Saab hasn’t made a car since last March. Its initial deal with the Chinese fell as did every subsequent overtake attempt basically because GM wasn’t willing to give away its technology to the Chinese for free.
Eventually, the company’s owner Swedish Automobile ran out of cash and Saab filed for bankruptcy on December 19. The receivers walked in and made preparations to sell the silverware – or so to speak. Sad, but true: Saab has gone the way of the dodo. End of story, right?
Well, surprisingly enough, now that it is being torn apart, suitors come knocking on its door two at a time. Just hours after Youngman’s latest bid, Turkish private-equity firm Brightwell Holdings is the second company that will bid for the bankrupt carmaker.
“We will make a bid very shortly, there’s no question”, told Autonews Zamier Ahmed, board member of the Istanbul-based energy, transport and technology firm. Ahmed added that his company is still evaluating Saab’s assets in order to decide how high its offer will be.
The million-dollar question is what exactly are these two firms rushing in to buy? GM tech is out of the question, the company is being torn apart by the administrators and the brand name is owned by Saab Aerospace.
Most importantly, where were these people all this time that Victor Muller was desperately looking for a partner? Waiting to buy something for almost nothing is nothing new. But is there really anything left to buy?
With so many twists and turns, the whole Saab saga is enough to make most automotive journalists consider a career change; perhaps even inspire a History Channel documentary when it finally all comes to an end…
