Koenigsegg Won’t Buy Saab
The deal to purchase Saab is officially off.Koenigsegg, thesmall Swedish sportscar builder, has officially terminated the agreement it had made with General Motors.
Both companies have released brief statements, and Koenigsegg's is the more cryptic: “The time factor has always been critical for our strategy to breathe new life into the company.”
We think that might translate to something like, “Saab has been in such a poor state for so long that it's too late for usto save it.”
We suspect that Koenigsegg had been having doubts about this deal for some time. The future certainly didn't look cheery when it was announced that 81 Saab dealers in the U.S. would be terminated under the new ownership.
GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson had this to say in his statement: “We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase. Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB. Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week.”
Reuters
