DETROIT – “GM’s reinvention achieves another milestone,” reads the press release announcing the automaker’s sale of Saab Automobile AB (a redundant name, given the “ab” in Saab) to Koenigsegg Group AB. And so one tiny, proud Swedish automaker will own another tiny, but somewhat larger Swedish automaker. Good match. And good deal for Koenigsegg. The “reinvention” of GM includes selling off unwanted divisions, including Hummer and Saturn, for just about nothing.
Like Fiat picking up 20 percent of Chrysler with no cash down, there’s no indication so far that Koenigsegg will pay GM anything for 100 percent of Saab. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank now is willing to kick in $600 million to keep Saab’s expensive factory in Trollhattan running under Koenigsegg ownership. That’s operating capital that GM was unable to procure for Saab. And yet, those true blue-and-white Saabs will run on GM underpinnings for some time to come.
Trollhattan will build the all-new 2011 9-5 beginning next year. It’s based on the Epsilon II platform (Opel Insignia, ’10 Buick LaCrosse). That factory also will continue to build the 9-3, which is on the Epsilon I platform (Chevy Malibu, etc.). And all indications are that GM will go forward with 9-4x production in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, alongside the new Cadillac SRX.
The 9-4x has all the makings of becoming what the 9-7x could never be — a real Saab, and not just by its ignition location. The production 9-4x is said to be very close in interior and exterior design to the concept, making it perhaps the most handsome midsize crossover in the segment. It’s critical to maintaining a Saab presence, no matter how small, in North America. And that segment is important in Europe (BMW X3/Audi Q5/Mercedes GLK, etc.) too.
But there lies the problem GM has had in owning Saab. It bought 50-percent of the Swedish company after it lost Jaguar to Ford Motor Company in the late ’80s, then bought the remaining 50 percent a decade later. GM tried to turn a small, quirky automaker that had a small, quirky and loyal following into a kind of mainstream entry-level luxury manufacturer.
Saab and Volvo operate two of the most expensive manufacturing facilities in the world, in southern Sweden. This explains why of all Ford’s foreign brands, selling Volvo is the toughest proposition.
It will be tough for Koenigsegg to keep costs, and prices down. At least to the low-volume exoticar manufacturer, Saab already is far more mainstream and high-volume. If Koenigsegg can be satisfied with small margins and can keep the volume 9-3 model in the upper $20s to $30s in current U.S. dollars, Saab will have a future, once again, as a small-volume maker of interesting, quirky automobiles for people who don’t want to see their cars coming and going.
Source : blogs.motortrend.com/6521869/corporate/koenigsegg-is-the-right-size-to-own-saab/index.html
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