'Half Price' Saab Dealer Shutting Down, Publishes Letter Putting Part of the Blame on GM

You may remember our Saab post from earlier this week where we asked you if you'd buy 9-3 or 9-5 sedan at half price. Among the deals we listed were several low mileage loaners with a 50 percent discount from the Shaw Saab dealership in Norwell, Massachusetts.

As we learned today from the Saabsunited enthusiast site, the aforementioned dealership is closing shop on February 3 after 44 years as an exclusive Saab seller.

Fred Shaw, the owner, posted a letter on the company's Facebook page where he announces the shut down and outlines his future plans, which include the selling of the real estate to Herb Chambers (the car shop equivalent of Dunkin Donuts in Massachusetts), who will turn it into a Lexus shop.

Nothing unexpected there, but in his letter, Shaw also refers to General Motors and the role it played in the outcome of Saab's failed reorganization efforts. Being an official dealer, Shaw's view on the matter makes for an interesting read. You can check out the letter right after the break.

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2011 Saab 9-3 and 9-5 Sedans for Half Price, but Would You Buy Them?

Ever since we learned about Saab's bankruptcy, many pondered whether it would be a good idea to buy a brand new or a very low mileage example from dealers that wanted to get rid of the cars they had in stock at marked down prices.

The problem is that these cars are offered without a manufactures warranty while we're still not certain what's going on with parts, because sure you can get an awesome deal, but what happens if something breaks or needs replacement on your car; will you find a part in a timely manner and equally important, at what cost?

It's good to keep in mind that being an older model, it's much easier to find replacement parts for the 9-3 series than it is for the newer 9-5.

Lots of questions not too many answers, and this is something that will likely make most mainstream buyers wary.

What we can say is that over the past few weeks that we have been following the subject, prices of the remaining Saab cars in the U.S. have dropped significantly.

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Form an Orderly Queue: Receivers Say More Buyers Show Up for Saab

This is your daily update on the story that is the survival of Saab. Today, we receive news that yet another party is interested in acquiring the Swedish car company, the third in as many days.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri confirms last month's report that Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra is also interested in Saab. Mahindra, which already owns Korean carmaker SsangYong and wants to become “India’s first global cult brand”, joins China's Youngman group and Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings in bidding for Saab.

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Saab Saga is a Wild Turkey: Istanbul-based Equity Firm Added to Buyers’ List

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.

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Run, Youngman, Run: Chinese Still want Saab Even Though its Assets Are Being Sold

Declaring bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean that you close shop – just ask GM and Chrysler. But when the receivers walk in begin selling off your assets, though, as is the case with Saab, it would take a miracle (to say the least) to survive.

Then again, perhaps miracles do happen. Reuters reports that Chinese group Youngman, which had originally agreed with Saab's owner, Swedish Automobile, to buy the brand and had even injected some cash into it but saw the deal fall apart due to GM’s refusal to let its intellectual property fall into the hands of its rivals, is ready to make a comeback.

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Saab Museum Cars Looking for a New Home – See the Complete Auction List

There's a lot of blame going around over the bleak outcome of the efforts to save Saab, but life goes on and so does the liquidation of the Swedish company's assets including the collection of vehicles from its museum, which is located at the brand's headquarters in Trollhättan.

As we learned from the folks over at Saabsunited, Swedish law firm Delphi has posted a list of all the cars from the Saab museum that will soon go up for auction. The news is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it.

On one hand, some fans of the brand and collectors alike will have the unique opportunity to bid on production, racing and concept models that otherwise would have never been offered to the public.

On the other hand, Saab enthusiasts as well as gearheads would have surely preferred to have all the cars together in a museum where the public can see them.

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Is the Saab Museum up for Sale?

With Saab having bitten the bullet, probably for good this time, the administrators have immediately stepped in and started selling off its assets in order to pay the now bankrupt carmaker’s workers and creditors.

According to a report from the usually well-informed crew on Saab matters over at Saabs United, the bankruptcy administrators are already taking offers for the Swedish firm's Car Museum that is located in Trollhättan.

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POLL: Saab Owners, Which Brand will they Turn to Now?

It's been a terrible year for Saab which ended with the worst possible scenario as after more than six decades of building cars with bespoke designs (or at least for the most part) and some quirky features, the Swedish company filed for bankruptcy on December 20.

Understandably, it's still too early to know what will happen next to the company and its assets, but even though in theory a new party could step in during the bankruptcy process and save the company, the chances for this happening are extremely slim.

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India's Mahindra & Mahindra Interested in Saab, Turkish Suitor Also pops up on the Radar

The sad story of Saab is far from over as the court-appointed administrators who are overseeing the Swedish automaker's bankruptcy are now on the lookout for possible investors to either sell parts of the brand or the company as a whole.

In today's news, Bloomberg reports that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a maker of SUVs and a flagship company of the Mahindra Group, which is a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India, is in private talks with Saab's administrators.

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Report: Saab's U.S. Dealers Forced to Make Some Difficult Decisions

When a carmaker goes down, it’s not just the investors, factory workers or suppliers that take the heat: dealers are also in deep trouble. Case at hand: Saab’s bankruptcy. Its owner, Swedish Automobile, was forced to liquidate the company after a long struggle to keep it afloat failed.

Saab Cars North America, on the other hand, was left out in the cold during this whole process. Even if the restructuring was successful, there was no provision (at least none that we know of) for the brand’s North American operations.

