Guest Post: SAAB Declares Bankruptcy

Saab has been struggling to keep their heads above water for the last couple of years.  Though they had thought to get necessary funding from China, GM thwarted these efforts in the interest of their patent and licensing holdings of Saab technology.  GM holds the rights to the Saab 9-3, 9-5 and 9-4X and without their consent to release these rights to investors, Saab had no choice but to cut its losses rather than attempt to extend its bankruptcy deadline. The plant in Sweden will shut down, and 3,700 employees are out of jobs now.  It’s a sad state of affairs considering the company was sold by GM to Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker, in 2010 for around $400 million, although it was near bankruptcy at that point as it was. I always wanted a Saab. Their models always looked like they maintained influence from their aviation roots. They are available in the states, or you could have a car transport from the factory up until now. It’s sad to see Saab, who started out in 1937 building aircraft, call it quits. Maybe GM will do something useful with their licenses rather than just letting the company go under, so they can just make sure the Chinese don’t get ahold of the technology.