Back in 2008 when bankruptcy was being discussed as a very real possibility for General Motors, the Detroit-based automaker argued that filing for Chapter 11 would virtually evaporate its sales. Although we’ll never know if that really would have been the case (the federal government stepped in for an organized restructuring) we can say for sure that Saab’s bankruptcy filing has actually boosted interest in the Swedish automaker.
Although it’s hard to advocate bankruptcy as a way to drum up business, it seems to be working in the case of Saab. According Dataium, which tracks vehicle research across all automotive Web sites, online searches for Saab vehicles jumped 10 percent following the company’s December 19 bankruptcy filing.
Moreover, the number of first-time buyers shopping the Saab brand increased between 50 and 100 percent each day for the following two weeks. That figure is even more impressive when you considered that Saab suspended all vehicle warranties at the time of its bankruptcy.
It remains to be seen how many of those prospective buyers will actually turn into Saab owners, but the automaker’s U.S. dealers could certainly use the business. There are still about 2,200 vehicles in Saab’s U.S. inventory, or the equivalent of a 221-day supply.
References
1.’Saab swan song…’ view