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Saab North America Appoints Outside Administrator, Searches for Ways to Honor Warranties

All those months that the Saab saga was unfolding before our eyes, the Swedish carmaker’s North American operations were excluded from any deal or restructuring plan.

Now the parent company is seemingly closing shop after Monday’s filing for bankruptcy and the appointment of two receivers who, unless something dramatic occurs, will oversee the company’s liquidation.

Saab Cars North America wants to avoid being declared bankrupt or liquidated. Therefore its Chief Operating Officer, Tim Colbeck, announced on Wednesday, December 21, that the company has appointed McTevia & Accociates, a specialist in corporate turnarounds, as an outside administrator.

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Saab Says Warranty Coverage Indefinitely Suspended on All North America Cars [Updated]

Just yesterday, we were telling about the benefits but also the dangers of buying a new Saab car in the U.S. after the company filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

Today we learn that Saab suspended warranty coverage on all of its new vehicles sold in North America effective from December 19, while the company also informed dealers that they must sell any remaining cars "as is", without any coverage whatsoever.

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Court Approves Saab’s Bankruptcy, Appoints Two Receivers – But is it Really Over?

As expected, the District Court of Vanersborg accepted Saab’s request the same day, Monday December 19, and declared the Swedish carmaker bankrupt.

The company's CEO, Victor Muller, blamed General Motors for blocking every rescue attempt that involved the Chinese company Youngman Lotus Automobile, including its latest offer of a US$5 million funding to continue the restructuring process.

“That, basically, was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company”, said Muller only hours after requesting that Saab be declared bankrupt.

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Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: What Saab’s Demise May Mean for Buyers

"If Saab’s future seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
You can buy a heavily discounted brand new car
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just walk into your nearest Saab dealership - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life..."

First of all, we hope Monty Python won’t mind altering their song from The Life of Brian. We'd also like to note that we are in no way making fun of the fact that, unless something unexpected happens, Saab is closing shop – for good this time, leaving thousands of workers unemployed.

We’re just trying to say that, in the event the liquidation of the car company goes through, there are consequences but not all of them are bad for consumers.

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The Company Formerly Known as “Old GM” is Dead at Age 103

It was long overdue, but it was bound to happen: the company lawyers named Motors Liquidation Co. but which we came to know as "old GM" during the 2009 government bailout period, died on Thursday, December 15.

Though it had a very long lifespan of 103 years, no one really noticed its demise. After all, this was just U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerbert signing the death certificate. Giving birth to the “new GM” two years ago was a very painful process – and one that most of those involved would like to forget.

It meant the sacrifice of three of its brands (Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn) and getting rid of another (Saab, which ironically is now in a similar position), closing 13 plants along with 900 dealerships. GM also had to reduce its U.S. workforce from 91,000 to 68,500 employees, which either way, is a far cry from the 525,000 workers it had in the States and another 100,000 outside the country in 1955.

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Saab Files for Bankruptcy After All Rescue Plans Fail, This Could be the End

It is sad news for the automotive world to learn of the demise of a company. Unfortunately, Monday December 19, will mark the end of the road for Swedish carmaker Saab – and this time it looks like it is final.

Earlier this morning, Swedish Automotive N.V. (Swan) announced that Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Tools and Saab Powertrain filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vanersborg, Sweden.

This comes after Youngman, the Chinese company which last week promised to pay for the carmaker’s restructuring, informed Saab that it cannot provide the funding necessary for the continuation of the process.

Therefore, Swan concluded that, with GM vetoing any proposed plan until now, and without the essential funding, it would be insolvent. Thus, it was better for its creditors to file for bankruptcy.

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Court Rejects Saab’s Administrator Resignation, GM Rejects Any Chinese-Related Plan…

There are so many turns and twists in Saab's road to salvation or closure on an everyday basis, that it’s very easy to lose track of what's actually going on with the Swedish automaker.

On Monday Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who proposed the termination of the carmaker’s restructuring process, quit. Two days later Saab announced the appointment of another administrator, Lars-Henrik Andersson.

On Thursday, after Andersson turned down the job, Saab said that Lofalk would eventually be replaced by Lars Soderqvist.

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Saab Changes Administrator, Awaits Monday’s Court Decision

The ongoing story that is the future of Saab looks set to have more episodes than The Young and the Restless – and the CBS TV soap opera has been running since 1973…

Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who oversaw the restructuring of Saab and last Tuesday proposed that the process be terminated, quit his post.

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Saabs Earns IIHS “Top Safety Pick” for its 9-4X and 9-5, Which could be Useful if it had Any to Sell...

Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony: the line spoken by Morpheus in the first (and, arguably, best) movie of The Matrix trilogy certainly fits Saab’s case tighter than spandex pants.

The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has awarded the 9-4X crossover and the 9-5 sedan a “Top Safety Pick”, its highest rating for crashworthiness.

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Show Me the Money: Saab Receives $5 Million US from Youngman, More May Come

It’s true that this month is probably the worst in a really bad year for Saab. Its 9-5 ended last in Consumer Reports’ luxury sedan test, GM repeatedly vetoed any sale deal involving the Chinese, and the court-appointed administrator has asked for the restructuring process to be terminated.

Today, though, a ray of light shined in Trollhättan as Saab received a first payment from China's Youngman Lotus Automobile, ahead of the court meeting that will decide its future next week.

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