Category: Saab
Posted by Neil Winton on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:21 AMWill China bail out stumbling Saab?
It never made much sense in the first place. Why would a company like Koenigsegg Group AB with 45 employees making about 20-odd $1 million supercars a year, want to buy loss-making Swedish car maker Saab? Koenigsegg never did spell out what it would gain from owning Saab.
Saab wanted to charge prices for its cars as if it was a BMW, an Audi or a Mercedes, but was never able to generate the brand power to pull that off. Its strongest claim to fame was that its brand was so neutral, so bland, it wouldn't annoy people like a BMW might. Its most impressive technology differentiator? The ignition switch is located between the front seats.
News that Koenigsegg has pulled out of the deal to buy Saab from GM leaves some stark choices. Will GM close it down? Are there any buyers out there? Will GM try and keep it going?
The latter choice might be persuasive, because Saab is about to launch its new top-of-the-range replacement for the 9-5. The new 9-5 features an all-turbo charged group of engines, harking back to a Saab speciality. The most remarkable sounding engine in the new range is a tiny 1.6 litre which produces 180 hp, and propels this very large machine from rest to 62 mph in 9.5 seconds, while producing about 31 miles per U.S. gallon. The 9-5 shares much engineering with the Opel Insignia, Europe's Car of the Year 2009, and the new Buick LaCrosse. And Saab had planned to launch 3 more cars in 18 months ΓΆβ,¬" the next one being the new 9-3.
Could there be a glimmer of hope in the Chinese connection? Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp of China took a minority stake in Koenigsegg to help the deal progress.
So far though there has been no word from China about any interest.
Breakeven for Saab was around 130,000 cars a year, but sales slipped to 93,000 in 2008, and are likely to have dribbled down to between 50,000 and 60,000 in 2009.
Sales in the U.S. this year will have dived to between 8,000 and 9,000 but were expected to rally to about 25,000 in a couple of years. The U.S. was Saab's biggest market. In 2005/2006, sales were close to 50,000 in America.
