Are we witnessing the beginning of some trend here? It seems auto makers' deals to buy brands from other car makers end up reneging on their deal. Witness the debacle between General Motors and the Penske Group concerning Penske’s agreement to buy Saturn. That fell through. Now witness GM’s deal with Magna International and Sberbank concerning the acquisition of Opel. GM reneged on the deal.
Now comes word that Koenigsegg, a Swedish supercar manufacturer, has reneged on its deal to buy Saab from General Motors.
The deal was announced in August of this year and Koenigsegg said that it would purchase 100 percent of Saab, which is also headquartered in Sweden. Before the sale General Motors had said that it would stop funding the company. So the sale was Saab’s only alternative for survival.
A couple of issues were developing as the talks continued to close the deal. Koenigsegg said that it would close a “sizable” amount of Saab dealerships in the U.S. and inventory was running low at existing dealerships leading to concern that this forecasted a shortage of Saabs in the near future.
Our take? Will another company step in to save Saab? Will the Swedish government? Stay tuned.
DETROIT -- General Motors confirmed today that the proposed sale of its Saab subsidiary to Koenigsegg Group AB was terminated at the discretion of the buyer.
"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," said GM President and CEO, Fritz Henderson. "Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB. Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week."
Press release via General Motors/Saab