By Alex Nunez on January 26, 2010 in
About an hour or so ago, General Motors made an announcement that, frankly, didn't seem possible last month: Saab has been sold. GM struck a deal with Dutch supercar manufacturer Spyker, which will officially take over the beleaguered Swedish automaker.
While GM has not officially released specifics yet, Spyker will pay General Motors $74 million, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the European Investment Bank will supply a Swedish government-backed loan valued at around $566 million. Spyker will form a new company called Saab Spyker Automobiles to carry the brand forward, and General Motors will reportedly hold onto $326 million in preferred shares in Saab once the deal is closed.
The sale is pending final approval from the various government and financial entities that are also involved, but GM's press release basically indicates that it's all expected to be finalized by mid-February. The all-new 2011 Saab 9-5, which seemed all but doomed in recent weeks, is now likely to be the cornerstone of the new company's product lineup, along with the 9-4X crossover.
The sale doesn't automatically mean Saab's future is a rosy one, however. The truth remains that Saab is a perennial money-loser with dismal sales and Spyker, which built all of 43 cars in 2008, each costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, is taking on an operation that is simply enormous in scope and complexity compared to anything it's ever had to deal with before.
The big winners today are General Motors, which gets to not be the company that killed Saab; Saab's employees and dealers, whose parent unexpectedly breathes new life; and lastly, Saab aficionados, who get to see their favorite automaker live on. For now, at least.