- Embattled Saab announced on Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy after a tumultuous weekend in which General Motors rejected the Swedish brand's latest rescue plan.
- "It's unfortunate that they were unable to find a way forward," GM told Inside Line.
- Saab's board said the company will be "insolvent" without further funding.
ZEEWOLDE, The Netherlands — Embattled Saab announced on Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy after a tumultuous weekend in which General Motors rejected the Swedish brand's latest rescue plan, blocking a would-be Chinese rescuer from getting access to key technology.
The move appears to set the stage for the end of the tiny automaker, which began making airplanes as Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget in 1937 and started building cars in 1947. One Swedish newspaper said Saab CEO Victor Muller has "lost his war."
"It's unfortunate that they were unable to find a way forward, despite many months of effort," wrote GM spokesman James R. Cain in response to an e-mailed query from Inside Line on Monday morning.
GM, which still has a minority interest in Saab and controls much of the intellectual property, rejected the latest rescue plan, blocking Chinese investors from getting technology licenses. Saab had been in discussions with Chinese automaker Youngman Lotus Automobile and a Chinese bank to secure last-minute loans.
"After having received the recent position of GM on the contemplated transaction with Saab Automobile, Youngman informed Saab Automobile that the funding to continue and complete the reorganization of Saab Automobile could not be concluded," said Saab's Netherlands-based owner Swedish Automobile in a statement. "The board of Saab Automobile subsequently decided that the company without further funding will be insolvent and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors."
The automaker said it expects the district court in Vanersborg, Sweden, to approve the bankruptcy filing and appoint receivers.
"Swan does not expect to realize any value from its shares in Saab Automobile and will write off its interest in Saab Automobile completely," said Saab's Dutch owner in Monday's statement.
GM's Cain on Saturday sent an e-mail to Inside Line saying it could not support proposed alternatives for Saab.
"Each proposal results either directly or indirectly in the transfer of control and/or ownership of the company in a manner that would be detrimental to GM and its shareholders," Cain wrote. "As such, GM cannot support any of these proposed alternatives."
In early December, a Swedish court told Saab's owners to develop a credible rescue plan or face bankruptcy. GM sold Saab in 2010 to Dutch carmaker Spyker, which since was renamed Swedish Automobile. GM remained a stakeholder and supplier to Saab, while controlling much of the key vehicle technologies.
Inside Line says: The death knell is sounding for Saab.
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saab952_3turbo says:
06:55 PM, 12/21/2011
tbone, maybe we will see a resurgance in the future, it is not out of the realm of possibilities. Companies have come out of near disaster and come back from it, just look at Nintendo.
tbone85 says:
06:18 PM, 12/21/2011
Saab952, I have worked with a couple of hard core Saabites, and they were genuinely nice and interesting people. I really wanted that 9-5 I bid on, and I wish they'd been able to drive more sales.
seansean2 says:
09:46 AM, 12/21/2011
GM is just the worst company on earth. They steal taxpayer dollars, ruin Saab and then refuse efforts to revive them. GM aka Communist Motors, owned by the Obama administration. It's unpatriotic to buy any GM product. Only a communist would. Ford got their act together through private funding and they are building quality products. GM is continuing its tradition of building TRASH. Just look at the VOLT. I hope you are all glad YOU all paid for corporate scams and bailouts.
saab952_3turbo says:
08:24 AM, 12/21/2011
@nonohonda, you could have been a little more classy and left out the last bit about no one remembering SAAB for long. If nobody else remebers, I will, just because you are not someone who stood behind the brand doesn't mean that no one else feels bad about the situation. I am not going to tell you that you are wrong, I am not going to berate you about the opinion you have the right to hold, I just ask that you show some compassion to the people that loved the SAAB company and vehicles they produced.
