Road Reality » Saab

February 2011 Sales and Analysis

John Suit — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:00:52 +0000

February was a great month for new-car sales, with the total volume up 21.28% over January, and almost 27% over February of 2010. Those are the overall numbers, but the general trend for February was that American car companies had a good time, while most of their overseas competitors struggled. Click past the jump for my analysis and graphs.

Month-to-month, the big winners were Dodge, Ford, Honda, Nissan, RAM and Toyota. Year-to-year, all of GM’s brands (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC), as well as Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, RAM and Toyota had significant increases. While that may not mean a lot, it shows that cars built in North America are selling at a much better pace than those built in Europe and Asia. There may be a lot of reasons for this, but I suspect the main one is pricing. The economy still hasn’t regained a lot of its strength, so buyers are wary of spending much over $40,000, which is where a lot of BMW and Mercedes-Benz products land. Accords, Altimas, Camrys, Fusions and Sonatas are the bulk of sales for their respective companies, and with gas prices on the rise again, look for smaller cars to win out in the next few months.

Meanwhile, the surprise was RAM, which sold over 20,000 vehicles in February, a feat I doubt it will best if gas prices stay high.

On the negative side of things, Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab and Suzuki had less sales in February than they did the previous month. While Suzuki is nowhere near a luxury marque, the rest shows just how soft the luxury market is right now. BMW had a minuscule 500-car increase in sales from January to February, which hardly counts during a month which saw 20-30% increases in month-to-month sales for some of its competitors.

With 1.8-million vehicles already sold this year in America, I’m going to stick with my 12.5-13 million new-car sales prediction. The actual number of sales may be helped or hurt by rising gas prices, as more truck owners may want to make a trade in order to gain fuel economy.

by John Suit

GM: Saab sale to Spyker is completed!

John Suit — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:00:31 +0000

2010 Saab 9-5

It seems that the “wind down” of Saab will have to be postponed. GM announced on Tuesday that the sale of Saab to Spyker automotive has been completed, and going forward, Spyker will be responsible for all of Saab’s operations. This is good news to the Saab faithful and employees around the world. Although the automaker is a niche player, it will help fund Spyker’s other projects, namely its supercars. No news about who financed the deal, although it was rumored that the Swedish government had its hands in the deal, promising money to Spyker to give it operating capital to continue running Saab.

by John Suit

Source: GM

Update: Saab is back from the dead!

John Suit — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:31:49 +0000

There has been a lot of speculation lately as to the fate of troubled automaker Saab. We reported previously that GM was going to wind Saab’s operations down at the end of 2009. Then talk began of Swedish company Spyker trying to buy Saab. Spyker previously put a bid in to buy them, but negotiations with GM fell through, leaving GM to announce the end of its Swedish subsidiary. Although details in the press release are slim, apparently Spyker will create a new company called Saab Spyker Automobiles, which will build Saab automobiles. The entire deal is still hinging on government and court approvals, on both sides of the Atlantic, but shows great promise, which is great news for Saab fans and employees.

by John Suit

Source: General Motors

Breaking News: GM to Wind Down Saab

roadreality — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:12:59 +0000

It was announced this morning that GM will begin “winding down” operations of their subsidiary, Saab. GM has been trying all year to find a buyer for Saab, but has been unable to complete a sale, after last month’s failure to sell to Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg and this month’s failure to sell to Dutch automaker Spyker Cars. GM is following through on an earlier statement where they announced that if they couldn’t find a buyer by year’s end, they’d wind down its operations.

In the press release made this morning, GM also stated that Saab’s debts would be paid, as this is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation. They will also be honoring warranties and providing spare parts to dealers. It’s always a sad day when a manufacturer with such a long history has its doors closed for good.

Saab only sold 23,186 cars in North America in 2008, a decrease of about 34% from 2007, when the Swedish automaker sold 35,175 cars.

by John Suit

Source: General Motors

Bad Omen? Saab deal falls through for GM

roadreality — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:48:15 +0000

It was announced Tuesday that Koenigsegg, a Swedish supercar manufacturer, has dropped out of a deal to purchase Saab from GM. Contrary to previous press releases from GM stating the “winding down” of Saab if a buyer could not be found, they are now saying that they, “… will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week.” Expect more news posted here next week as GM figures out what to do with its quirky subsidiary.

My prediction is that GM will sell off Saab to another buyer. There were other companies interested in Saab before Koenigsegg, and now they can come to the forefront. Realistically, GM doesn’t need Saab, so they should sell it off, or shut it down. This would get rid of unnecessary overhead and costs on GM’s part. While some reports have declared an end to the automotive recession, I believe we are far from it. The downward slide in sales may have slowed or stopped by this point, but I think it will be a long time before the American automotive market will be able to support sales of 13-17 million new vehicles per year.

by John Suit

Sources: Automotive News, GM

Industry Update: Company Ownership

roadreality — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:44:04 +0000

Since the early 1900s, vehicle manufacturers have been buying and selling each other, trying to grow their combined business. Some of these ploys work (GM buying Cadillac in 1909) while others fizzle out (GM buying Hummer in 1998). In today’s uncertain automotive times, the Detroit 3 are trying to streamline their companies, to cut operating costs and slough off under performing brands. In order to answer the question of whose product you’re really buying when you buy a car, truck or SUV in America, I will go into a little detail as to which companies are on the block, which have already been sold, and which are dying (or already deceased).

We’ll start with Chrysler, which has been in the news recently, following their arrival post-Chapter 11, and the subsequent purchase by Fiat. While considered a purchase, Fiat only bought 35 percent of Chrysler Group, which gives them controlling interest, from Cerberus Group, which bought out Daimler in 2007 (Daimler makes Mercedez-Benz). This includes the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

Next up is GM. Now labeled Government Motors by many people, they have been forced to cut Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer. While Pontiac had a popular car in its G8 sedan, its other cars were far too close to their Chevrolet siblings. Saturn lost its focus in the late 1990s, and Since the Ion was introduced in 2003, sales were on the decline, leading to GM trying to sell it off. There was a deal in the works with Penske Racing, but an inability by Penske to secure manufacturing after the end of 2010, the deal was scuttled. Saab has been sold to Koenigsegg, a Swedish company known for its ultra-low production supercars, and recently the Swedish government promised 400 billion Kroners (about $399 million US) to keeping Saab alive. A deal involving Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong – a heavy industrial machinery company - buying Hummer is still trying to be solidified.

Of the Big 3, that leaves Ford. CEO Alan Mulally’s crystal ball must work, as in 2007, he leveraged part of the company to secure $4 billion in order to keep the company afloat, and in 2008, Ford sold Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover in order to streamline the company. Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to the Indian company Tata, which is notable because they produces a car there that sells for a paltry $2,500 US, called the Nano. Aston Martin was sold to a British consortium, led by Prodrive and its owner, David Richards. Ford also sold its controlling interest in Mazda, but should continue to share chassis designs, engines, and other small bits.

Now, knowing the companies in limbo, a little refresher as to which US companies are still holding on to others. Ford continues to own Volvo – known to Americans as building some of the safest cars on the road – though recent reports suggest that Volvo is now up for sale. GM is still producing Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles.

So what does this all mean to the American car buyer? It means that some of the marques, traditionally labeled as American, are either going to close up shop or be answering to new parents. The companies currently in flux or already sold will be creating new vehicles, stopping production of some current vehicles, and possibly changing their entire corporate structure and focus, in order to further differentiate themselves from their corporate siblings. You can already see this in Buick’s new lineup of crossovers and sedans. Some of them might resemble Chevrolet or GMC’s vehicles, while others have altogether different appearances.

By John Suit