Automotive News reports that General Motors has chosen Swedish luxury sports car maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB as the preferred bidder for the Saab brand.
Koenigsegg and Norwegian investors have signed a letter of intent to take over Saab, Swedish television said today, attributing its report to unnamed sources. “The deal is there now and a few minor details remain,” a source told Reuters.
The reports follow earlier statements from Saab spokesman saying an announcement on the top finalist could come as soon as this week.
GM, which filed for Chapter 11 protection June 1, put Saab into the equivalent of bankruptcy in February after deciding to cut its 20-year ties with the brand.
The shedding of Saab underscores GM’s intensified global effort to jettison non-performing brands and business lines.
Over the last two weeks, the automaker has announced preliminary agreements to sell Hummer to a Chinese suitor and to sell Saturn to Roger Penske’s Penske Automotive Group Inc. On Monday, GM said it would terminate its medium-duty truck business after trying to sell it for four years. A deal to sell the unit to Navistar Inc. fell apart.
GM spokesman Chris Preuss declined to comment on the Saab bidding.
Koenigsegg was one of three Saab finalists named in recent published reports.
Bloomberg News, citing one person familiar with the talks, said Koenigsegg was picked because it’s an automaker and because it is committed to investing in Saab.
Source: Automotive News
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