Friday 12th June 2009

Koenigsegg Bids For Saab

Swedish supercar maker in the running to purchase historic Swedish marque from GM

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The CCR: Soon to be a sibling to the 9-5?

The crisis engulfing the global motor industry – and General Motors in particular – has taken another bizarre turn, with the emergence of supercar maker Koenigsegg as a serious bidder for Saab.

Swedish television has reported that Koenigsegg and a group of Norwegian investors have inked a preliminary deal with Saab, signing a letter of intent to take over control from General Motors. Reports suggest that a deal between the two groups could be finalised within months.

Koenigsegg’s bid for GM’s Swedish offshoot has come along late to the party, and other bidders in the running have included Fiat, an unnamed Chinese car company (most likely Geely) and various investment banks and other consortiums.

That Koenigsegg – which makes some of the world’s most outlandish and exotic cars – should be seriously in the running to purchase Saab – whose current output is almost uniformly dull – is testament to the extraordinary state of the automotive sector at the moment.

[richie_mck]

ohh, maybe a hot saab in the future that could contend with the m3, lexus thingmyjig and of late the rs4? interesting things may occur.

[Turbobanana]

Koenigsaab?

And please - don't use - so many hyphens - in - your text - it makes it very difficult to - read.

Tha - nks.

[ptopman]

Koenigseggs are just dressed up Saabs.

[The internet, circa 2010]

[dapprman]

So the next Saab hot model would be a
Saab 900 xtc gt els pdq xss Carleson twin turbo ssc

?

[Slippers]

Could be just the kind of reinjection of quirkiness Saab needs. A Koenigsegg-tuned Saab would be like the Lotus Carlton of yore! It would make M3s look like the jumped-up corporate salesmanmobiles they have become.

[mechsympathy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

True, but I've closed the other thread as this one is linked to the PH story.

[mechsympathy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

True again, but if someone comes to the story from the PH news page and tries to comment they'll generate yet another thread.

[900T-R]

Slippers said:

Could be just the kind of reinjection of quirkiness Saab needs. A Koenigsegg-tuned Saab would be like the Lotus Carlton of yore! It would make M3s look like the jumped-up corporate salesmanmobiles they have become.

Indeed - should be a quick and relatively low-cost way (since Saab already has the use of state of the art AWD technology including clever Haldex rear diff) to give the upcoming new 9-5 range a huge shot in the arm. Imagine the Stig giving the Germans a good pasting in a 600 bhp, biturbo, bio-fuelled version...

Edited by 900T-R on Friday 12th June 12:39

[aeropilot]

I've read elsewhere, that Koenigsegg have said they will put the Saab Aero-X concept car into production if they gain control of Saab

Edited by aeropilot on Friday 12th June 12:58

[stuart-b]

aeropilot said:

I've read elsewhere, that Koenigsegg have said they will put the Saab Aero-X concept car into production

Wowzers! Hope so.

[aarondrs]

I thought Koenigsegg themselves had financial trouble only last year? Quite a burden I would think.

Edited by aarondrs on Friday 12th June 13:17

[Warick Hunt]

I hope they do not buy Saab, on the grounds that they might just build a decent desirable car. The thought of even considering ownership of a Saab is very disturbing and not a position I would ever want to be in.

[AL...Ease]

Whoaaa!! That looks fking ace!

Are Koenigsegg interested in buying Saab to raise their green credentials or whatever it is that car companies have to do to win favour with the EU Eco-Nazis?

[SGirl]

Potentially very interesting news! I hope they need translation services.

[KrissJ]

stuart-b said:

aeropilot said:

I've read elsewhere, that Koenigsegg have said they will put the Saab Aero-X concept car into production

Wowzers! Hope so.

I hope so too. It looks great! As everyone seems to be hoping, I too would look forward to an injection of desirability into Saab if Koenigsegg take over. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens, but it's interesting that Koenigsegg are in a position to take over a large company like Saab, even if they're not on their own.

Edited by KrissJ on Friday 12th June 13:28

[900T-R]

AL...Ease said:

Whoaaa!! That looks fking ace!

