GM unlikely to accept new Spyker bid: report

Terrible shame that the Swedish government cannot do anything to help Saab yet they have Billions to waste on useless things,(we all know what they are) !!

GM are pretty good at wrestling defeat from the jaws of victory but I can only hope that the ir board would like to get some cash back for Saab rather than incur the enormous costs of closing it down. I can imagine that many of the 1100 dealers are already preparing court cases for breach of contract and loss of future earnings.

Who would want to be a GM dealer when GM treats their partners like this?

Predicatble response from GM. Three major business considerations they may be taking into account: 1) they would not want another owner to make even a small success of a marque they had dismantled, 2) it removes a potential premium car threat and most significantly 3) they would not want a potential new owner to later sell Saab to a larger global manufacturer, like the Chinese, who could turn the company around.

However the latter may not be a bad idea.

Still, the battle's not quite lost yet.

Dear LOCAL Readers,

It would be totally inappropriate and poor business for SAAB not to be sold.

GM and the Swedish Government have far more to gain if SAAB survives.

Of course the current Board of Directors of GM are complete idiots who can not connect the dots and who so far have not been able to sell anything (that is: Hummer. Saturn, Pontiac). As for the Swedish Government, Maud reminds me very much of Sara Palin (but not as smart). Poor thing really needs to find another career area. Wait, she may already be on GM's payroll. Ooops…………

This is one American who loves Sweden, it's people and things Swedish. SAAB deserves to survive.

SAAB has been losing money for years - in fact they only made a profit in one year after GM took over. The cars are boring - they haven't had a new model in years. It's about time this company was put out of it's misery

SAAB should be saved by Swedish Goverment and should not be allowed to go to the hands of foreigners, if there is no Swedish company coming forward for the rescue. Forget about free market which allows the company to go freely to any potential foreign buyers. Nationalism should come first. In the bad time even US does not care about free market, trillion of USD being spent for the bailout. Is this free market?

DAVID T

"SAAB has been losing money for years - in fact they only made a profit in one year after GM took over. The cars are boring - they haven't had a new model in years."

I agree with that BUT the reason why is GM

GM used SAAB as a tax loss to offset profits in the US, They kept all the revenue from the sale of SAAB cars in the US while putting all the costs on the Swedish unit. They under invested for 20 years and now they do not want to sell to anybody who may be able to turn the company around.

I think that any offer for SAAB that just might return SAAB to the world player that it was before GM came on the scene will be rejected because the self seeking vain basta*ds are afraid that their machinations and incompetence will be exposed

Is it any wonder that no one trusst the world's leadership anymore? Be they political, financial, or business leaders, they all appear to be LIARS!

From the very beginning of this matter, nothing but lies, deceptions, false hope, promises made, promises broken, etc.

It would appear that evil currently has the upper hand over good in this world.

Doesn't make you feel too confident in the fate of the human race with such rogues in charge, does it?

@2394040 Your comment is probably the moist correct of all. It truly is a sad state we have come to.

I don't think the Goverment should take over the firm - why should the taxpayer I.E. me have to bail them out.

Surely Big Bad General Morons is only after all the Saab-developed technology and use it in their own dull, mass-market, Generally Mediocre vehicles after they've murdered yet another iconic car brand.

What is sad though (or better yet; stupid!) is the attitude of the current Swedish government...; don't they understand what Sweden is about to loose..?

Saab is/was a very important technological-cultural piece of Swedish heritage.

Future generations will not think back kindly on this government.

I came to respect Sweden partly because of Saab and what it stood for and I almost emigrated from the Netherlands to Sweden.

I chose Canada instead...

The conspiracy theories here are just silly: "SAAB only lost money so GM could have a tax write off", "GM is afraid of future competition", "machinations", and "evil leaders". SAAB lost money because it factory & engineering centers in Trollhattan cost more than they delivered. It's that simple.

SAAB was managed by SAAB, not GM. Therefore the leadership at SAAB has had a heavy hand in its demise. Again, it's that simple. It is true that GM tried to change the culture and work practices in Trollhattan to help SAAB become productive, but GM couldn't do it. This is where GM failed - it could not change SAAB to make it successful.

The real reason these deals won't go through is that there is nothing for a buyer to buy. The old manufacturing capability (9-3 & 9-5) has already been sold to BAIC and GM won't give away its great New 9-5 technologies and the Global Epsilon platform (as seen in the 2009 EU car of the year). It's not conspiracy, it's not evil, it is simple mathematics.

