This is a shocking piece of news. Remember Koenigsegg that was this close in buying out Saab from General Motors that a preliminary agreement was signed in June indicating that the negotiations have entered the final stages? Well, the latest update reveal that the automaker has pulled out of the deal to take over Saab. Apparently the reason behind this is the delay in completing the deal that have led to the emergence of certain risks and uncertainties.
Furthermore, General Motors revealed previously that if Saab is not sold by the end of year, it will shut it down. Koenigsegg’s head Christian von Koenigsegg said, “We regret that after six months of intense and goal-oriented work we have come to the painful and difficult conclusion that we are not going to be able to carry out the acquisition of Saab Automobile.”
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OMG….this is really sad, sad news!
latest news going around that proton's out of the red…. so proton, are you up for this?
i hope no china company buys them
p1 BODs are you reading this???
i'm no economist but i think this is far better investment rather than the 'syok sendiri' F1 team
Well, It really sad that SAAB ends like this. But somehow I have a strange feeling that an oriental ownership is imminent. After all, SAAB does have valuable technologies in the auto industry.
mr_h8… I agree with you.
But for Proton to seriously consider this…It has to oevrcome a number of obstacles.
Firstly…There is an ongoing perception that says Proton is funded with tax payers money. So if Proton were to buy SAAB, the word on the ground would be it did it with the Govt/Rakyat's money.
It's a pity that although Proton has come a long way as a corporate organisation, the stigma is that it is still Govt owned and funded by the Govt. That is reason enough for most of us to Kill any good perception of Proton as a company.
I would be one of the handful of people who would be very happy if Proton buys over SAAB and applies the available technology in its vehicles.
mr_h8… I agree with you.
But for Proton to seriously consider this…It has to overcome a number of obstacles.
Firstly…There is an ongoing perception that says Proton is funded with tax payers money. So if Proton were to buy SAAB, the word on the ground would be it did it with the Govt/Rakyat's money.
It's a pity that although Proton has come a long way as a corporate organisation, the stigma is that it is still Govt owned and funded by the Govt. That is reason enough for most of us to Kill any good perception of Proton as a company.
I would be one of the handful of people who would be very happy if Proton buys over SAAB and applies the available technology in its vehicles.
Its not the end of the light for SAAB. Some rich Chinese tauke (again) in China will sure buy this company with his spare change. Anyway the taking over is only on the SAAB automobile division. The SAAB Technologies are still there although they wont be applying their aerospace technologies to their cars again.
Proton had their hands quite tied with Lotus and R&D for the upcoming 3 new models in these consecutive years (and not to mention the F1 team…), so I don't think adding up another company in the group during this recession will do them any good.
HICOM den… HICOM is freaking rich…!!! Opportunity now…. hahahha buy HICOM buy… den HICOM buy Proton's share… semua ok lah….
Tech Transfer…!!
(sorry, day dreaming…)
Pity a good car company going down like this. In comparison, Proton is a still claiming itself an infant and sucking milk from the G. If proton under GM, I think sudah banyak lama gulung tikar….
zain, GM also sucking milk from the G, in billions, and the G is sucking dollars from Fed, and Fed just created the dollars out of thin air.
too expensive to maintain an european brand with european manufacturing and labors, in matured market. i think some Chinese tauke will buy, all they need is brand and technologies, they already have cheap manufacturing and labors, and they have emerging markets.
u got the feeling that those americans wanted so many tings for the contraact to be signed…
ohhh NOOOOOO
saab produces fucking good cars, not to mention they used to make airplanes. nahh forget about proton, proton is a complacent, "cocky- we dont need partners to survive" car company.
say goodbye to saab automobiles gentlemen. another death of a auto maker.
better hold on to your saabs if you own them, since they no longer make any. probably will rise in value in about…….10 years time?
anyway, i am not in favour of proton buying saab. we already failed with the cagiva deal. saab is a bigger company, dont think they will manage it well with the increase in labour and admin duties.
unless of course, they can prove that the investment will pay off, or better, salvage any tech that saab has left.
I think it's safe to say that Saab died a long time ago – shortly after the GM takeover.
