Spyker Saab Created, Now the Hard Part Begins

Saab Automobile's new management is considering how it might design and produce a modern, teardrop-shaped 92 small car. "Yes, of course, we've been thinking about it," says Victor Muller, chief executive officer of Spyker Cars, which completed its deal to buy Saab from General Motors, taking it out of liquidation proceedings. "At the moment, it would not fit in the business plan, because it's not funded. We feel the market for a Saab 92 would be very attractive."

And so, as the deal to sell Hummer to Tengzhong Heavy Industries continues to languish in Chinese politics, Saab -- a brand with very loyal customers, albeit too few of them -- lives to see another day. Of Hummer, Saturn, and Saab, the third was the least likely brand to find a buyer because its brand equity was in low-volume quirkiness and its production in Trollhattan, Sweden is very costly. Sell too many Saabs, and the loyal customers who want something "different" go away.

Muller and Saab Automobile CEO Jan Ake Jonsson say that the brand's sale to a small, specialty sports carmaker gives the company more freedom to purchase components from a number of automakers and suppliers. Presumably, it also means that Spyker is happy with very low production numbers, say 200,000 per year globally -- far higher than its own production numbers -- although their short phone conference didn't allow for the question.

CLICK TO VIEW GALLERY

Meanwhile, Saab is "in the middle of what the (next) 9-3 would be" Jonsson says. He confirms that Saab under Spyker will continue to use GM platforms for its upcoming models. After the new 9-5 and 9-4x, firmly in place for a few years, Saab is likely to find more diversity in its supplier base. Since GM announced its plan to sell or shut down Saab, "it's amazing the number of propositions we've got from a number of suppliers," Jonsson says.

It wasn't getting shipments of materials to build cars until GM and Spyker announced an agreement in principle last month. The factory in Trollhattan now has materials to build cars, but it will be three or four weeks before assembly starts up and Saab can supply '10 models to its dealers.

Saab plans to begin production of the new 9-5 flagship sedan this year, and Spyker Saab expects the car to be in dealerships by this summer. It may be introduced as a '10 model, with the '11s replacing them after just a few months.

The 9-4x, sourced from the same Mexican GM plant that builds the Cadillac SRX, will begin production next year, with the 9-5 SportCombi (wagon) following later. The 9-3, currently built on GM's Epsilon platform, is still a few years off from a redesign, and will probably be built on the 107.8-inch wheelbase version of Epsilon II, the platform used for the Opel Insignia and Buick Regal.

CLICK TO VIEW GALLERY

Missing from GM's deal to sell Saab to Spyker is the Antonov Group, a Russian source of finance that the Swedish government believes has ties to organized crime. That was the last of several roadblocks that nearly grounded plans to keep Saab going. Remember, this is the company that nearly was sold to Koenigsegg and whose suitors included Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone.

Under the deal with Spyker, GM gets $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred stock, redeemable after 2013. Spyker has received a $550 million loan from the European Investment Bank to fund the creation of Spyker Saab.