General Motors acquired Saab under the impression that prestigious European brands would do lots of good to its business. Chrysler bought Lamborghini and Ford the Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, and the Aston Martin. GM satisfied itself with Saab. Saturn, Hummer and Saab were put up for sale by GM before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Many a company and an investor group from all over the world vied to acquire Swedish brand, and Koenigsegg figured itself in the list of finalists, last month.
Koenigsegg is Buying Saab
Koenigsegg, the manufacturers of ultra high-performance exotic super cars and a group of Norwegian investors signed a letter of intent with Saab to take over the brand from General Motor. The European Investment Bank (EIB) joins them with a finance of $600 millions.
As part of the agreement, Koenigsegg and the EIB will get the control of
- Saab with brand value that has not generated profit in a decade
- Its upcoming product lineup of new 9-5, 9-3, of a rumored crossover
Koenigsegg super cars can top 400 km/h (240 mph) and they have rank in Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 10 most beautiful cars. Koenigsegg is backed by Norwegian investors.
Saab will continue to maintain its presence in the U.S and the customer service issues will be fully addressed even during corporate transitions ensuring future purchases by keeping current owners happy. The preliminary deal was now with the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Chinese Are Buying Hummer
GM has agreed to sell its Hummer SUVs and trucks to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd., It is a western Chinese machinery company that makes cement mixers and now wants to make cars.
The deal would be around $500 million. Hummer was a company that rose to prominence in the early years of the Iraq war for road combat. People bought Hummers because they saw a bit of themselves in it: confidence, self-assuredness and entrepreneurship. So does China now.
Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Automotive Group is buying Saturn
A new deal between General Motor Corp and Bloomfield Hills based Penske Automotive Group (PAG) would save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn in the United States.
The terms in the memorandum of understanding for the sale of Saturn
- Penske would obtain the rights to the brand and certain other Saturn assets
- GM would be contracted to production of the Saturn Aura, Vue and Outlook until the middle of 2011
- Include sale of Saturn distribution network
- Do not include any of GM’s surplus manufacturing assets
Saturn began selling cars in 1990 and has sold more than 4 million vehicles. More than 80 percent of those vehicles are still in operation, according to statistics.
The transaction closes in the third quarter of this year. It is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the agreement are not disclosed yet.