From the 80s to mid-90s, Saab was revolutionary – it pioneered stuff like turbocharging for everyday passenger vehicles, the extensive use of aerodynamics to improve fuel efficiency / performance, proper driving position (they still make the best car seats in the business), ergonomic dashboard design, safety, etc…
But from the late 90s onwards, it has been churning out re-styled Vauxhaul Vectras with nice seats and not much else (although the 2nd-gen Vectra based 900 was still likeable, because it was a lot like the 1st gen).
It failed to capitalize on their earlier innovations; the rest of the industry caught up.
It's a shame, really – I feel nothing for the current crop of Saabs, but when I see an old 900 Turbo or 9000, my heart still races.
It is difficult for Saab to survive as over the years, the Saab brand seemed to have lost its focus. Most people cannot think of what Saab is good at anymore. Gone were the days when Saab was highly sought after even in Malaysia. Can anyone still remember Aspatra Motors owned by the former BMF boss Lorraine Osman back in the 80s-the showrrom was in present day Dang Wangi opposite the police station and the model at that time was the Saab 900s.
you people make me sick, proton buying saab…yea…..hahaha
indeed, very very sad, I still remember the days when I pass by a caltex workshop in lembah keramat everyday after school seeing Saabs being serviced. Ive dreamt of owning SAAB 93. and even recently the convertable version is featured in Burn Notice..
I look at SAAB drivers in malaysia, and it makes you think" this person seriouly is someone" though SAABs are popular among dentists and headmasters in europe, but to own such a car despite of the narrow distribution, hard to source spare parts,high price and lack of status incomparison to german makes would seriously take guts.you even have to explain how cool of a car this is to some who only know mercs and bmws. these people who manage to look beyond all of those just for the sake of passsion……
lets hope top management of proton or DRB would be a SAAB driver..
Saab is a boring car. If you want value and reliability in Europe there are ford, or opel/vauxhall.
Not sure where Saab fits into this. I personally don't mind china buying all the failed europe cars, then they can run it efficently.
Sorry a little bit off-topic…
Always when there's a car manufacturer for sale, the question arises if Proton should buy it or not…
Why Proton should waste money to buy another car manufacturer ?
GM failed with SAAB, Ford failed with Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin & Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz faild with Chrysler and BMW failed with Rover. Why Proton should do it better ?
I think it would be better to invest the money in research in Malaysia ! If they need foreign input, just employ foreign specialists !
What some people don't know: The car industry is an international industry now. The current VW Passat was designed by a turkish designer, some KIA's are designed in Germany, Toyota & Honda have design centers in the US and Europe. Engines are shared across the industry: Mercedes-Benz is using VW and Mitsubishi engines in their line-up, Nissan is using Renault Diesel engines in Europe, BMW is using Peugeot engines for their Mini and Chrysler VW TDI engines.
In my opinion, Proton shall not try to do everything by itself, but to concentrate to compose a good quality product. This doesn't mean they shall give up their own production, but why not source parts from other manufacturers and knowledge from foreign nationals where it make sense ?
BTW: SAAB never had it's own engines, currently they are using Opel / GM. A company who would buy SAAB, would buy a car without an engine… ;)
sweden should buy back saab, and give us a proper SAAB, not a saab/opel vectra
Being a mainland Chinese, it's annoying to see some Malays insist on comparing Proton with Chinese domestic automakers. Why not enjoy whatever your Proton provides or find a more apt comparison like one with Korean, uh?
??po ton said,
November 25, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
Being a mainland Chinese, it’s annoying to see some Malays insist on comparing Proton with Chinese domestic automakers. Why not enjoy whatever your Proton provides or find a more apt comparison like one with Korean, uh?
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mainland chinese? means ure from china?
u guys R stupid..
saab goodcarmaker? haha.lol..gimme 1 good model ?
Yes saab makes jetfighter, but their cars make by GM.so its turn out to be american cars, not swedish.
saab is a useless anyway..nothing gonna happen if its really vanish from the face of earth.
ridh333don said,
November 26, 2009 @ 4:59 pm
u guys R stupid..
saab goodcarmaker? haha.lol..gimme 1 good model ?
Yes saab makes jetfighter, but their cars make by GM.so its turn out to be american cars, not swedish.
saab is a useless anyway..nothing gonna happen if its really vanish from the face of earth.
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the saab 9-3 viggen was awesome….
if proton buy saab….Proton Wira Aero?