Autoblog: Saab maybe bought by.... Koenigsegg?

The 9-5 has started series production, the first one rolled off I think on Wednesday, but sadly I think it's pretty much irrelevant :(
 
I missed that. Now I'm really sad we didn't buy it.
 
https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2009/12/02/spyker_1053.jpg

Dutch luxury carmaker confirms interest in Saab

Published: 2 Dec 09 14:17 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23614/20091202/

A second niche luxury sports carmaker, Spyker, has confirmed it is interested in buying Saab Automobile.

?We?re currently in discussions with General Motors. That?s all the information I can offer,? Spyker spokesperson Mike Stainton told the E24 business news website.

A spokesperson for Spyker Cars, which after 70 years of dormancy, was revived again in 2000, also confirmed its interest in Saab to the TT news agency.

Spyker?s roots go back to the 1870s when it was a family firm which first built coaches prior to moving into automobile and aircraft production before going bankrupt in the 1920s.

The brand was revived in 1999 as Spyker Cars by current CEO Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn, with the company?s first hand-built luxury cars coming on line in 2000.

Last year, Spyker sold 43 vehicles for around ?200,000 ($301,400) a piece, according to the Reuters news agency.

Today, the company has 135 employees based at a plant in Zeewolde in the Netherlands. But production is in the process of being relocated to Coventry, England as part of a cost savings programme.

Spyker has yet to turn a profit and has had to rely on financing to survive, Reuters reports.

During 20 years of ownership by GM, Saab never made a profit and is expected to lose about 3 billion kronor ($434.5 million) in 2009 and 2010.

Following a decision by Swedish carmaker Koenigsegg to abandon plans to buy Saab, the future of the company has been uncertain.

On Tuesday, the board of GM said it will consider offers for Saab until the end of the year, by which time it will either be sold or shut down.

Social Democratic party leader Mona Sahlin said she is supporting the government?s efforts to ensure Saab?s survival.

?It?s now up to all the parties to help out. The government knows that we in the opposition will do everything to solve this, pushing a bill through the Riksdag which supports the Swedish vehicles industry,? she told TT.

TT/David Landes (news@thelocal.se)
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Doesn't matter to me who buys them now. I'm only interested in a KoenigSAAB.
 
So who's going to be investing in Spyker if they own two money-losing marques instead of just one? I hope there are enough wealthy enthusiasts out there to keep such firms alive, but in this downturn their ranks are undoubtedly thinning.
 
Koenigsaab or Saabker is OK with me. Chinasaab isn't.
Ideally, I'd rather have Koenigsegg, but Spyker is still better than anything else in the air at the moment.
 
muller.jpg

I don't know where he picked up his fashion sense, but he looks like someone who belongs behind the wheel of a Saab or Volvo, not a Spyker. I wish him and his cohorts the best of luck, heaven knows they'll need it.
 
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What if Volvo bought Saab...and then Saab bought Volvo. Two buyers for two companies that need buyers.

Win win.

:lol:
 
^ Haha! I'd vote for Vaab or Salvo :lol:

But seriously though, Spyker sounds great and is much better than GM.
 
The Chinese car company BAIC has now bought the tools for making the old 9-5. So now we will probably see Saeb 5-9 released during 2010 or 2011.
 
General Motors appears on track to either close or sell the ailing Saab brand by 2010. If they do, in fact, sell Saab, they are reportedly stipulating the following: the buyer must be well versed in small scale car production and they should be in Saab's homeland, Sweden. If you don't know, Spyker fits that particular bill nicely.

Saab appears to be believing the deal will happen. "There are signals everywhere showing we are well on track," says Saab spokesman Eric Greers. We heard last week that Spyker was interested in purchasing Saab, and today's news only confirms it. Of course this wouldn't be a Saab story without the threat of imminent disaster looming in the shadows.

The catch is that if GM and the prospective buyer can't get the deal done by 2010, General Motors is just going to wash its hands of the perennial money loser and shut Saab down and sell off its assets. However, if the talks are going well but no deal has been reached by January, GM might consider funding Saab a little longer. Maybe. For their part, Spyker seems unaware of any looming deadline, though perhaps they should be.
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General Motors appears on track to either close or sell the ailing Saab brand by 2010. If they do, in fact, sell Saab, they are reportedly stipulating the following: the buyer must be well versed in small scale car production and they should be in Saab's homeland, Sweden. If you don't know, Spyker fits that particular bill nicely.
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Fail. Spyker is Dutch.
 
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I know, but as a Saab fan, I'll get butthurt when I see a 9-3 with Soob badge.
 
gt1750 said:
I know, but as a Saab fan, I'll get butthurt when I see a 9-3 with Soob badge.
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It's just an Opel Vectra with the ignition key moved anyways ;)
 
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