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Breaking: Saab Officially For Sale

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#1 ·
Breaking: Saab Officially For Sale
The division sell-off under way at GM....
www.gminsidenews.com
December 2, 2008
By: Nsap


Rumors have been surfacing lately that General Motors, a company in dire need of losing brands and gaining capital, was pondering the sale of their Saab division. GM purchased their current stake in the Saab brand back in 1997 and since the purchase little has been done with the Swedish car maker. Now that GM is getting ready to sell brands in order to downsize, it appears that Saab is going to be the next to possibly go. GMI was told earlier this morning that GM is now officially pursuing the sale of Saab.

We were told a few days ago by sources close to the board of directors that GM had decided to place Saab “under review” of possible sale. Now, just days later, it sounds like the board has decided that selling off the division would be the best move for them at the current time. GM has not officially made any public statements regarding the sale of Saab.

Our sources have said that if and when a sale of the Saab division occurs, it would include the Trollhattan, Sweden assembly plant that currently builds the Saab 9-3 and Cadillac BLS (a European-only model). Although details such as this could change depending on the situation, GM does not intend on selling off Saab’s engineering side, which has been responsible for several safety advancements and turbocharged engine development for all of GM.

In regards to the possible selling of other divisions; GMI has not heard anything new. At the moment however, Saab (and of course Hummer) are the only two divisions up for sale. The Hummer sale is intended to happen, however the companies looking to purchase it are awaiting the results of GM's bid for federal loans from the U.S. government and the outcome of the credit crunch. Stay tuned to GMI for the latest…there is a lot of news coming out right now.
 
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#138 ·
GM does have a limited ability to do things, particular now..
Why can't the divest themselves of Opel, and allow Opel to continue with Saab as a premium brand...
Hopefully this can be done.
Consider VW and Audi, but they do have a huge head start..
Maybe ten years ago....
 
#5 ·
WSJ: "GM will also say it is considering consolidating or selling at least one brand, most likely Saab, these people said. GM has also talked with Chinese auto maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., its partner in China, about the sale of at least a portion of Buick, they said."

Also - WSJ reporting that Saab was put up for sale in 1Q08, but there were no takers.
 
#9 ·
Saab is such a small, niche player that I can't see it going for much money. Especially not today with the way the economy is.

And with Volvo on the block you have to wonder if GM and Ford figure a single buyer might pick them both up.
 
#20 ·
Can You say........."Here you go Sweden, if you want a car industry, you do it"
 
#10 ·
This is sad. I love Saab and would have loved to see it stay in the GM fold.

But numbers are numbers and they don't lie. If this is what it takes for GM to survive, then so be it...
Although details such as this could change depending on the situation, GM does not intend on selling off Saab’s engineering side, which has been responsible for several safety advancements and turbocharged engine development for all of GM.
How would they accomplish this? Wouldn't any sale have to include the engineers, etc? Would "Saab Engineering" become something akin to "Porsche Engineering" or "Lotus Engineering" in this regard?
 
#12 ·
How would they accomplish this? Wouldn't any sale have to include the engineers, etc? Would "Saab Engineering" become something akin to "Porsche Engineering" or "Lotus Engineering" in this regard?
Saab's engineering has become quite intertwined with GM's in recent years, so it would likely be more difficult to separate them than to keep things as is.
 
#14 ·
I have long thought that Saab could work well at Cadillac stores and needed only a bit of variation from the other mid-size cars in GM's portfolio to provide an entry-luxury vehicle at those dealerships. However, it now seems that GM is intent on moving Cadillac to smaller cars and will be squeezing Saab as that approach has squeezed Buick. Had Cadillac concentrated on the higher end, it would have allowed room on the pricing pyramid for Saab.
Perhaps this will be a good move as Saab is substantially less integrated than some of the domestic nameplates. It might prove a good way to pare off Saturn, as well. Establish Saturn as a separate, wholly owned corporation with its own plant or plants, as before. Saturn would be a more attractive takeover target for a foreign manufacturer looking for some domestic manufacturing capability, a marque identified with the US market, and a corps of good dealers.
If GM drops Pontiac, then they can attempt to make Buick all things to all people. The sales per dealer will drop off a cliff and, eventually, Buick will fold.
If GM can make money dropping automobile brands thus sabotaging potential customer's confidence; then I say, Close 'em all and get rich!
Cheers,
Ed
 
#15 · (Edited)
Guess my days with GM are numbered. Sad times. But my loyalty is with Saab.

Hopefully they get picked up by someone that actually has the guts to produce Saabs concepts.

