Just moments ago, General Motorsannounced that it will be closing down its money-losing SAAB unit afterconcluding that the sale of the Swedish brand to tiny Dutch supercarmaker, Spyker Cars, could not be completed in the time frame that hadbeen set.
"Despite the best efforts of allinvolved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required tocomplete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonabletime. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution.We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction withSpyker Cars," said GM Europe President Nick Reilly.
General Motors had turned to Spyker Cars after afailed effort to sell the Swjtch brand to a consortium led by the Koenigsegg Group AB.
TheDetroit automaker said that Saab will continue to honor warranties,while providing service and spare parts to current owners around theworld.
"We willwork closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in anorderly and responsible manner," Reilly said. "This is not a bankruptcyor forced liquidation process. Consequently, we expect Saab to satisfydebts including supplier payments, and to wind down production and thedistribution channel in an orderly manner while looking after ourcustomers."
What GM did not say, is what's going to happen with the Swedish firm's upcoming models such as the new 9-5 sedan and the Cadillac SRX-based, 9-4x.
Earlier this week, the Detroit automaker revealed that it had come to an agreement with China's BAICfor the sale of the intellectual rights of the current-generation Saab9-5 (not the 2010 model shown in Frankfurt) and certain 9-3 models.
Saab follows the same fate as several other GM-owned brands such as Pontiac and Saturn which were also axed. |
發表於 2009-12-20 12:18 PM
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