Spyker has set the goal of turning a profit with its newly-purchased Saab division by 2012, reports Automotive News [sub]. That effort will be led by a total of three Saab products: the existing 9-3 (with a new version rumored for 2011), the forthcoming 9-5 sedan and, later next year, the GM-built Saab 9-4X Crossover. Other models, including a 9-1 compact are being hinted at, but Spyker acknowledges that such a product would require about a billion dollars more than Saab-Spyker currently has access to. Meanwhile, those three vehicles will have to generate 100k-125k annual sales in order to keep the business plan rolling along. Saab-Spyker honcho Victor Muller has an almost shockingly confident take on this possibility, telling Reuters:

It’s all about the restoration of the confidence in the company. Customers have been very reluctant to buy because of the uncertainty surrounding the brand… Saab has to do nothing but regain its existing and old customers because that in itself would be in enough to create a very strong business model..

Saab sold a total of 8,680 vehicles in the US over the course of 2009. Globally, the firm sold 39,903 units last year, down from 94,751 in 2008. Perhaps the challenge is a bit more difficult than Muller lets on.

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So you thought the Saab deal is done? A deal is never done until the check clears. Speaking of clearing, Laurence Stassen, a member of the European Parliament, and a member of the Dutch Partij voor de Vrijheid (a right-of-the-center party in the Netherlands) is seeking clarification from Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Vrouw Stassen wants to know if there is any forbidden state aid involved in the Saab/Spyker deal, the Dutch news site NU.NL reports. The Swedish government guarantees a loan of €400m, which Spyker then is supposed to get from the European Investment Bank. Spyker is, well, banking on that money. (Read More…)

It’s been a looooong wait and lots of nail biting for Saab employees and Saab enthusiasts around the world, but GM and Spyker have reached a preliminary agreement on a Saab sale. The deal includes amongst other things the rights to the Saab brand of course, the Trollhättan production facilities (which was important to Spyker – more on that in a bit), the rights to produce and sell the existing 9-3’s, the new 9-5 and 9-4x models. Former Saab CEO Jan-Åke Jonsson, who was let go when the liqudation of Saab started, will be reinstated as CEO. He, and Spykers CEO Victor Muller have been named the heroes of this deal – Jonsson for his endurance and stamina “He didn’t walk out the back-door as liquidation started – instead he started nightly negotiations, writes Aftonbladet.se in a tribute to Jonssons’ role. And Spyker’s Muller’s charm and persistence have also been mentioned as a crucial part in securing Saab from GM.
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GM boss Ed Whitacre just finished a brief and unenlightening press conference, in which he revealed that he will remain as permanent Chairman and CEO for the foreseeable future. Whitacre refused to set expectations for how long he would remain at the top of the government-owned automaker, simply saying he would stay “for an adequate amount of time to do what we need to do.” He does not anticipate the appointment of a separate President, COO or Chairman of the Board, leaving him in full control of the company. Whitacre also announced that an already-planned payback of $6.7b in government loans would take place in a lump-sum payment this June. He also clarified that GM was in “advanced talks” with the Dutch firm Spyker over the fate of the Saab brand (or what’s left of it) but that GM has not reversed its decision to wind the brand down, and that he had no announcement of any new deal with Spyker. Saab enthusiasts had hoped Whitacre would announce a Spyker deal at today’s press conference. Meanwhile, Saab hopeful Genii Capital has announced the withdrawal of its Saab bid. Otherwise, Whitacre said he was “encouraged” by GM’s situation and that the his emphasis would be on “fine tuning” going forward.

A lot of what we have written in the last few days, even what we have not yet written, is utterly wrong, say the objects of our writings. Here are the denials of the day. (Read More…)

