Sources close to Saab say that owner General Motors is having a difficult time trying to find an interested buyer for the Swedish automaker. Technically, GM put Saab under a “strategic review” as a part of the Detroit automaker’s long-term plan presented to Congress last month, but sources close to GM and Saab say that the Swedish brand has been heavily shopped around to potential suitors to no avail.
Though Fiat and Tata had long been rumored as potential suitors for the Swedish brand, the massive overall drop in new car sales has forced those companies – and any other potential suitors – to focus on staying afloat, not expanding their lineups.
Officially, GM is mum about its plans for Saab’s future.
“We are not commenting on the details of the strategic review,” Hummer-Saab-Cadillac sales channel spokesperson Joanne Krell told Automotive News. “As soon as we have some details to report, we will.”
A source close to GM told the publication that the automaker loses money on every Saab sold in North America due to a weak exchange between the dollar and the euro.
Saab hasn’t officially decided whether it will apply for the 25 billion kronor ($3.19 billion) bailout being offered by the Swedish government, though analysts predict the automaker will decide to.
GM has had a difficult time trying to sell Hummer, the other brand that it has quietly put up for sale. The two brands’ distribution in the U.S. is closely tied together due to a plan to combine retail outlets for Cadillac, Hummer and Saab in major markets.
It is believe that a purchase of Saab would not include the Swedish and German engineering facilities mostly staffed by Saab engineers. Those facilities have focused heavily on small displacement, turbocharged engines that most analysts see as the future for traditional gas-powered engines in automobiles. Not surprisingly, GM’s initial interest in Saab back in 1989, when it acquired half of the automaker, was due in part to the company’s small turbo expertise.
Ford has had a difficult time finding a buyer for its Swedish unit, Volvo, as well, meaning that the future of the Swedish auto industry is very much in doubt.



01/08, 4:21 PM
posted by:
Struggle
No ****e
01/08, 4:22 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
1 Hendrix
2 Clapton
3 Page
4 Beck
5 Iommi
6 Angus
7 Richards
8 Hammett
9 Blackmore
10 Slash
Maybe GM should keep Saab and let it operate autonomously
01/08, 4:24 PM
posted by:
darx_ider
It was great brand; one of those first that used the turbo-charged engines, until GM bought it. God damn you Rick Wagoner and damn your GM “Big Loser”
01/08, 4:28 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
Keep it. Saab will always be more successful remaining under the GM umbrella. Look at what happened to Subaru when GM let their sorry sh1t go. Ya, sales are up at Subaru, but the design and quality have taken a massive nosedive. People who bought Subarus now will pay later in the form of unwanted, countless repairs.
Saab is a real player against the likes of BMW and Mercedes. In many case, they blow the competition out of the water. Keep it that way GM
01/08, 4:32 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
If Saabs weren’t such overpriced POS’s I’d maybe buy one off GM.
01/08, 4:44 PM
posted by:
AnonymousCoward
Nice headline. HUMMER has been on sale for, what, 7 months now without anyone showing the slightest interest in the piece of crap. But it’s only month since Saab came under strategic review, so I don’t think there is much to say about the “lack of interest” there. Has the review even got started with the holidays and all? I’ll bet you all that Saab’s future is far more secure than both HUMMER’s and Saturn’s.
01/08, 5:07 PM
posted by:
Mutant@DCX
6 BB King
7 Santana
Fine time to start using strategy, losing 6 billion a month for how long?
01/08, 5:20 PM
posted by:
Dangerous1
Perhaps if they would update the vehicles now and then instead if introducing a boring design and letting it languish, they would sell more cars.
01/08, 5:52 PM
posted by:
miket
2. Buckethead
3. Vai
Whats with the guitar lists?
Either way, who wants to but Saab, when they are so intertwined with GM architecture?
How’s this for a deal….You buy Saab, and get no engineering support…then you can keep buying parts from GM until you build your own designs…..so GM makes cash off the deal for the next few years while you get…..bankrupt?
Not sure how they sell this one….
01/08, 6:02 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
Mutant: you’re right.
That’s why things like this need to be thought out before.
I’ll be listening to some muddy waters on the way home
01/08, 6:21 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
If they do decide to let Saab die does that mean we can look forward to a ‘Toe Tag’ sales event?