Are Koenigsegg interested in buying Saab to raise their green credentials or whatever it is that car companies have to do to win favour with the EU Eco-Nazis?

Unlikely as Saab hasn't got any really 'green' technology apart from biofuels which K'egg do themselves already - I think it has more to do with the wish to build a Nordic high-tech conglomerate and keep valuable know-how close at hand to the benefit of all parties involved. Remember Saab themselves were at the forefront of automobile, aerospace, military, communications and energy technologies as a group in the '80s before the automotive branch was sold off to GM, the Scania business spun off and eventually bought by Volkswagen, et cetera. Saab and Volvo engineers also helped with the development of the Koenigsegg road car (it initially had Saab's Trionic engine management system IIRC).

[nsmith1180]

900T-R said:

AL...Ease said:

Whoaaa!! That looks fking ace!

Are Koenigsegg interested in buying Saab to raise their green credentials or whatever it is that car companies have to do to win favour with the EU Eco-Nazis?

Unlikely as Saab hasn't got any really 'green' technology apart from biofuels which K'egg do themselves already - I think it has more to do with the wish to build a Nordic high-tech conglomerate and keep valuable know-how close at hand to the benefit of all parties involved. Remember Saab themselves were at the forefront of automobile, aerospace, military, communications and energy technologies as a group in the '80s before the automotive branch was sold off to GM, the Scania business spun off and eventually bought by Volkswagen, et cetera. Saab and Volvo engineers also helped with the development of the Koenigsegg road car (it initially had Saab's Trionic engine management system IIRC).

If Konigsegg got Saab, the companies Average CO2 output would nosedive, that is the most likely reason for this! Regulations and requirements are for Average CO2 reductions. Easiest way, buy a manufacturer with much lowe CO2 output than you! And if the Aero-X goes in to production I will be a very happy man.

[900T-R]

nsmith1180 said:

If Konigsegg got Saab, the companies Average CO2 output would nosedive

Nah, it's the other way around - if you're building 18 cars a year you'll have no real legislative pressure to reduce CO2 output for the forseeable future - if you're building 100,000 you're subjected to ever-tightening regulations that Saab as a manufacturer of medium- and large(ish) sized cars exclusively will have trouble to meet.

Edited by 900T-R on Friday 12th June 13:43

[tgx4776]

this is interesting as Turbo Nines (a Saab enthusiast) site posted this yesterday:

"Swedish exotic car builder Koenigsegg, along with a team of Norwegiean investors, has signed a letter of intent with General Motors to acquire its unwanted Saab brand. According to Reuters, "The deal is there now and a few minor details remain."

The news is good for not only enthusiasts of the Saab brand, who have expressed concern over the motives of potential buyers Renco Group and Merbanco, but also for the psyche of the Swedish people, who may finally be able to reclaim one of their most venerated brands as a 100% Swedish business.

GM has been hinting for the last couple weeks that it expected to have a deal inked by the end of this week. The choice of Koenigsegg over the the two American investment groups was largely based on its experience in the car making business as well as its commitment to further invest in Saab. GM will reportedly provide $500 million in assets to the new owner, as well as production equipment for an upcoming Saab model, presumably the yet-unveiled 9-5, plus $150 million in cash that is already on Saab's books."

This implies or maybe just to me that the deal is finalized and just a few remaining details need to be finished.

[nsmith1180]

900T-R said:

nsmith1180 said:

If Konigsegg got Saab, the companies Average CO2 output would nosedive

Nah, it's the other way around - if you're building 18 cars a year you'll have no real legislative pressure to reduce CO2 output for the forseeable future - if you're building 100,000 you're subjected to ever-tightening regulations that Saab as a manufacturer of medium- and large(ish) sized cars exclusively will have trouble to meet.

Edited by 900T-R on Friday 12th June 13:43

I thought it was range output not production output that mattered. So the Average co2 in Konigthingys range being say 350gkm of co2 regardless of numbers produced, but things like the 1.9120 Tid in saabs range bringing theirs down to say 200 g/km would be more importaint. And anyways, have you been in a saab showroom recently? Konigseigg probably build more cars a year than saab. Librarys are more lively places.