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Report: Koenigsegg named as Saab buyer

06/11/2009, 1:22 PM

By Drew Johnson

Reports first surfaced of Koenigsegg’s interest in General Motors’ Saab division last month, with the latest news indicating the Swedish supercar maker has sealed the deal for the GM cast-off brand. Koenigsegg and a group of Norwegian investors were among a group of three bidding for the Saab brand.

According to Sweden’s SVT, Koenigsegg has inked a letter of intent to buy the Saab division from General Motors. “The buyers have signed a letter of intent to buy Saab,” SVT said.
“Final negotiations about details on the deal will go on in the next months.”

Representatives from GM and Saab have yet to confirm the report.

Both Saab and GM have recently indicated a sale could be finalized by the end of June or early July. GM put Saab up for sale – along with its Hummer and Saturn brands – before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.

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06/11, 1:28 PM

posted by:

DenverGuy217

“Both Saad and GM have recently indicated a sale could be finalized by the end of June ”

Nice typo. I’m sure GM isn’t Saad at all.

I cannot believe Koenigsegg (who the heck are they?) could screw up Saab anymore than GM has. Hopefully they can get some of the interesting stuff that is in the pipeline out, make huge profits and laugh in GM’s face

06/11, 1:34 PM

posted by:

TomF

The “Swedish supercar maker”? I think “supercar” is a little strong, don’t you? I’d edit to the “Swedish maker of mediocre, overengineered quirkmobiles.”

06/11, 1:36 PM

posted by:

F50

Is this deal 100% confirmed?

I hope Koenigsegg doesn’t mess this up, I really like Koenigsegg’s cars.

06/11, 1:54 PM

posted by:

non_biased_enthusiast

TomF, I would call a car that goes in the neighborhood of 250 MPH a supercar.

06/11, 2:01 PM

posted by:

VR666

I’m embarrassed to share the same name as TomF. You must really not know **** about cars if you think Koenigsegg isn’t a supercar manufacturer. Fastest street legal car equals supercar. Go read Driving Miss Daisy some more before posting on here.

06/11, 2:03 PM

posted by:

orkinman1075

DenverGuy, just click on the Koenigsegg link in the article to find out who they are. And TomF, I hope you aren’t calling Koenigsegg a “Swedish maker of mediocre, overengineered quirkmobiles” because that’s who the article was referring to when they said Swedish supercar maker.

06/11, 2:09 PM

posted by:

DenverGuy217

Thanks. ork. I did Google them and remember now who they are

Could be interesting to see future Koenigsegg-tuned suspensions/cars marketed in the vein of the old Lotus-tuned products. Could help future Saabs compete closer with at least some Audi products perhaps… (BMW’s a far stretch at this point)

06/11, 2:09 PM

posted by:

mayer_ray_nagin

I thought Lamborghini was the one who made mediocre overengineered quirkmobiles …. after the oil shieks gold plate ‘em, that is.

06/11, 2:16 PM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

Of all the deck chair shuffling going on in the automobile industry right now this might be one on the more interesting ones to watch. We know where Koenigsegg’s priorities lie and performance certainly wasn’t a huge part of the Saab vernacular during their tenure with GM.

06/11, 2:24 PM

posted by:

bigs4610

agreed
this will be very interesting to watch

06/11, 2:40 PM

posted by:

HoosierHero

This is probably the best news I’ve read on here in a while. For Saab to be owned by a Swedish company is the best possible scenario. Forget about whether they are the best fit or not because you need to have a vested interest in the product. I cringed when Jaguar/Land Rover went to India (though India’s ties with the UK run pretty deep) because the history just isn’t there. Same with China buying, well, anything lol. British engineering is different than German than American and so on. Good luck Koenigsegg. I hope you do well. They’ll need it!

06/11, 2:51 PM

posted by:

Kid Icarus

Thank you! This is the best thing that could have happened to SAAB. Finally back in Swedish hands like it should have always been

06/11, 2:52 PM

posted by:

05Z88Path

I agree with Hoosier…this is great news for Saab. Not only does Saab stay Swedish but we can also hope some of that supercar DNA gets impregnated into Saab cars!

06/11, 3:36 PM

posted by:

yarddog82abn

Just call it a done deal…..

06/11, 3:38 PM

posted by:

Hyperion

Very promising news. Now hopefully they can handle managing a medium-volume car company was well as they manage their low/limited volume supercar business. This is full of great possiblities: a company that makes fantastic sports cars reviving a company that has a storied history of unique everyman cars (and aircraft).

06/11, 3:46 PM

posted by:

impulsive facts

one of my first true (automotive) loves was the old 900 turbo 3 door hatch or convertible

then along came gm and slowly but surely a love withered

but now it would seem that once again spring may be upon us…

06/11, 3:54 PM

posted by:

AarOOOOn

Saab is going back to being a Sweedish car- not a bad thing in my opinion.

06/11, 4:12 PM

posted by:

Lionwithoutpride

My only hope is that if Ford insists on selling Volvo (dumb for all the reasons I’ve listed before) then some Swedish company buys them . . . I still think Saab and Volvo combined make a very complementary company. Are you listening Koenigsegg??? No matter what, this is awesome news. The Swedish car industry definitely doesn’t threaten Detroit, but the Chinese car companies do. We all know the Chinese can compete and the final lynchpin for them will be burnishing their safety credentials. So, in the end, a Swedish owner for Saab does more than save Saab and benefit GM financially, it helps stave off the coming entry of competitive Chinese autos to the U.S. market. A strategic win all around.

06/11, 4:37 PM

posted by:

JakeK66

Well, you won’t be seeing a Koenigsegg developed product for quite some time, so SAAB will be mostly GM developed for the forseeable future, so for now all of this won’t matter.

I just hope they start making them cost less to better match their abysmal resale values.

06/11, 5:32 PM

posted by:

A4

Yeah TomF wtf? This is one of the fastest cars around Top Gear’s test track, and like it was stated above, goes 250 mph. Sounds like a supercar to me.

06/11, 7:04 PM

posted by:

peter g

Cool…I’ll be looking forward to a 1001 hp sedan…

06/11, 7:24 PM

posted by:

andy

funny name for funny nor unfunny people

i wonder if the Aero X concept will come to life… totally rapes lambo doors with its jet-like canopy…

06/11, 9:33 PM

posted by:

spg900

Good news ! I will now be happier as I continue to drive my 1989 black 900 SPG around.Now if only I could do something to make it sound like the Koenigsegg.

06/11, 9:48 PM

posted by:

navyfotbal

I’m fairly certain “tomf” was referring to Saab, not Koenigsegg….

06/11, 9:49 PM

posted by:

navyfotbal

How does Koenigsegg have that kind of money? I was under the impression that they were just a small, specialty, super car manufacturer??

06/11, 10:09 PM

posted by:

spg900

navyfotbal – Norwegian bankers!

06/12, 2:46 AM

posted by:

SomeGreek

Does Saab has the volume it takes to survive on it’s own? I think not. They’ll keep sharing platforms with GM and need extraordinary effort and talent to make something special and competitive out of it. It will be a miracle if they make it to be viable…

06/12, 1:18 PM

posted by:

ricky_b

Actually, Saab won’t share platforms with GM, they’ll share with Opel, which is much better for them. Adding some of the Swedish super car influence from Koenigsegg and … I’m dying to see the combined output. Think of how a a new 9-3 or 9-5 could turn under those conditions.

06/15, 12:04 AM

posted by:

Dante_JoseCuervo

Hmmm… They’d better make some sensible cars. Leave the insane stuff to the CCX and its successors.

 
 
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