Kill Pontiac. Kill GMC. Merge Buick/Opel. O and kill Saturn. So we are left with Chevy, Buick, Cadillac. How boring.
 
#40 ·
Honestly, my friend, I hope it doesn't come to that, but it very well may.

I love Saabs. Been a big fan for some time. I think that GM was finally waking up to the much needed investment the brand needed and was looking forward to seeing the new 9-5, 9-4X, 9-3, and 9-1 in all their glory. It would have been a great lineup for the General and Saab.

But alas, we may never see this come to fruition as we hoped.

As for the rest of GM's brands, perhaps the slimmer the better? I dont' know how I feel about that. If they had to cut brands, I'd be for keeping Chevy, Caddy, Pontiac and Buick at the "new" General Motors. I know that Pontiac has been rumored to be dead, but I question GM keeping GMC over Pontiac when the segment appears to be shrinking. I would think that keeping a "fun" brand like Pontiac around would be a boon for GM and be a kind of Mazda-esque competitor - especially now that a sporty-luxury type brand like Saab my no longer be part of General Motors.

But who knows what the outcome will be.
 
#18 ·
How does one sell a "portion of Buick?" Buick is not a separate company. Might they mean that they intend to sell the Chinese government a bigger stake in the Chinese Buick operation? I'm not sure of the business case, but as a capitulation to a protection racket, it's a blue ribbon effort.
Cheers,
Ed
 
#42 ·
I don't understand this either. I wonder how this could be done.

Honestly, I'd rather not see any of Buick sold to the Chinese or otherwise. I think that GM needs to hold onto it in its entirety and utilize the brand to its fullest in China and elsewhere.

But that's just me.
 
#21 ·
How much copuld GM get from the sale of Saab? I would venture that it is worth about 25% of what Ford could get for Volvo. IMO, both GM and Ford will be stuck with keeping both marques because,really, who can afford them in these incredibly difficult times.
 
#23 ·
Is GM really serious that selling Saab and Hummer is the answer. They might bring a couple of months worth of cash. I don't like it any more than others around here, but I just don't see how they can keep six brands in the US. Somehow other divisions need to go. I still personally like a two channel approach with Chevrolet and BGC. Keep Cadillac unique and let Buick and GMC be the badge engineered step up vehicles.
 
#24 ·
If GM plans on keeping the engineers and R&D staff from Saab what's left sell? An empty buildling, plant and the ability to put the Saab nameplate on an entirely different type of vehicle? Saabs true value is in the people that create innovative turbo and safety technology and designs. The brand doesn't have enough value or marketshare to simply be profitable to slap the Saab name on a different vehicle. I don't see the value in it for another company to buy the nameplate. I wonder if this is simply a PR move to convince congress GM is trying to do everything they can to be less of a risk to loan money to. This might be one way without actually loosing Saab (since the value is in the Saab engineers).
 
#25 ·
GM should never have bought Saab. So i'm glad to see the possibility of a sale. GM should concentrate whatever money they do have on Cadillac at the luxury end.
 
#29 ·
if only gm would sell chevy, pontiac, buick, caddy, hummer and then do a chapter 11 and rename themselves to Opal and then bring to america:
Opal - luxuary to replace caddy
Holden - to Replace Buick
GMC to replace chevy as entry level sub compact cars and trucks
Vauxhaul to replace Saab
 
#37 ·
I agree with this. Pontiac is the only thing right now keeping me going for GM, if its gone, so am I. I want to see GM do good and whatnot but other than Pontiac they have nothing that intrest me. Saturn should've had more of a chance it could've possibly been something big.
 
#31 ·
Thank Goodness!!!
There was a a little bit of hope once in a blue moon for Saab. But continued product delays and nonsensical product launches have dashed that hope.

Selling Saab will all but guarantee I don't buy a GM car the next time I'm up for a new car, as it was one of the only brands at GM I was interested in buying from.
 
#38 ·
I thought that too. But its seeming that GM is selling the name mostly. Would they really let another company get the intellectual property that Saab has? The Ethanol Hybrid convertible? The all sorts of Ethanol/Turbocharged engine? The new EpII platform, which is supposedly underpinning the 9-5? If none of that goes...we are left with a shell of Saab owned by some random company probably.
 
#32 ·
This is great news for Saab bad news for GM. Saab will get picked up by somebody that will give them some investment most likely the Chinese who can't build safe cars. With Saab they will be able to make it to the top of the list and under sale everyone while at it. GM will lose a division that is very innovative with very little money. Saab was not ruined by GM they had done that themselves but GM let them stagnate without real capital.
 
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