Between the tooling for the old Saab 9-5 being shipped off to China and GM “starting” the wind down process, even the most optimistic, “fuel tank is half full” members of the auto world are starting to think that it’s “game over” for Saab. Well, here’s the final nail (barring a completely audacious bid, from an equally audacious company, who want to spend millions of pounds on a damaged brand) in the coffin of Saab. The Local, a Swedish website, reports that GM are officially killing all plans to bring the new 9-5 to production. “It would be so sad that it never sees the light of day despite the fact that it’s a fantastic car,” admits GM vice chairman Bob Lutz.
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Bloomberg read it in Sweden’s Dagens Industri that General Motors will send the tools for Saab’s new 9-5 model to China. Mind you, these are not the old 9-5 tools sold to BAIC. These are the tools for the new Epsilon 2 based 9-5, or what Dagens Industri calls “the crown jewels of Saab.”
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Saab’s extended January 7th deadline came and went. Four groups handed in offers: Spyker put in its third bid. Luxembourg-based private equity group Genii Capital joined with Formula 1 tycoon Bernard Ecclestone and Hakan Samuelsson, former head of truckmaker MAN, in a bid. Wyoming-based Merbanco Inc., and a Swedish investor group also submitted proposals. Apparently, the proposals did not impress. Saab declared bankruptcy, for the second time in a year.
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We’ve got a two-for-one deal on today’s wild-ass rumors, as neither seems likely to amount to much. First off, GM’s Jon Lauckner caught a headline at the WSJ by conjecturing that the Volt’s price “could be notably lower” than the anticipated $40,000. “We have until this summer to figure that out,” Lauckner said. Meanwhile, The Atlantic‘s Daniel Inviglio ran a few numbers, and came up with some rough estimates about possible amortization compared to a Toyota Prius at different price points ($40k, $30k, $25k). Even at $30k, according to Inviglio’s analysis, you’d have to drive 3,350 miles per month to see an economic benefit over the Prius. Yikes!

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Ed Whitacre said yesterday that none of the potential bidders for Saab have come forward with the financing needed. “I think we’ve done everything humanly possible,” Whitacre said. Then he announced that GM will start closing down Saab plants later this week. GM’s really, final, we-really-mean-it-this-time deadline for Saab runs out today.

Who knows, maybe someone will come up with the money. Or at the very least, with some Powerpointilisms: Joran Hagglund, Sweden’s state secretary for industry, said there are bids from two anonymous groups that might make today’s deadline. Except that there is that nasty little detail: “The problem is that none of them can show that they have financing in place,” Hagglund said.
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Ok, so not every Saab owner made it to the “Save Saab” rally outside of GM’s headquarters today… but local Detroit businesses did report shortages of pipe tobacco, leather elbow patches and quirk. All kidding aside though, is there a better illustration of the blind passion that automobiles so relentlessly inspire? These folks had to know that 20-odd people with signs wouldn’t make a lick of difference to Saab’s fate, but dammit, they drove to Detroit anyway. From as far away as New Jersey, Kentucky and Iowa, no less. Somehow that makes the inevitable schadenfreude seem a little less satisfying.

Loss-making Dutch boutique carmaker Spyker (well, Spyker actually stopped making cars, and is outsourcing whatever car production is left to UK’s CPP) is revising – for a third time –  its bid for GM’s loss-making Swedish carmaker Saab. Spyker received a new deadline of January 7^th, Reuters reports. Everything else has already been said.

Got schadenfreude? This video represents GM’s pathos-laden attempt at discovering Saab’s relevance, circa 2003. But this is more than just the insincere flogging of a dead brand walking, it’s also more evidence for why GM continually struggles with perception gap. Videos like this, touting turnarounds and viability, have been undermining GM’s credibility for decades. At this point perception gap isn’t even the right term: try “credibility deficit” instead. Meanwhile, die-hard Saab fans are planning on converging on the RenCen in hopes of swaying the masters of Saab’s fate to be merciful to their beloved brand. Don’t hold your breath though: as this video proves, GM has years of cynicism under its belt when it comes to its Swedish division.

“They don’t write songs about Volvos,” proclaimed an infamous Chevy billboard once seen in the Detroit area. Of course it wasn’t strictly true, but then Chevy’s two most recent forays into musical marketing, Volt Jingles versions 1 and 2, weren’t exactly “Little Red Corvette” either. And the trend seems to be holding: quality car-inspired music is slipping away. Even this song, the first Saab-inspired tune I’m aware of, is a wholly forgettable drone about fighting Saab’s inevitable closure. It’s not as bombastically awful as, say, the infamous Mercedes “One Goal” tune, but you know automotive culture is in trouble when the only music it inspires is about the closure of a niche Swedish nameplate. Unless the lyrics “we’re gonna make it, not gonna break it” has some kind of mysterious resonance for the daily Saab driver that I’m not getting. Either way, the world of car-inspired music needs some work.