GM's Sale of Saab to Koenigsegg Collapses
November 24, 2009
General Motors confirmed Tuesday that its planned sale of Swedish automaker Saab to 
Koenigsegg Group AB has collapsed with Koenigsegg terminating the sale.
What's next for Saab has yet to be determined.
"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement issued by GM. "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," Henderson added.
The failed sale of Saab comes within weeks of GM's halted sale of Germany's Opel, though in that case, it was GM that decided not to sell Opel.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:12 AM under Featured , GM , News | Comments (3) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Nothing succeeds as planned. Just when it looked like things would be smoothing out, another sale falls through.
Penske turned down Saturn, and now Koenigsegg pulled the plug on Saab.
What's next?
Posted by: billddrummer | November 24, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Bravo to GM for the new product portfolio; released and upcoming. world clas product and much better marketing than we've seen.
Their problem seems to be with their dysfunctional senior management. One idea floating around is that because certain Opels share platforms with certain SAABs, a transfer of technology condition arose that GM couldn't/wouldn't resolve with Koenigsegg -Beijing Auto a factor? If this thread has a shred of truth to it, then GM botched their SAAB deal by reneging on the Opel sale.
And Hummer isn't a done deal yet, either.
Posted by: fulcrumb | November 24, 2009 at 12:25 PM
SAAB is no different from Saturn. It is basically rebadged Opel which nobody wants to buy. Just shut it down if no one is interested. GM needs to shrink and consolidate their European operations anyway.
Posted by: savetheland | November 24, 2009 at 1:56 PM