Dutch sportscar maker Spyker is pushing forward with a last-ditch bid to save GM’s embattled Saab unit and said it had the money to make a deal.
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Spyker founder and chief executive Victor Muller said that, even though GM is winding down the Swedish company, the North American carmaker is still considering his offer “very seriously” and a decision on the bid can be expected in “a question of days not weeks”.
Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre said recently GM had essentially given up on selling Saab, as nobody had come up with the money to seal the deal. But Muller told the Automotive News conference in Detroit: “We have shown Mr. Whitacre the money.
“We are absolutely, definitely negotiating in good faith with GM to buy Saab. They are considering offers very, very seriously.”
Muller said he was unconcerned over GM’s plans to wind down Saab because they were consistent with the path laid out after a deal fell through with Swedish sportscar maker Koenigsegg.
GM announced on 18 December 18 that it would wind down Saab while considering several last-ditch bids for the brand, which has barely turned a profit during two decades under GM ownership.
The bidders include Spyker, a group comprising Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Luxembourg investment firm Genii Capital, and a Swedish group fronted by the former chief executive of German truck manufacturer MAN and a former politician.
Muller said: “If the sale of Saab doesn’t generate more than the wind-down scenario costs, for them it’s clearly not attractive. So it is our job to put forward a proposal that is attractive enough for them to reverse the position.”
Muller declined to provide details of the offer but said the Swedish government “has been very helpful so far”.
He added that Saab presented a number of opportunities for Spyker, including access to a global dealer network and the ability to reduce the cost of supplies and research and development.
“We’re not interested in just buying an iconic brand, we’re interested because it, as a business, should be viable. Our business plan clearly shows that Saab, of course having sufficient sales, can be a very, very sustainable and profitable company.”
Spyker is currently spending tens of millions of dollars on outsourced product development and Muller said those engineering and research costs could be kept in-house if the automaker had the economies of scale offered by Saab.
Several thousand people gathered for a demonstration in Sweden on Tuesday to call for Saab to be rescued.
On Tuesday afternoon GM named Stephen Taylor and Peter Torngren as wind-down supervisors of Saab, jointly replacing the CEO and board immediately. The move came soon after the first Swedish-made convertible left the company’s Trollhattan assembly line.
Muller said that a “significant number of jobs” could be created should Spyker succeed in its bid. “We would rather be hiring than firing because the production capacity would need to be improved rapidly,” he said.
