Spyker has completed the deal to buy Saab from General Motors, transferring ownership of the Swedish car maker to Spyker but retaining Saab as an independent manufacturer and brand.
The deal was finalised this afternoon, and turns Saab and Spyker into sister companies. Victor Muller, Spyker CEO, said: “We are delighted - Saab’s future is now secure.” “From today we will be concentrating all of our efforts into reviving Saab and transforming it into a sustainable and profitable company with the confidence to be bold.
“We will reinforce the emotional experience between Saab drivers and their cars and we will focus on Saab's historical strengths in the fields of independent thinking, aircraft heritage, ecological performance and motorsport.”
Saab has now exited the liquidation process that GM started in January, and former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson has resumed his position as the head of the company. Production of the new 9-5 will resume at Saab’s Trollhattan factory, and Saab will then launch the 9-5 estate later this year.
Muller is planning a new Saab to rival the Mini and the A1, which could be called 9-2. The new car would embody the spirit of the original 9-2 of 195, which was Saab’s first car.
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Re: Saab sale completed
We are in agreement!
I guess my honest opinion is that it seems destructive for people (press included) to doomsay the chances of Saab's survival.
For Saab to make it, people have to believe that they will, in order to spend their hard-earned cash on a Saab car. The reason sales tailed off so woefully in 09 and 10 was because of the complete lack of confidence that Saab would be sold and still be around in a few years time. Who would spend around £20K on a car in those circumstances? So, some positivity now will surely help to kick start this little company back to life. Doesn't that make sense?
Re: Saab sale completed
are you sure? (!)
i'll give it 18 months
Re: Saab sale completed
With respect there's a huge difference between having a look and being seriously interested. You also make the rather odd distinction between BMW (a company run rather more professionally than GM in the last 20 years) being prepared to offload to "total shysters" as you call them, presumably without caring whether subsequent events impacted BMW or its image, and GM selling to a company the size of a cornershop in a matter of weeks.
Look let's get one thing straight - the world would be a much duller place without Saab (the real Saab, not the GM facsimile). However Rover discovered that a groundswell of patriotic goodwill wasn't enough to sustain it, and the more realistic Saab and its friends are now, the greater the chances of it beating the odds and making it long term, which is what we all hope.