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Saab Automobile files for bankruptcy after two year fight

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
December 20th, 2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Quirky Swedish automaker Saab Automobile has thrown in the towel. The company has officially filed for bankruptcy, ending a two-year effort to revive the business after it was spun off by General Motors Co. Efforts to rebuild the company were stymied by GM, who refused to allow Saab to transfer technology the company had licensed from GM to Chinese investors, who had planned to rescue the firm.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Saab Chief Executive Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwest Sweden. Muller, a Dutch entrepreneur who owns the luxury sports car maker Spyker Cars had bought Saab in 2010. He had pledged to restore the Swedish automaker to prominence and retain about 3,000 jobs, mostly at the Saab plant in Trollhattan. The company is now expected to be liquidated.

Analysts say that the bankruptcy won't cause much of a ripple in the auto market because it was such a small company.

"Some enthusiasts in the U.S. will lament its end," Aaron Bragman, an analyst with IHS Automotive said. "Back in the 1970s and 1980s it was an innovative brand with some unusual power trains. They did turbo-charging of small engines long before others did. The cars also had all-weather, good handling capability."

Bragman said that a segment of auto buyers also gravitated to Saab because it was so different from U.S. carmakers, and even other European brands.

Saab started out as an airplane company in 1937. Originally called Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, the company later became known simply as Saab. It's best known aircraft is the Viggen, or Thunderbolt, a single-seat, single-engine fighter jet built between 1970 and 1990.

Saab's car division liked to market its jet-precision roots, and even now pitches a "tradition of aircraft-inspired design, independent thinking and innovation that continues to this day."

Its best-selling car was the 1980s-era 900. Among other things, the 900 was known for its strong performance in snow and foul-weather driving conditions.

Saab's aerospace company parent sold off a controlling stake in the business to GM in 1990 and the Detroit automaker eventually acquired the rest of Saab. 

General Motors was never able to leverage Saab's reputation as a builder of wedge-styled, reliable vehicles into its range, and sold off the business as it worked to recover from its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.

© 2011, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)