financial package needs to be arranged or some kind of guarantee that if Saab goes under GM won't lose a ton of money needs to be put in place.

Wow, there's more mis-information in that diatribe than a politician's TV ad...

No, GM is not mysteriously screwing SAAB over. It's very, very simple and very, very public. The only companies with any money that are crazy enough to buy into SAAB are Chinese (namely Youngman and Pang Da). Every manufacturer that sells in China has to have a "domestic" partner by Chinese law. GM is hooked up with SAIC. That means only SAIC can have access to GM technology. GM can't approve SAAB's sale to Youngman, Pang Da, or any other Chinese car company that's not SAIC because it would be illegal.

Wow, just wow...

All I can add is I really loved Saabs at one time. I don't know whos at fault but it sure is sad that they are likely going away.

Will they be missed?

TBH I miss the pre-GM ones, not the GM ones. Had a SAAB 99 as my first car and maybe, just maybe, I'll get another one at some point.

I have had two classic 900s and an NG. I would never own another post GM saab again.. unless it was an 9-2x

I thought the Viggen was pretty neat.

• Lee

The viggen was neat.. but if it was anything like my NHG turbo.. an accident waiting to happen. Lots of power, no ability to corner

It would be cool if they could team up with subaru.

Saabaru?

It's a bummer.

I wonder if there is a Scandinavian John Bloor*? That's about the only thing that could make a happy ending to SAABs story at this point.

*John Bloor is the guy who revived Triumph motorcycles, he purchased the name Triumph after the original company official died. He started the new Triumph motorcycle company from scratch.

I think Saab needs a reboot. Even in their heyday they were a BMW alternative that sold by virtue of being weird and safe.

Seems awfully niche to me.

I think the real SAAB will buy the name, logo, etc back and bury it out back. The rest, who knows.

Sorry for posting what I thought was reliable / complete info from "gleaning" articles on a NO LONGER to be considered knowledgable online source. Never heard about the GM unable to compete against itself...but I did somewhat suspect that was 1 of the problems. Actually, I figured GM didn't WANT to compete with itself, not COULDN'T.

It's too bad that with the internet providing more sources of news...it also provides more outlets for "false" news, added by schmoes like me.

If I'm ever needed again, I'll be under the dark colored rock next to the pile of dog dooty.

I won't miss Saab per se, but I will miss the range of options that car buyers once had. One more company gone means one less choice to pick from.

integraguy wrote: Sorry for posting what I thought was reliable / complete info from "gleaning" articles on a NO LONGER to be considered knowledgable online source. Never heard about the GM unable to compete against itself...but I did somewhat suspect that was 1 of the problems. Actually, I figured GM didn't WANT to compete with itself, not COULDN'T. It's too bad that with the internet providing more sources of news...it also provides more outlets for "false" news, added by schmoes like me. If I'm ever needed again, I'll be under the dark colored rock next to the pile of dog dooty.

Hey, don't take it so hard man. We all mess up interweb stories, I was correcting the story not the poster. We still love ya.

Yet another company GM swooped in to "fix," only to end up ruining.

mrhappy wrote: It would be cool if they could team up with subaru.

Agreed. I had similar thoughts regarding a Mazda/Volvo partnership. Similar enough to share platform and development costs, but different enough to limit self-competition.

I will miss them, hopefully someone will pick them up in Bankruptsy, ( I can hope).

I liked the C900 I had but I also really like my 9-5 Aero. They may have lost something after GM got SAAB but there was still some of what made SAAB a SAAB in the cars.

GM's 'neglected stepchild' Saab never fully given a chance to thrive

I think this is a very good take on what has happened.

Some academics have studied Saab's failure, and don't necessarily blame GM:

http://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/43768/Who-killed-Saab-Automobile-Final-Report-December-19-2011.pdf

If you want to sip Saab news like water, search Google News. If you want a firehose of it in the face, go to www.saabsunited.com, which is probably the best source on the Web for such info (that's where the PDF above came from).