Epic Fail? GM Decides To Shutter Saab After Talks Collapse

too bad for saab it was a great car company that will be missed

Anyone who's seen the shoddy interior quality of Saabs in recent years (relative to the competition) could have seen this coming. The once tangy Swedish meatballs had been bland-ified, cheapened, even zombified by the profit-desperate General Motors. A youthful and vibrant brand was institutionalized and has now succumbed.

Although I weep for Saab today, common sense points to a brand revival within the next decade. In my mind, given what they've done with MINI, BMW would be the ideal candidate to reawaken the founding spirits of Saab. If not BMW, perhaps Volkswagen, who brought back Bugatti and quickened new life into Bentley.

But my dark horse pick would be Honda, who, I feel, is on the verge of setting their branding and design houses in order. They might benefit from injecting their inimitably punchy and reliable mechanicals into a new line of cult cars, which Saab deserves to become, once again.

yuor right BMW or VW would be a great company to take them over and pump some life into them. But we know that is not going to happen. so hopefully they are revived in the future but for now I bid farewell.

It's about freakin time!

Saab is always going to end up at the bottom of any recent comparison test. No reason for that brand to exist.

No it's not about freakin time. I on the other hand thought Saabs were pretty decently designed and deserved a better shot at reaching success. If it was owned by any company other than GM the brand probably would have flourished.

I liked the Saab 9-3 and the flagship 9-5. They had a decent premium price to it and I love the logo. I hope a European company brings Saab home and give it a new life. My partial support for them is that they actually have a history.

Another case of GM mismanagement ... and another brand lost. Very sad!

Saab was already in big troubles when GM took control in 1989.
GM was their only hope back at this time.

GM did not invest enough. SAAB was not meeting sales expectation so SAAB was only allowed the minimum R&D budget. Thus, it could never compete with the likes of BMW 3/5, Merc C, Audi and Volvos.

What will be remembered of the SAAB agony will be a decent 9-3, a very dated 9-5, and two very not subtile rebadged : the SAABaru 9-2x and the GMC 9-7x.

So, yes, EPIC fail.


I'm wondering if the story would have been different if GM has decided to "Opelized" SAAB instead of Saturn ? I believe it would have been a more natural choice.

Those who think SAAB may be revitalized in the next decade.. well, SAAB's name isn't for sale. GM isn't selling the brand nor the dealer network and factories will be dismantled. It is really the end of the road for SAAB.

Ford buys Volvo and then incorporates Volvo technology throughout Ford's line. Good deal. GM buys Saab and runs it smooth into the ground. Saab use to be a good car and then GM got a hold of it.

I feel sorry for SAAB. They had very decent unique designs, but the interiors couldn't match them.

As for the people above, I don't think BMW is currently in a position to buy any brand. VW on the other hand can, but then again, it won't make sense because of the brands they already have.

Sad news....once the cool car for those prefering something off beat and outside the norm...GM screws up every single thing that they touch. I am starting to think the relative resurgence of Cadillac was an accident and not really attributable to good management.

oh well, the old saab fans can now buy that Accord uglyhatch which pretty well harkens back to the old saab beanhatches.

fyi, old saabs were the only car you could hit with a moose and survive. they had roofs that would ace today's roof crush tests.

As usual GM screwed it up! Saab used to make great quirky cars. It all went downhill with the V6 powered 9-3 or 900 and then self-destructed with the Subaru Impreza 9-2x. That was the nail in the coffin.

Saab could make a comeback. The new 9-5 that was/is supposed to come out next year or so looks distinctly Saab. THat is a promising sign. Hopefully someone comes along and buys Saab, hopefully someone from Sweden or a neighboring country. Saab is one of those quirky brands that only norwegians can understand!