Saab story: GM simply cannot find a buyer

Published January 8, 2009 by Zane Merva

Automotive News is reporting this afternoon that General Motors (GM) cannot find a potential buyer for their Swedish luxury marque- Saab.

The initial reports of interest in selling the brand came about when General Motors was pressed by congress to submit a viability plan in order to receive government loans that would prevent it from going bankrupt. Under those viability plans, the Saab brand was placed under “strategic review.” GM executive Bob Lutz acknowledged that the term “strategic review” is basically code for “we realize they’re not working and something needs to be done.”

Although no public shopping has been done, rumors of GM secretly gauging interest in Saab have been rumbling around for weeks.

GM has also openly expressed interest in selling its Hummer brand- which was placed on strategic review last June. Like Saab, Hummer has not found much interest.

The Swedish government has indicated it would be open to providing up to $3.8-billion in government loans to Saab and Ford owned Volvo, which is also openly up for sale.

Just last week GM deposited the first $4-billion bridge loan it had asked for from the US government.

Source: Automotive News