GM CEO on Saab: "Nobody's Come With the Money"

DETROIT — Saab may be on the verge of being snuffed out for good, as GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre said on Wednesday that he is "not confident" about any last-minute deal to rescue the Swedish brand and that GM is "proceeding with the wind-down."

"I don't really know how you can try any harder," said Whitacre in an hour-long media roundtable discussion in the run-up to next week's 2010 Detroit Auto Show that covered many topics, including Saab's future. "We've solicited buyers, we've talked to a number of people. I don't know that you could do anything more than we've done."

When asked what could be done to save Saab, Whitacre bluntly said: "Just show up with the money and you can have it. Nobody's come with the money. We're in the wind-down mode."

His comments seem to dash hopes that the Saab brand will survive, even as the media continues to speculate that Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker could pull together an 11th-hour deal to save the beleaguered brand.

Whitacre was more positive about the sale of GM's Hummer brand. He said the deal to sell Hummer to Chinese machinery manufacturer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. is "proceeding."

"The date on that is January 31," he said. "That's the date it's supposed to close."

On a more positive note, Whitacre said that the automaker is pinning much of its hopes on the Chevrolet Volt and electric vehicles. Regarding the Volt, which is due out in the fourth quarter of this year, Whitacre said: "We're going to put out some early. How early? I don't know." When asked if it would be earlier than November, he replied, "yeah," and said these Volts would be intended for consumers.

Whitacre was asked about a time frame for the production of the Cadillac Converj, a luxury gas-electric touring coupe concept that debuted at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show and uses the Volt's hybrid-electric powertrain. There has been media speculation that the Converj may be on tap as a 2012 model. "You know more about this than I do," he said. "We've talked about all that. We continue to talk about it. We have a sense of urgency around those places we might have to be urgent."

Whitacre spoke briefly about the future of GM's Opel brand, saying a restructuring meeting with "all the involved parties" would be held on Thursday. "We have some decisions to make on the finance side, on the structural side," he said. "We're working our way through that. By the end of the month, we'll have all that in place. We still have some work to do. But I think we'll get there."

Whitacre is preparing for his first Detroit auto show. When asked about the importance of the show following GM's bankruptcy proceedings last year, Whitacre said: "I don't know that I can answer that. I asked, 'Do we sell any cars at the auto show?' I guess we do, through the media and our image. We will present a futuristic look. Who is the new GM? It's very important. Not having been through one of these, it's certainly important from who is the new GM. My role? I'm supposed to walk around and smile."

Inside Line says: Saab appears to be dead in the water, according to the big boss. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent