Another day, another desperate attempt by Saab owner Swedish Automobile to save the tiny Swedish automaker.
Swedish Automobile CEO Victor Muller told Reuters that it would have to go back to the drawing board after General Motors rejected its proposed rescue plan where it would be sold to Chinese investors Pang Da and Youngman Lotus.
Court-appointed administrator Guy Lofalk told Reuters that GM’s decision may just be one bump in the road as negotiators try to find a solution to save the automaker.
GM owns preference shares of Saab and supplies the automaker with powertrains as well as the Saab 9-4x crossover that it builds alongside the Cadillac SRX in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. The automaker offered to continue to supply Saab if the company paid $500 million to the Detroit automaker.
“I had warned the Chinese that GM would have a mega problem with any other deal other than the original 54 percent stake in Swedish Automobile. Unfortunately, I was right,” Muller told Automotive News. Muller engineered the purchase of Saab from GM in 2009 and remains an investor in Swedish Automobile.
Muller’s original deal to sell part of Saab to the Chinese failed to win government approval, so facing, liquidation by the Swedish courts, he brokered a new deal to sell the entire company to the Chinese for $141 million.
Last week, GM said that it could not support the deal because it could hurt GM sales, particularly in China, where Saab’s partners planned to set up a factory to build Saab cars for the Chinese market.
GM’s support – at least in the short-term – is critical for Saab because GM builds the 9-4x and supplies powertrains for the 9-3 and 9-5 sedans that are built at Saab’s shuttered headquarters plant in Trollhattan.