SAABs & tears!. . .GM close to selling SAAB. . .

[NewtonMP2100]

. . .another sold off. . .


GM nearing deal to sell Saab unit

. . . General Motors Corp. is nearing a deal to sell its Saab unit, but nothing has been finalized, a person briefed on the negotiations said Thursday.

The news came as Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that Swedish luxury sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB and Norwegian investors are planning to buy Saab.

The person would not identify the final bidders for Saab but said news could come "shortly," perhaps as early as Friday.

"The process is well along," said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.

Citing unnamed sources, SVT said Koenigsegg and the unidentified investors have signed a declaration of intent to buy Saab.

Calls to Koenigsegg's headquarters in Angelholm, southern Sweden, were not answered Thursday.

Gunilla Gustavs, a spokeswoman at Saab Automobile in Sweden, declined to comment on the speculation, saying Saab will make an official statement when the sales process has been finalized.

"I have no information on the timeline of that," she said, but added that "yes, we believe we're in the final stages."

Saab went into creditor protection Feb. 20 in an effort by GM to spin off or sell the unit. Saab confirmed last month that three bidders remained in the sales process and that they expected to complete the sale by the end of June.

The three bidders reportedly in the lead to buy Saab were Koenigsegg; The Renco Group Inc., a private equity firm; and Merbanco Inc., a Wyoming-based group of investors. . .


don't CRY for me Argen. . .

[dad@home]

A Koenigsaab is much more likely to be an exciting drive than the current Saabarus that GM has been offering!

Dad

[OWC Jamie]

I would not wish a Norwegian Investment Group management on my worst enemy.
I would pity anyone who used to work for Saab.

[Ken Sp.]

They have to be better than the plain vanilla wrapper that GM made out of the once unique SAAB
My Second, Third, and fourth cars were SAABs and I loved them!!
The first SAAB was a 1974 99 LE and I still remember the VIN NUmber 99742021825, probably because when buying parts for my 10 year old SAAB the VIN was needed to verify the replacement part.

[cbelt3]

It's about time. Their products really started sucking once GM bought them. My grandmother ONLY drove Saab's (like a bat out of heck) from the 70's until she passed away in the 90's- at age 87). Saab-ficionados knew that GM's purchase of the Marque was a death knell to its uniqueness.

[Fritz]

excellent news! Hope the thrill will be back and the innovation and maybe the Sonnet.

GM made that one dull car.

[macphanatic]

Great news! GM took a reliable, fun to drive car and turned it into the biggest POS.

[Mr645]

I bet the 2010 Saab Malibu wll be the last year for that model, the Saab Trailblazer died already

[RgrF]

cbelt3 wrote:
It's about time. Their products really started sucking once GM bought them. My grandmother ONLY drove Saab's (like a bat out of heck) from the 70's until she passed away in the 90's- at age 87). Saab-ficionados knew that GM's purchase of the Marque was a death knell to its uniqueness.

Now if we could only get Ford to sell the Volvo brand back to it's original owners...

[Mr645]

RgrF wrote:


Now if we could only get Ford to sell the Volvo brand back to it's original owners...

At least Volvo products are unique. Volvo engines, car designs, drive trains, features. Although a bit more performance would be welcome to the Swedish brand.