Autoblog

What brands have Saab owners defected to? Polk investigates

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 10:01:00 EST

When a brand goes belly-up, it's natural for analysts to wonder where that brand's consumers will turn. General Motors has mothballed more car brands the last decade than most other automakers' have in their entire portfolios, so "Where did [insert brand here] buyers go?" has been a common question asked of The General. According to reports, it didn't do so well at retaining Oldsmobile owners (who supposedly went to Hyundai), or Hummer and Saturn buyers, but did get some return love from Pontiac owners.

A consultant with Polk has turned the loyalty lens on Saab. The Polk Disposal Loyalty Methodology tracks owners selling vehicles within six months of buying a new one. In 2010 and 2011, Polk found that when Saab died, owners went right up the middle of the mainstream to Honda. It was close, though, with just 0.2 percent separating Honda from number two Volkswagen. Audi comes in third.

After that it's back to the masses with Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford trumping import luxury brands. And if you combine all of the General Motors brands that Saab owners have migrated to, GM more than doubles Honda with a 15.2-percent share, so all the love is not lost.

What brands have Saab owners defected to? Polk investigates originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Shocked" Brightwell drops Saab bid, blames GM intransigence

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:20:00 EST

Filed under: China, Europe, GM, Saab, Middle East, Luxury

Nearly three months on the Saab story is the same: company makes a bid, General Motors knocks it back. But this time, the latest round of corporate "He said/She said" puts Turkey's Brightwell Holdings on the other side of the table instead of a Chinese company. Brightwell was the other publicly identified bidder for Saab that pledged to make a bid, along with Chinese concern Youngman.

Brightwell blames GM "intransigence," a familiar epithet by now, has scuppered the possibility of a deal. GM says that's not the case, rather that a deal for Saab can't include any of the technology licensed from GM. Brightwell believed that that condition only applied to Chinese buyers, since GM's position that it didn't want to compete with another company using its intellectual property was always taken in reference to interest from companies like Youngman and Hawtei.

If GM's position is that it won't license its technology to anyone anywhere, that could alter the landscape for the six to 14 bidders rreported to be hovering over Saab's remains. Based on Youngman's last statements, it should still be in the mix, though: it pledged to make a bid for Saab that avoids GM-developed vehicles like the 9-5 and 9-4X and restarts the brand with the new 9-3 on Saab's Phoenix architecture.

Brightman hasn't ruled itself out completely yet. Having spent "millions of euros" on its bid, a firm partner said that if GM is open to discussions then he "will jump on a plane and visit them in Detroit."

"Shocked" Brightwell drops Saab bid, blames GM intransigence originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least 6-7 parties bidding on Saab... could BMW be one of them?

Jeff Sabatini — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:01:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, BMW, Saab

On this episode of As the Saab Turns: Bankruptcy administrators have bidders, and one of them might be a German carmaker!

According to a post on Saabs United, "6-7 serious bidders" are trying to snag the remains of Saab. One European company "is German and located in Munich," according to the report, which notes that whatever company wins the Saab deal won't necessarily be the high bidder, but the package that looks the most capable getting Saab back in the car building business.

For its part, Germany's AutoBild suggests that the actual number of interested parties numbers around 14, though it isn't immediately clear how serious all of those parties are, though the Chinese are said to remain in the mix, as is an Indian concern.

It's no secret that BMW plans to expand its product portfolio, including building more fuel-efficient, front-drive cars. Could a joint BMW-Saab ( or Mini-Saab) platform - shades of the Cadillac BLS (albeit hopefully better!) - come out of such a deal? Or will the Swedish bankruptcy court reveal that it has a Chinese mistress, one that's trying to blackmail General Motors? Tune in next week...

At least 6-7 parties bidding on Saab... could BMW be one of them? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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