GM Kills Saab

[Dave W]

Saab Files for Liquidation

GM action's kept a Chinese company from injecting capital. Pathetic move, not that I would ever buy a GM product again anyway. Or another Saab. It's still too bad.

[Chris P.]

Yeah, bad and strange story... Saab is party owned by a Dutch investor who also makes Spyker sports cars.

I visited the Saab factories in Trollhattan some years ago and I loved the spirit and cars of the company. Too bad..

[Barklessdog]

They killed it long ago with the GM / SAAB minivan

[uwe]

Stillborn:

"Despite a famously loyal base of customers, Saab has reported a profit only once in the past two decades, and the fact that all of the global automakers have passed it over suggests a different fate ahead." Isn't 19 years of loss-making enough?

And let's not forget: Saab was already unprofitable when GM bought it decades ago.

[mc2NY]

Couldn't GM just have glued a solar shield on the roof of a SAAB and got $BILLIONS$ from the U.S. Govt to solve the problem?

[Dave W]

Stillborn:

"Despite a famously loyal base of customers, Saab has reported a profit only once in the past two decades, and the fact that all of the global automakers have passed it over suggests a different fate ahead." Isn't 19 years of loss-making enough?

And let's not forget: Saab was already unprofitable when GM bought it decades ago.

True. No doubt about it. And once GM cut it loose, survival was a long shot. But here you had a Chinese company (named after Henny Youngman?) willing to save the brand, and GM vetoed it.

Couldn't GM just have glued a solar shield on the roof of a SAAB and got $BILLIONS$ from the U.S. Govt to solve the problem?

That might have done it!

[Aussie Mark]

They could have saved a few dollars by ditching the 2 extra mud flaps situated nowhere near a wheel arch.

[Pilgrim]

Now that Pontiac has gone under, I'm not spending tears on Saab...I had a small soft spot for them, but I cared a whole lot more about Pontiac and Oldsmobile, two great auto brands killed by GM's resistance to change and mismanagement.

Saab is more in the category of collateral damage.

[Dave W]

Now that Pontiac has gone under, I'm not spending tears on Saab...I had a small soft spot for them, but I cared a whole lot more about Pontiac and Oldsmobile, two great auto brands killed by GM's resistance to change and mismanagement.

Saab is more in the category of collateral damage.

I hear you, Al. But they killed those directly, there was never serious talk of selling off the brand names. Saab still had its own factory and they did sell it off. What they have done here is become a patent bully to prevent someone else from saving the brand.

[chromium]

I've had two Saabs - an 88 900S years ago, and a 9-5 Aero for the past seven years.  Not the best or worst of my auto experiences, but bought both used, enjoyed them, and got a lot of miles out of 'em.  Both were solid and reliable, and that Aero is a lot of fun to drive.  Sad news that they didn't make it, but most of what was left of Saab's product line was GM global-platform designs anyway - that brief 9-2 Saabaru, 9-3/Opel/Caddy, and the obligatory SUV 9-7 TrailBlazer/Envoy thing.

Saab seemed determined to latch on and refine a single design over the course of decades (been doing the fwd in-line 4 turbo thing since the 70s - 99->900->9000->9-5).  Not really a model that promotes consumerism.  Gotta launch the new designs every couple of years so people will go out and finance the latest and greatest depreciable asset...

[Chris P.]

They could have saved a few dollars by ditching the 2 extra mud flaps situated nowhere near a wheel arch.

[Denis]

They could have saved a few dollars by ditching the 2 extra mud flaps situated nowhere near a wheel arch.

Hahaha, nice!

I always wanted a SAAB and really liked the look of the '80s 2 door 900s models. Never had the chance to get one though and I'm sorry to see SAAB go.

[Pilgrim]

I hear you, Al. But they killed those directly, there was never serious talk of selling off the brand names. Saab still had its own factory and they did sell it off. What they have done here is become a patent bully to prevent someone else from saving the brand.

That's true, and I'm not thrilled that the workers are out of jobs.  But our worthy world neighbors the Chinese are very good at grabbing technology and spinning off of it - and the story I hear is that GM wasn't willing to give away its tech to China.  The Saab brand was pretty much GM from front to back.

Of course, some might opine that giving GM's tech to China could set the Chinese back at least a decade....

[Dave W]

Of course, some might opine that giving GM's tech to China could set the Chinese back at least a decade....

Not to mention the corporate culture.

[Pilgrim]

Not to mention the corporate culture.

Just yesterday I heard that GM's CEO says the biggest problem they have is internal resistance to change.

Of course, I know NOTHING about that since I work in higher education.