Presumably this means an end to Imprezas and GMC trucks being passed off as Saabs.

Haha, GM’s on a good news streak.
First, news of Bob Lutz’s resignation by the end of the year, then the Corvette Stingray Concept, now this.
Has any one else noticed how well foreign auto companies are doing once their American owners sell or abandon them?

This news sucks for GM. Thank god I would never waste my money on a ford, gm, or dodge.

Thanks TomF, for your delightful insight from 2006.

IF Saab survives, maybe this will allow for them to return to designing cars that are unique and quirky, like the old 900. Right now, all Saab is bringing to market are a bunch of also-ran products with huge premium price tags. Who would buy one over, say, a CTS with the 3.6 DI engine? Nice cars, but no BMW, Merc or Cadillac.

TomF,

I don’t know where you’ve been, but the end already came for the Impreza-based 9-2x in 2006, while the last 9-7x was built 2 months ago.

GM learned its lesson.

As far as Saab being independent goes, I have NO idea how that will work long-term. Conventional wisdom says that Saab needs a corporate partner to get economies of scale so that they can afford to build competitive cars at competitive prices.

Saab hasn’t been triuly independent since they took over Scania in 1969. And even so, they’ve only ever juggled two platforms at once.

I would imagine that it would behoove GM to keep a “strategic partnership” with the company. Saab gives GM great small engines, while GM gives Saab platforms it can use to build its models. The only question is, is that going to be enough to keep Saab alive, kicking, and competitive?

Good. One less brand NMOFGM wacks off to. Saab is just dead weight on GM’s PNL. Good riddance.

Doesn’t sound like there is any cash changing hands for this. Sounds almost like GM is giving the company away to Saab management. Saab must be hemoraging pretty badly for them to do that.

Well some thing is better then nothing…

Does this mean that Saab is going to stop manufacturing really expensive Saturn L-Cars like the one in the picture?

I hope when Saab gets it’s independence from GM, it also hires some independent thinkers to work there. Their cars have become so intertwined with GM and bland that they are no longer really competitive choices in either price or performance in their respective classes.

Saab shoulda been on their own years ago. GM never spent the money needed to bring this brand up to where it should be. Without GM heading it up, now it’ll get better as their dependence on parts sharing dwindles.

Inline6, GM has been in business longer then you and I walk the planet. Considering the dire shape they are in, I doubt that the current management is capable of learning any lessons. I bet you that they will be let go or company will have to be taken off the tax assistance, because they utterly incapable of anything.

Dang, I never noticed how much that Saab in the pic looks like the Saturn L-series, the “Opel” one from a few years ago.

Saab is already independent. Pretty much every one made sits on the lot alone for months.

I kind of like what Saab is supposed to represent in the market but GM screwed them up really badly. I think they’re throwing out the remaining carcass to rot alone. Unless another company steps in, I think Saab is doomed.

GM acquired SAAB because they were already a mess. People are talking as if SAAB was thriving when GM bought them. While GM has not turned SAAB into a success, SAAB would have died years ago if not sustained by GM cash infusion.

I love big fancy words like “behoove”, makes your ideas seem so intelligent.

Ford stupidly lost millions on Volvo and Jaguar and GM stupidly lost millions on Saab and Hummer. The cost to purchase these “dead” companies and retool them are why Ford and GM are in trouble today.

Saab should just fold. Saab’s hey day was in the mid-80s to early-90s, when the 900s was the edgy-yuppie answer to the 3-series yuppie-yuppie. You remember, with the ski racks up top? That model is the only model that continues to stick in people’s minds. With Volvo and Audi, I just don’t see how Saab can weather the New World Order.

Anyone who believes that the word ‘behove’, which is spelled with one ‘o’ to be a ‘big fancy word’ is bloody well an idiot. All I have to say… and people use spell check.