You can say “So long” to the Saab automobile now. General Motors announced Thursday that they would be shutting down the former-Swedish hallmark brand noted for its unique designs and detail for comfort over style. When GM plunged into its irreversable collapse late last year, they attempted to stem the red ink by eliminating four of their brands, Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn and Saab.
They started by shutting down Pontiac altogether, sending it the way of the LaSalle and Packard. Gone. They wanted to do the same with Saturn, but Roger Penske came up with a scheme where he would purchase the brand, along with the dealerships, and sub-contract the production of the models to other factories. But the logistics of getting that operation going were too difficult and there was a lot of reluctance on the part of the manufacturers to commit to the project. So Penske pulled the plug and Saturn is vaporized too.
GM did manage to unload the Hummer brand to a Chinese auto company. So they picked up a few million $’s, unloaded the division, and China picked up a valuable collection of industrial secrets for a song. GM was hopeful of selling off the Saab assets, too, but attempts to do so kept running into obstacles during bargaining, and they finally gave up on the idea last week.
Saab made its mark from being designed for areas that have miserable weather conditions. It was the first main brand to produce front-wheel drive cars and the controls on the dashboard were extra-large so that they could be operated with gloves on.
Reuters file photo
GM had first purchased 50% of the company from Scania in 1990 and took over full ownership ten years later in 2000. But long-distance ownership usually proves difficult for any business, and changing tastes help lead to a steady decline of sales. Trying to remake the car into a Scandinavian Chevrolet only hastened the inevitable. The total units sold in all of this year was less than 8,000. So it’s Buh-bye Saab. The New York Times published a nice farewell yesterday HERE.
We had better get our own classic trucks checked out now. I’m going to get the coffee started. We’ll get together back in the day room in a little while.
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Winter has enveloped all of North America now.
Fireball shares this more pleasant view with us.
Also on FireGeezer…
- Sobs for the Saabs – December 19, 2011
