Saab sold! Again. Probably.

You'll note that we have yet to remove Saab from the dropdown menu at the top of the Autoblog home page. Indeed, for a bankrupt company that hasn't built a new car from scratch yet this year, Saab generates a surprising amount of news, however, little of it has been the good kind. Perhaps that will all change today, as this latest report indicates that the company has actually been sold for real this time.

According to The Local, an English-language Swedish news site, the new owner of Saab is understood to be National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, "a Swedish-registered company founded by a Hong Kong-based firm specialised in alternative energy and a Japanese investment fund."

NEVS would only confirm that it had made a bid for Saab before the April 7 deadline, according to the report, which said that court administrators also refused to comment, though an official announcement is expected later this month. The offer is said to be in the $208-$250 million range and excludes the parts operation.

The report says news of the sale was shared by the Trollhättan city manager, and though she did not know who the buyer was, she said she had been told the deal would be inked this week. Shortly after media began reporting the story, however, a public relations official for the city denied that anyone at the city knew about any deal, characterizing the leak as a "misinterpretation," according to the report.

While we have imagined many times in recent months that we had written the final word on this Swedish soap opera, clearly this isn't it.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/07/s...gain-probably/

 

haha wow they just won't give up, props

 

This is what should have happened to GM.....someone will buy them, fire the management and hopefully turn the company around.

 

Exactly right.

 

just another saab story

 

I see what you did there

 

You're a little late. That's EXACTLY what happened to GM several years ago. The Federal Government (and the UAW) pumped them full of money, Obama fired the then-GM CEO, and the company (at least judging by a number of their new products) has indeed turned around.

As for Saab, this may be just what they need.....some true, no-nonsense Swedish ownership again. They built some quirky products before the old GM bought them out, and were not a large company. But, at least, they had a small but loyal and dedicated owner-base before GM changed their designs and lost that owner-base. That, of course, was the old GM (which no longer exists), not the new GM.

 

Saab Lives! Sold to Chinese-Japanese consortium NEVS

Despite all odds, Saab will soldier on. The Detroit News reports National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB has agreed to purchase a majority of the bankrupt automaker. The consortium is owned by Hong Kong-based National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd. and the Japanese investment group Sun Investment LLC, and that the two created NEVS just to purchase Saab. The group is currently led by a former Volvo Trucks executive. The purchase takes over the $1.9 billion in Saab debt. Both the bankruptcy administrators and NEVS agreed not to disclose the sale price for the company.

Interestingly enough, the sale does not include Saab Automobile Parts AB. Instead, the Swedish National Debt office has announced it intends to take over the parts business.

Meanwhile, Automotive News Europe reports the first vehicle from the newly-rescued Swedish automaker will be an electric car. Based on the next 9-3, the EV will bow in 2014, though there are few details available beyond the projected launch date. According to SaabsUnited, NEVS only purchased the rights to the next-gen 9-3, not the rest of the (now ostensibly completely dead) Saab lineup that included the 9-5 sedan and 9-4X crossover.

Saab hasn't built a single car since 2011. The automaker filed for bankruptcy in December after all production stopped in March of the same year. According to Automotive News, Saab hasn't been profitable in nearly 20 years, though that figure has been the subject of dispute by its previous owners, who held that former parent General Motors used the brand as a channel to offload debts and development costs.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/13/s...nsortium-nevs/