01/08, 7:13 PM
posted by:
travis0017
Maybe Saab is having problems because consumers care nothing of the tech under the hood when the design of the body looks stupid.
01/08, 9:08 PM
posted by:
gpg
Saab’s strength is really in their turbo engineering of the 2.0 and 2.3 L 4-cyl engine. They have 30 years of forward thinking that GM never took advantage of. Saab’s Aero-x and 9-x Biohybrid concept vehicles have won numerous awards both in Europe and North America. Saab really was GM’s stepchild and anything that Saab came up that would have given them a step up on the competition was delayed or not put into production by GM.
The cost of Saab vehicles are really not any more expensive then any other vehicle in its class. The
9-3SS Saab can be purchased for around $25k to $30K. If you would actually compare a Saab with the Audi, BMW or Mercedes you could obtain the Saab for several thousand less and have an equal or better vehicle then these brands. It will be a sad day in our family if the Saab brand is left to die on the vine as GM has decided to do.
01/08, 9:56 PM
posted by:
melias
13. Steve Stevens – Billy Idol Group
14. Tab Benoit
15. Brad Paisley
16. Keith Urban
17. Sid McGinnis – CBS Orchestra (David Letterman Show)
18, Eric Johnson
19. Buddy Guy
20. Mr. Vaughn
21. Lester Polfus aka Les Paul
obscure guitarists who nonetheless were/are at the top of their game, for $200, Alex!
01/08, 10:00 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Joe Perry. For gawd’s sake people Sweet Emotion didn’t crawl out of the primordial ooze by itself.
01/09, 12:18 AM
posted by:
howsmydriving
Right, what’s up with the guitarist list? Why no Satriani or Malmsteen?
_______________________
Comparing Saab to BMW and MB is just nuts. Not only does Saab not swim in that same pond, it doesn’t even deserve to piss in that same toilet.
01/09, 5:36 AM
posted by:
VictorRaikkonen
I agree with mayer_ray_nagin… Saab’s are WAY too over priced for what you get. Why would I pay 40k for a 9-3 when I can purchase a much better BMW… hell, I would even buy an IS350 or TL before a Saab.
01/09, 8:20 AM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
What about Alex Liefson or EVH? Page was sloppy, and Keith Richards is dull.
If you want to check out a guitarist who is seriously underrated, check out Mike Gurly from a band called DADA. I swear he is the second coming of SRV.
01/09, 10:32 AM
posted by:
Dante_JoseCuervo
22. Steve Howe
23. Django Reinhardt (spelling?)
24. Skwisgar Skigalf (again, sp?)
25. Michael Angelo Batio
26. Jon Schaffer
27. Randy Rhoads
01/09, 11:52 AM
posted by:
Struggle
1. John Petrucci
2. Yngwie Malmsteen
3. Joe Satriani
4. Marty Friedman
and the list goes on…..
01/09, 1:22 PM
posted by:
ricky_b
actually, NMOFGM is incorrect. 1) GM was only a minor stakeholder in Subaru and did not contribute to their daily operation or development. 2) Per JD Power’s and Associated and dealer network data, Subaru’s quality has remained about the same since GM divested their final stake. 3) Toyota has picked up some of Subaru’s shares and has been partnering with them on some interesting new vehicles. In other words, Subaru is now better off without GM
As for Saab. GM has already killed them. The 92 and 97 were two products that gave a black eye to what Saab was supposed to be. The 93 and the 95 have been treated as bastard children with only cosmetics updates in the last seven model years. And with the current state of GM these days, they are not going to sacrifice any money that could go towards US brands to send over to Saab. If Saab isn’t sold in the next year, they will cease to exist at the hands of GM.
01/09, 1:47 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
Elias, Dante, Struggle:
S. Stevens, Yngwie, Feiedman and Howe are definetly underrated.
Les Paul is perhaps the second greatest human ever born, behind Christ himself.
01/09, 4:39 PM
posted by:
stevekarsten
GM (GROSS MISMANAGEMENT) Lame ass company that ruins anything it gets its hands on. Someone teach these GM assholes something please or we may as well really kiss GM and an its American history GOODBYE just like our human rights. PISS ANTS. GM(GROSS MISMANAGEMENT)