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Official: Beijing Auto Buys Saab Assets

 
11 5,514 views Dec 14, 2009
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Grille - 2005 Saab 9-5 4-door Wagon Linear

Grille - 2005 Saab 9-5 4-door Wagon Linear

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While Spyker is still being tipped as the front-runner for the purchase of the Saab brand, General Motors has announced today that at least some of the assets of the struggling Swedish automaker have been sold to China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC).


BAIC has now acquired the rights and tools for the current 9-3 and 9-5 (pictured) models. The deal also gives BAIC access to certain powertrain technologies for use in its own models.

Saab boss Jan Ake Jonsson said in a statement: “This arrangement is excellent for both parties, now and for the future. We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles.”

No financial terms of the deal between BAIC and GM were given.

Sadly, this may mean the demise of the Saab brand altogether. GM is still holding open the possibility that Saab might find another buyer, but if a new one isn't found by December 31 the brand will be wound down just like Saturn and Pontiac.

[General Motors]

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Comments (11)

  1. Ryan Posted: 12/8/2009 5:37pm PST

    This is totally incorrect especially with "likely" liquidate the rest of the company.
    Get your facts straight, this is straight up incorrect and pure uninformed speculation at best.
     
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  2. nutrition sportive Posted: 12/8/2009 6:52pm PST

    If your not going to keep Saab (and the cars you just finished designing) as a going concern for yourself, there’s no point selling the whole thing to a competitor to use your own technology against you.
    Maybe a Buick grill will go over better on the front of a 9-4x than it did on a Vue!
     
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  3. Petter Posted: 12/8/2009 7:17pm PST

    I'm sure someone will want to buy the rest. I'm glad Koeningsegg pulled out, they would have been a terrible choice.
    But it's just the tooling for the old 9-5 and 9-3 that they have bought, to produce in China. A car no longer produced in Trollhättan either way. They have already began to pack the tools as far as I know. They will also produce old Saab engines which no longer produces their own from what I've heired. It's not an odd move, Chinese companies buy the licenses and tools to build cars from european firms all the time. Often old models.
     
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  4. Petter Posted: 12/8/2009 7:38pm PST

    9-4X isn't a Saab it's some GM designed car produced in Mexico. You can just sell it as the Cadillac it is. It would still be produced by GM either way. It's not a Saab design at all.

    I don't think Swedish automakers should be so dependent on the US market anyway. The V8s and automatic gearboxes only sell there any how. As said, the old cars they bought the production rights to are going to use (probably) old Saab-designed engines even. Thus don't have the same dependence on GM parts as the newer Saabs. However the deal is with GM/Saab and they are still GM-platform cars, but they don't really compete against current GM offerings there. Saab aren't a car that sells well in China.
     
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  5. r4i card Posted: 12/8/2009 8:50pm PST

    Hi guy's,
    there’s no point selling the whole thing to a competitor to use your own technology against you.
    Maybe a Buick grill will go over better on the front of a 9-4x than it did on a Vue!
     
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  6. Ken Bhan Posted: 12/9/2009 12:09am PST

    It's time to die Saab, goodbye to some of the ugliest cars ever produced. And what about the key in the center console? That's the dumbest place for it, exactly where people spill drinks and kids can grab it. I'm looking forward to the total demise of Saab, because they are lame. Even the name sounds like "sob" which means to "cry" Clearly their marketing department sucks too, just like their cars!
     
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  7. Petter Posted: 12/9/2009 4:27am PST

    SAAB = Svenska Aeroplan AB, or Swedish Aeroplane incorporated. Not that I am a fan, but I understand does who are. No marketing department came up with that name...

    That being said, cars like 9-4X are useless to the SAAB brand, they aren't produced in Saabs factory, they aren't designed in any bit by Saab and they aren't really sold anywhere but in north america. BAIC will already have moved the tooling and production equipment for the old 9-5 and probably tooling for Saabs closed down engine line before it become official. Any way Saab need to be owned by a industrial concern or company that can bring in new capital not some venture capitalist that don't bring any of their own money to the table and has no vision. But I'm more concern for Volvo cars any how. There you really need capital, it isn't just an autoplant. It's two plus a boatload of other people who actually design cars.
     
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  8. bepsf Posted: 12/9/2009 11:20am PST

    "And what about the key in the center console? That's the dumbest place for it, exactly where people spill drinks and kids can grab it."
    The key was originally put in between the seats for two reasons: It provided a lock for the transmission to help prevent theft, and as a bonus it got the key out of the way of a drivers knee in the case of a frontal collision...
    ...of course, that was in the days before the car became a rolling coffee house and when children were properly disciplined and belted into their seats.
     
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  9. patckc88 Posted: 12/13/2009 4:05pm PST

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=alrP_jlzIg88
     
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  10. fb_33701777 avatar Will Cheval Jr. Posted: 12/13/2009 6:57pm PST

    I really hoped there would be a suitable buyer for Saab...I would love to see this brand remain a niche brand, and churn out interesting luxury cars...
    Looking back at all the times that people criticized Saab for the 4-cylinder turbos...now everyone is downsizing engines in order to maximize fuel economy...Back to 4-cylinders!
    I'm sadly thinking Saab will soon be visiting the pie in the sky...
     
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  11. BaRa Posted: 12/14/2009 3:21am PST

    Next thing you know someone's gonna complain about the night panel, "because passers-by cannot see your pricy in-built GPS", or the advanced head rests "because that way it'll be harder to commit insurance fraud". I never ever spilt a drink on the center console or key. But I did hurt my legs with the key(chain) in other cars.
     
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