Saab dead after GM fails to reach agreement with Dutch car maker
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 11:36AM General Motors announced that, following the collapse of talks with Spyker Cars NV of the Netherlands, Saab and its US franchises would close. It is the second time attempts to sell the Swedish brand have failed in a month. When talks with the Swedish car maker Koenigsegg failed in November, GM said it would wind down Saab unless a buyer could be found by the end of the year.
In 2003, Saab sold nearly 48,000 cars in the US, its best performance under GM ownership and very close to its best year ever in 1986 when it sold 48,181 vehicles. But in recent years sales had plummeted. In 2009, sales fell 61 percent in the United States, with only 7, 812 units sold, the lowest total in twenty years under GM ownership.
Chinese car maker buys Saab platform to use in new brand
The brand, first produced in Sweden in 1946, will live on, at least "in spirit." China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. has bought the intellectual property rights for Saab's 9-5 and 9-3 sedans. The company announced today that it will immediately begin integrating the newly acquired technology from the Saab unit into its own car designs and will begin selling a new brand in 2011. The move is part of BAIC's strategy to become a global player in the auto industry, though it is not clear whether the new Chinese, Saab-based brand will be for the export market or strictly domestic. At present, exports account for only 50,000 vehicles sold this year. BAIC also has production partnerships with Daimler AG and Hyundai Motor Co.
China has surpassed the US as the world's largest auto market and several Chinese car makers have partnered with big international brands such as Volkswagen and Toyota. The Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industry company purchased GM's money-losing Hummer unit earlier this year.
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