Saab Suitor Seeks To Leverage Existing New-Model Investment
January 04, 2010
The Netherlands' Spyker Cars, the small exotic-car maker cajoling General Motors Co. to 
allow it to purchase GM's failing Saab Automobile AB unit, would at the beginning set its sights on nothing more radical that selling the two wholly new products in Saab's pipeline that are ready to go, according to a report over the weekend from AOL Autos.
After setting an end-of-2009 deadline to complete a viable deal to sell Saab, GM extended the cut-off date to this Thursday as the two companies try to hammer out an agreement the Swedish government also would like to see happen in order to save thousands of jobs in Saab's hometown of Trollhattan. The town also is the site of Saab's "home" assembly plant, where the 9-5 is slated to begin production.
Spyker CEO Victor Muller told AOL Autos his company's efforts to carry forward with Saab would center on the 9-3 entry-level model range, the 9-5 flagship and the 9-4X midsize crossover.
The all-new 9-5 is based on GM's global midsize-car architecture and is ready to be produced. The 9-4X, also based on a GM platform, is believed to be finished or nearly finished with development, giving the potential new owner of Saab two fresh new models to take to market.
Interestingly, a compact 9-1, a model long proposed by Saab, is not a part of Spyker's plans, the report said. It is possible Spyker executives realize not only that the brand first must be stabilized but also that the profit potential from an entry-level model such as the 9-1 would be scant. Moreover, there likely has been little prior investment made in the 9-1's development.
Muller also told the media outlet Spyker would not pursue a plan to greatly reduce the number of U.S. Saab dealers -- and that the company would use the existing Saab dealer network to also retail the company's supercars.
Spyker reportedly had sold around 25 of its outrageously styled ultra-performance C8 Aileron through the first half of 2009. Spyker currently distributes the car through Bentley and Lamborghini dealers. -- Bill Visnic, Senior Editor
Photo by GM
The all-new 9-5 is based on GM's global midsize-car architecture and is ready to be produced.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 8:07 AM under Business , Companies , GM | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
This egg don't candle good.
There's something about this whole Saab soap opera that is wrong from the inside. It is starting to appear like Spyker will be an independent contractor building GM Saabs at a price set by GM, while having fiscal responsibility, but not true ownership of, capital investment and human resources. Not at the outset, anyway.
I think if this deal gets done, Spyker and the Swedish government will come to regret it. At the end of the day you still end up with sanitized-for-your-protection GM Saabs.
US Saab Dealers? Now you'll have access to Spykers to go along with your national average 2 Saabs a month.
There may be an element of corporate ego here that could not stand to see someone else take over one of their brands and make a success out of it.
If there isn't, you would think an enthusiastic investment pool could've come up with an offer for Pontiac that GM wouldn't refuse. And yet it never was even under consideration for a sale.
Posted by: fulcrumb | January 04, 2010 at 2:51 PM