Chinese Company Strikes Deal to Produce Saab Models
Even as other potential buyers circle Saab, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding has struck a tentative agreement for the right to produce versions of the beleaguered Swedish manufacturer’s older models.
If completed, people close to the negotiations said Sunday, the deal would allow Beijing Automotive to produce the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 in China, but not prevent a separate buyout of the entire company, a unit of General Motors.
The fate of Saab’s 3,500 workers in Trollhattan, Sweden, remains uncertain, following the unexpected collapse last month of a deal between G.M. and the high-end Swedish automaker Koenigsegg for Saab.
Still, a pact with the state-owned Beijing Automotive “would be good for Sweden, good for China and good for Saab,” according to a Saab official who asked not to be identified by name because the discussions were not final.
As American automakers have contended with huge losses — and bankruptcy in the case of G.M. and Chrysler — Asian buyers have stepped in to scoop up several of their luxury brands. In March 2008, Tata Motors of India bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion, and Ford is now in final negotiations to sell Volvo to Zhejiang Geeling Holding of China.
A spokesman for G.M. declined to comment Sunday on Saab’s talks with Beijing Automotive, which is based in Beijing. Several buyers are reportedly still negotiating to buy Saab. These include Renco, owned by the U.S. financier Ira L. Rennert, and Spyker Cars, a specialty automaker in the Netherlands.
Source: Chinese Company Strikes Deal to Produce Saab Models
If completed, people close to the negotiations said Sunday, the deal would allow Beijing Automotive to produce the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 in China, but not prevent a separate buyout of the entire company, a unit of General Motors.
The fate of Saab’s 3,500 workers in Trollhattan, Sweden, remains uncertain, following the unexpected collapse last month of a deal between G.M. and the high-end Swedish automaker Koenigsegg for Saab.
Still, a pact with the state-owned Beijing Automotive “would be good for Sweden, good for China and good for Saab,” according to a Saab official who asked not to be identified by name because the discussions were not final.
As American automakers have contended with huge losses — and bankruptcy in the case of G.M. and Chrysler — Asian buyers have stepped in to scoop up several of their luxury brands. In March 2008, Tata Motors of India bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion, and Ford is now in final negotiations to sell Volvo to Zhejiang Geeling Holding of China.
A spokesman for G.M. declined to comment Sunday on Saab’s talks with Beijing Automotive, which is based in Beijing. Several buyers are reportedly still negotiating to buy Saab. These include Renco, owned by the U.S. financier Ira L. Rennert, and Spyker Cars, a specialty automaker in the Netherlands.
Source: Chinese Company Strikes Deal to Produce Saab Models
