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Saab files for bankruptcy: the end of the Swedish saga
Motor Industry
19 December 2011 10:04
Saab has reached the end of the road – for the second time in two years, just before Christmas. Parent company Swedish Automobile today announced that Saab had filed for bankruptcy.
Owner and acting CEO Victor Muller had been trying to sell Saab as a going concern and had come close to signing a deal with Chinese car makers Pang Da and Youngman, but the deal was blocked by former owner General Motors which feared its technology – powering the new 9-5, plenty of the 9-3 range and the 9-4X – would fall into opposition hands in China.
GM spokesman Jim Cain told Automotive News that Saab had not been able to reassure GM that its technology would be safe in the sale to the Chinese. ‘Each proposal results either directly or indirectly in the transfer of control and/or ownership of the company in a manner that would be detrimental to GM and its shareholders,’ he said. ‘As such, GM cannot support any of these proposed alternatives.’
Saab files for bankruptcy: the statement in full
‘Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 19 December 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile), Saab Automobile Tools AB and Saab Powertrain AB filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vänersborg, Sweden this morning.
‘After having received the recent position of GM on the contemplated transaction with Saab Automobile, Youngman informed Saab Automobile that the funding to continue and complete the reorganization of Saab Automobile could not be concluded. The Board of Saab Automobile subsequently decided that the company without further funding will be insolvent and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors. It is expected that the Court will approve of the filing and appoint receivers for Saab Automobile very shortly.
‘Swan does not expect to realize any value from its shares in Saab Automobile and will write off its interest in Saab Automobile completely.’
Why Saab failed
General Motors sold Saab during its own reorganisation after it collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009. GM sold or closed many of its brands, and it had long been recognised that it had failed to make a success of Saab. At the end of its ownership, most Saabs had been diluted down to Vauxhall/Opel clones with very little of the idiosyncratic vibe that had made them famous in the first place.
After courting numerous prospective owners, including some far-flung suitors such as Koenigsegg, GM finally settled on Spyker. Victor Muller’s Dutch sports car maker bought Saab on 27 January 2010 for $74 million but, crucially, GM retained preferential shares.
Muller and his team went about reinvigorating Saab with an independent spirit and showed promising ideas for future models, with plans for a modern 9-1 infused with classic Saab thinking. But Swedish Automobile, the company set up to run Saab, always struggled with the financials of being a volume car maker in a competitive industry already riddled with overcapacity.
It never sold enough cars and cash flow became a major problem. In April 2011, suppliers finally stopped supplying and Trollhattan fell quiet. Just 11,000 new Saabs were built in 2011 – and the factory has a capacity of 190,000 vehicles per annum.
Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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