General Motors Co. agreed to sell its Saab unit to Spyker Cars NV, the Dutch carmaker said today in an e-mailed statement. 2 ugly car companies merge to form "Saabker"?
I'd have to say yes to both - at least with respect to some of their details. Good luck to Spyker with SAAB though - hope it turns out well for them.
Yay!!!!! I read Spyker's CEO Muller was fed up waiting for an answer from Whitacre and said he'd pull the offer if he didn't have an answer in a few days, he was worried the wind down would go too far to save the firm. Hope Spyker makes it work. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, actually I think it is not just that Saab is saved, it especially is great news for Spyker. It will dramatically improve brand awareness as well as create a world wide dealer network. If you look at Google Trends, Spyker has not seen a spike in searches like this since the Formula 1 adventure. We also see it on our owner website: www.spykerowner.com The traffic has tripled in the last few weeks.
I'm glad Saab isn't dying (yet). My question is: How can a boutique production company (~50 cars per year) secure funding to purchase a nearly 100K cars/year production company and expect to make money? Does this mean Spykers will have Saab motors, or will Saabs have Audi motors? http://www.spykercars.nl/download/investor/-_Press_release_Spyker_Cars_NV_reports_key_figures_1st_half_year_2009.pdf
Spyker recently moved their production to a larger factory in England will be ramping up production. The manager of the new operation has said something like 400 cars a year is the goal. Not to mention they are gaining all of the existing technology and have a fully built 9-5 model nearly ready to launch with little to no further investment needed. Obviously the Saab acquisition will give them an global dealer network and huge amounts of brand awareness, the stock sky rocketed over the last few days.
It really depends on how Saab, as an organization, is going to be willing to change from a bureaucracy to an adhocracy. There must be a market for a new version of the old Saab. To attract again a new generation of people that like an idiosyncratic product and not a rebadged GM product. It takes 5 years to develop the next generation car, so don't expect an instant change.
In that case I would say to all Spyker shareholders... SELL NOW. Here's quote from the link: "We are greatful to our partners, in particular Snoras Bank and Latvjas Krajbanka, for their ongoing support to achieve our objective of attaining profitability." I hope the Saab/Spyker business plan works. I really do. I just don't think that, after 10 straight years of being millions of dollars in the red, a company that borrows $74 million (takes on more debt) to buy another bankrupt company will not stand much of a chance. Long term that is. I hope the new 9-5 is awesome. If it is, I will buy one.
glad saab is safe, for now. Its going to take alot to keep them safe though they have to find a way to release the new models which will be tricky given current finances. They're also very niche sure it will help spyker (which is likely almost unheard of) but can they move 100,000 cars and be profitable? Its going to take alot of work and luck to pull all this off and I hope it can be done. Regardless this is great that a chance is being taken. While not beautiful saab's have always been of interest to me (900 while ugly was interesting because it was ugly) and they're like volvo quite comfy and safe. Reliability seems to have been an issue so hopefully that can be remedied also.
I would be a shame to see this brand go but selling rebadged GM products isn't exactly what a quirky Swedish car brand should be doing.
The whole goal of making Saab independent again, was to be able to built real Saabs again. They were very busy developing new models that had nothing to do with GM. From what I've seen, the twenty years under GM's burocracy hasn't done much good for the independence spirit within the organization. It is very hard to turn a whole organization around, but if someone can do it, it is Victor Muller. Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via (For the tecacious, no road is impassable) is not for nothing the Motto of Spyker. I will stay optimistic..... (I have to, I own a Spyker as well as the new Saab)
I met Victor Muller at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah a year or two ago to drive the new Aileron C8 and the old C8. He definitely has the energy and drive to make SAAB successful but it might be a little late. I wish Spyker had done better. There are brand new models that have been sitting on dealer lots for years.
Another last minute reprieve.... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/business/global/chinese-carmakers-to-buy-saab-pulling-it-back-from-the-brink.html
