Saab Story

The slow unwinding of GM is proceeding with "all deliberate dispatch." Saab has now been sold off to some sort of Swedish super-car developer: GM Secures Deal to Unload Saab Unit

General Motors Co. has reached a binding agreement to sell its loss-making Saab Automobile AB unit to Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB, though a number of funding hurdles still need to be crossed.

The move, announced early Tuesday, comes two months after the companies signed a letter of intent, and will give Koenigsegg rights to produce the next generation of Saabs free of charge.

I used to own a Saab (a '96 900 hatchback). It was the first nice car that I had ever owned; but, Jesus, there comes a certain time when you get to know your mechanic very well. It's no wonder Subaru - whose cars are conceptually and stylistically knocked off of Saab's - was able to grab the valuable SWPL market. GM compounded Saab's troubles by treating Saab as a performance car to rival BMW, rather than as a good car for someone who spends a lot of time heading out into the great outdoors. If I were a skier, a Saab would have been perfect: my old hatchback had a ton of cargo space and a heating system that must have been developed by NASA. But, I am not a skier, so my Saab struck me as a cranky speedy car with a sauna-like interior. Now that Saab has "returned" to Sweden, we can hope that they will rediscover Saab's roots and strengths.