I'm sure that GM would jump at the chance to sell the SAAB label, plant, buildings, union, engineering and the rest of SAAB to any buyer willing to offer a single Krona, as long as the new 9-5 or other GM technologies wasn't part of the deal, but no sane business person would make such an offer.

Unlike this blog, there's no malice in GM's actions, GM is only trying to survive.

@ uunbeliever:

Politicians are mostly idiots. In Sweden, in Canada, everywhere.

But this 'retarded' Canada has many unique qualities and achievements, like

- the hydrofoil

- CN tower

- the Arrow jet (surpassed every US jet at the time!)

- longest coastline in the world

- development of the Beaver, Otter, TwinOtter, regarded worlwide as the best bush planes in the world

- After the USA and the USSR Canada was the third country to have a satellite in Space

- the Canadarm and other space robotics

- first ship to circumnavigate Canada

- Discovery of insulin for the treatment of diabetes

- Mapping the visual cortex of the brain

- Invention of the CCD chip for camcorders and telescopes

- Development of computerized weather forcasting systems now used worldwide

- Theory of plate tectonics

- Discovery of the t-cell receptor, a key to the understanding of the human immune system

- Ellucidation of the geometry of higher dimensions

Besides all of these 'retarded' achievements, Canadians are well known for their generous, friendly and pollite attitudes, just as most Swedes are...

It is funny though, that GM cannot sell the SAAB brand name since it is still owned by Saab Automobile AB, Saab AB, and Saab Scania.

Right, so theoreticaly it should be possible to start up a new Saab business...

Based on American car companies complete inability to design something new, they are digging 40 year old designs from the wastebasket (Mustang, Camaro, Charger, Challenger). From this leaked spy photo they had the same idea for the next Saab model...

http://www.saabclub.jp/saab/93/SAAB93.jpg

Canada's greatest sucess:

Remaining north of the border!

It is funny though, that GM cannot sell the SAAB brand name since it is still owned by Saab Automobile AB, Saab AB, and Saab Scania.

GM did not have to pay for the use of the SAAB name and the Griffin logo as long as they where producing cars. They will have to pay a large amount of money if the close down the brand

repat_xpat

You are presenting such a skewed case anyone would think you are on the GM payroll. . . It wouldn't surprise me if GM had tasked minions to spread misinformation. Now to some of your statements:

'SAAB was managed by SAAB, not GM.' - Rubbish! During 20 years GM only funded a couple of new cars which was stupid, most manufacturers completely revamp a car model every 6 years but under GM's management the current Saab 9-5 is 13 years old and the product line up is still narrow. Given a free rein Saab would have managed themselves very differently and at least given themselves new product. And let's face it GM haven't managed their other brands well either. . .

'The real reason these deals won't go through is that there is nothing for a buyer to buy. '- Rubbish! There are 3 new cars waiting to be launched, a global dealer network, a competitive factory and tech development centre, 1.5 million customers plus a great history. Also you might have noticed that there are buyers, including Spyker, lining up to purchase if they get the chance.

'Unlike this blog, there's no malice in GM's actions, GM is only trying to survive.' - Yea right! 'New GM' is like 'Old GM' - lots yes men working for ego driven dinosaurs - I can see how they might not want to see Saab succeed under new ownership as it would highlight further their own failures.

It is irritating when you try to insinuate that GM is a competent, responsible company when it has had weak management and unclear direction for years. GM's ownership and management of Saab has been a disaster. GM did not 'bail out' Saab, they bought Saab to get hold of technology and to turn a profit. But as usual GM couldn't realise their dreams and they woefully mismanaged Saab through under-investment and constant attempts to turn Saab into a generic brand. GM have starved poor Saab nearly to death, they should be forced to sell it because to shut it down will cost GM's shareholders (including US taxpayers) a fortune as they will be sued by 1100 dealers globally.

And for a little tidbit about GM from The States...

GM sent a love note to Dock and Kang. The note was a beg o' gram (buy our cars kplzthnx). It also included a check for a whopping $1,000.00 towards the purchase of a piece of GM crap.

We're sending it back with a giant phuck you scribbled on it. Petty? Maybe.

This speaks volumes of GM's arrogance. It just cannot comprehend that a SAAB loyalist is a SAAB loyalist and thus is completely uninterested in any vehicle from its assembly lines.

/rant