Thank you.
saab952_3turbo says:
08:09 AM, 12/21/2011
It saddens me to see SAAB come to an end, I hope it isn't true. I have driven SAABs for many years and have loved each of them. There may not have been a huge market of buyers, but those that were buyers, are completely loyal to the product. If this truly is the end, I am proud to say that I will always remember the innovation, the ingenuity, and the style that SAAB brought to the vehicle industry. The technology brought by SAAB will never be forgotten can never be ignored.
Thank you to the SAAB company for all the memories and all the great things that you have brought to automotive industry.
tbone85 says:
12:23 PM, 12/20/2011
QDP, you also said the Volt was vaporware and would never be produced. You've been predicting gloom and doom over GM at every turn. I'm certain your unbiased analysis is dead on. As far as what GM's Chinese partner's position was on the technology issue, I would welcome any factual insight on that. Speculation is cheap. I would welcome China tightening the regulatory noose on GM. As the nation with the trade deficit and the ability to make our own products, we're in position for any trade skirmishes.
Openeyes, Saab's position in the market was slipping and was their primary reason for agreeing to be acquired by GM. I liked the 900 hatch and the 9-5 sedan a lot, but Saab has had weak sales for over two decades. Saab was not a strong company as an independent when GM picked them up. It continued to weaken under GM, and they were even weaker under Stryker. The facts that you like the vehicles, I liked some of the vehicles, and that they made interesting vehicles did not translate into the sales needed to grow the company in the competitive environment. There have been lots of companies that make great products that the market abandoned.
openeyes1 says:
07:13 PM, 12/19/2011
tbone85: "but it's obvious that the core value of Saab hasn't been accepted by the market for well over 2 decades" Really, where do you come up with this stuff tbone?
The most successful line of SAAB cars have been the hatchbacks, not the sedans and certainly NOT the SUV's. I've driven the 95's, the 96's, the 900's and the 9-3's, line of hatchbacks, quirky yes, but for the most part a blast to drive. Once again GM pre-wrote SAAB's obituary when it killed the hatchback in 2002, and attempted to convert the company into what it wasn't another cookie cut GM brand.
qdp says:
03:20 PM, 12/19/2011
If Chinese consumers react the same as American did on Toyota by boycotting any GM cars in Chinese market, or Chinese regulator tighen GM noose, GM's day will surely and quickly be numbers, stock going pennies and GM becoming unrecueable. One of the key premise to rescue GM is its Chinese market position.
In SAAB case, GM really played it nastily. There are many Chinese domestic auto competitors and foreign competitors, just adding one like saab won constitute any meaningful threat to GM's position there. Besides, GM's Chinese partners are using the technology learned from the joint venture to make their own cars. Why on earth would SAAB threat GM's Chinese market position?
It sounds like nasty Just Imaging those long unpaid hopeless saab employees in this Christmas.
tbone85 says:
03:05 PM, 12/19/2011
The current group of vultures trying to buy them have obviously been simply trying to pick the bones apart. Saab was dead the moment Stryker decided they couldn't make it work. The leaches who've been picking at the carcass were obviously never serious about actually saving and running this company.
Saab was floundering before GM bought them. They floundered while GM had them. They floundered after GM sold them. GM failed with Saab, but it's obvious that the core value of Saab hasn't been accepted by the market for well over 2 decades. There is plenty of responsibility that ranges from China, to the Netherlands, to the U.S., and ultimately back to Sweden.
If it brings comfort to a fanboy or hater to simplify this 25 year chain of failure into a single event or actor, then have at it. Like most things in real life, the truth is a little more complex than that. Having observed the tender mercies of high risk financiers in the past, it was painful to watch Saab be picked at like a dead carcass by one group of vultures after another.
I really liked the 2005 Saab 9-5 a few years back I tried to buy a few years ago, but was outbid for it. I didn't like the 2005 9-3 I drove around the same time. I saw a 2011 9-5 last month, and I thought it was one of the most enigmatic and striking designs I had seen in quite some time. I really wish they'd been able to make a go of it. It was not to be.
rayzor says:
02:35 PM, 12/19/2011
RIP Saab....