It was announced Tuesday that Koenigsegg, a Swedish supercar manufacturer, has dropped out of a deal to purchase Saab from GM. Contrary to previous press releases from GM stating the “winding down” of Saab if a buyer could not be found, they are now saying that they, “… will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week.” Expect more news posted here next week as GM figures out what to do with its quirky subsidiary.
My prediction is that GM will sell off Saab to another buyer. There were other companies interested in Saab before Koenigsegg, and now they can come to the forefront. Realistically, GM doesn’t need Saab, so they should sell it off, or shut it down. This would get rid of unnecessary overhead and costs on GM’s part. While some reports have declared an end to the automotive recession, I believe we are far from it. The downward slide in sales may have slowed or stopped by this point, but I think it will be a long time before the American automotive market will be able to support sales of 13-17 million new vehicles per year.
by John Suit
Sources: Automotive News, GM