Saab Aerospace has no interest whatsoever in the car industry. It’s like merging Coca Cola and Exxon just because they both work with liquids…

What a great way to start my morning.

I’d maintain my position that GM are currently the best option for Saab’s future, but only if they invest in the model line.

One of my concerns is that SaabUSA is trying to revive Saab’s fortunes in the US through marketing rather than product. I’d be happy if they cut their marketing budget in half and used that money to develop better indicator/wiper stalks for all Saabs.

Saab can only improve it’s lot through improved product. It’s that simple.

I think we will see a 9-1 come in the future and the market is definitely there, even in the US. We’re talking 4 or 5 years out and the market for these cars will definitely expand. Toyota and Honda will make it expand.

Saab needs to be there when it does.

I’ll cover more in a proper post on the issues.

As to shareholder activism, I think ted probably had the most relevant thing to say when he mentioned collective apathy. Who would run such a collective and be responsible for the funding etc? Not me, that’s for sure. I’d take the money and spend it on the Viggen and if you trust anyone on the internet with your funds then you’re quite likely a worse decision maker than GM’s bottom-rung beancounter.

GM is a public company with a responsibility to make profits for it’s shareholders (yes, I know there’s other responsibilities to other stakeholders, but primarily this is what it’s all about). If they decide that gas-guzzling SUV’s are the best option due to profit margin then they’ll live or die by that decision.

Saab, as a wholly owned subsidiary, will live or die by the quality of it’s product and unfortunately, they seem to have less say in the nature or timing of their product than the purists amongst them would like. If they die then hopefully someone better will pick up the pieces and allow the innovative thinking to re-emerge.

Just my 0.02c

To set the record straight, the Wallenberg set a deal in 1989 to sell half of Saab in 1990 to GM.

In 1996, the Wallenberg family set a deal with GM to buy the remaining 50% in the year 2000.

“The Wallenbergs’ new strategy and their financial acumen were on display this spring when they sold half of Scania, a thriving truckmaker, for $2.7 billion in one of the largest initial public offerings ever traded on the New York Stock Exchange, a shrewd deal that fetched a far higher price than expected. In June they took another step away from manufacturing by agreeing to let America’s General Motors, already a fifty-fifty joint partner in Saab Automobile, take up to 100% ownership by the year 2000.”

Here is the source.

http://www.time.com/time/international/1996/960812/corporations.html

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Here is a blast from the past in 1989 where Invester had Saab sell half of the company to GM in 1990.

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COMPANY NEWS; Fiat Called Set For Bid to Saab

Article Tools Sponsored By
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: November 30, 1989

LEAD: Fiat S.p.A., the Italian car maker, is prepared to offer more than five billion kronor, or about $780 million, for 51 percent of the car division of Sweden’s Saab-Scania A.B., Swedish Radio reported today. Quoting unnamed sources, Swedish Radio said the Wallenberg family, which is Saab’s largest single shareholder, was willing to let Saab sell a majority stake in the division.

Fiat S.p.A., the Italian car maker, is prepared to offer more than five billion kronor, or about $780 million, for 51 percent of the car division of Sweden’s Saab-Scania A.B., Swedish Radio reported today. Quoting unnamed sources, Swedish Radio said the Wallenberg family, which is Saab’s largest single shareholder, was willing to let Saab sell a majority stake in the division. But unspecified issues must still be overcome and no agreement appears imminent, according to the report.

Saab, which also makes trucks and aircraft, has been seeking a merger partner for the division. It has been losing money, and the company believes it is too small to survive in the increasingly competitive world car market.

Fiat, one of Europe’s largest car makers, is interested in Saab to expand its presence in the luxury car market. The companies have a long history of cooperating in marketing and development.

Talks about a possible merger between Saab and the Ford Motor Company ended in October.

A spokeswoman for Fiat, which is based in Turin, said the radio report had been premature. She said the companies were negotiating but had not reached an agreement.

Here is a question for people to answer. Why can’t the Wallenberg company (INvester AB) buy back Saab from GM?

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Saab A.B. is a unit of the Swedish investment group Investor A.B., the hub of the financial empire of the powerful Wallenberg family.

Good points.

That Scania Rep could have been misinformed about why they do not want Saab.

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2) Scania wants a stab at Saab

Scania is partly owned by VW and they do not want Scania to invest in Saab Automobile. When Saab-Scania existed, it was because of Investor – the Wallenberg family investment company – not because cars and truck have any synergy.

NOT gonna happen. Period. Sweden is not France or Cuba.

2) Scania wants a stab at Saab

Scania is partly owned by VW and they do not want Scania to invest in Saab Automobile. When Saab-Scania existed, it was because of Investor – the Wallenberg family investment company – not because cars and truck have any synergy.

3) Saab Aerospace wants to re-merge

Saab Aerospace has no interest whatsoever in the car industry. It’s like merging Coca Cola and Exxon just because they both work with liquids…

Your statement is exactly the point that movie was making. GM is not making the right choices for the people and certantly not for the planet.

As I reference the quote from An Inconvenient Truth.

“Those Gold Bars really look good, but…”

GM is looking at the Gold bars, but ignoring the inevitable fate of the people and the planet if they keep this going.

So if we move forward about saying that GM doesn’t take anything we send them when it comes to SAAB, unless we are a shareholder with a LOT of shares.

This may be a stretch, but why can’t we start an organization called the SAAB INSTITUTE and start taking donations with which to buy shares and then get the media and press involved and start a movement.

That could be the grassroots effort that directly feeds into buying stocks (many), so that the spokesperson for that organization can get into all of those “closed doors” meetings and start moving things like Ghosn and Jerry York, etc.

Seriously. It’s painful to just sit back and discuss this much further if we’re not building measurable movement towards an ultimate goal.

2010 will come sooner than we think.