Many brand new Saabs have been stored in 3 ports in the USA for quite a while now. They were caught in the bankruptcy of Saab Cars North America since December 2011. Ally Financial claimed SCNA missed payments on outstanding loans and started seizing new Saabs stored at Port Hueneme in California in January of this year.
Many other new Saabs have been stored in Port Newark for many months now and Ally announced this week those new Saabs will be auctioned this month. 300 Saabs are going on the auction block, starting with the first auction of 45 units on June 28th. Only US Saab dealers are eligible bidders so you may see these port Saabs at your local dealer soon.
There are going to be an additional 600 new Saabs available for auction in 6 lots of 100 units each. Eligible bidders are rental car companies and car exporters so these will not end up for sale in the US. Rental Saabs may be on dealer lots as used cars after a while.
SCNA company cars are going to be auctioned as well. Saab dealers in the USA, Canada and Europe can bid on these cars currently stored in Michigan and other storage facilities across America. We assume this may include a few Saabs from the Heritage Collection that were stored at transport companies and weren't sold before previously. Update: The Heritage Vehicles listed in the court documents have already been sold previously and are not going to be up for auction.
Saab dealers still have new Saabs available for sale. After this auction, this is the last chance to buy a brand new Saab from the GM/Spyker era. Discounts of around 30-35% off MSRP have been fairly steady but buyers have been able to buy new Saabs up to 40-50% off. We may not know the auction values of these new 900 new Saabs but 50% or less of the MSRP seems a reasonable estimate.
This is a list taken from bankruptcy court documents, it is not necessarily a list of all vehicles that are going to be auctioned by Ally. Saab auction - Ally Financial.pdf
This is the information in the letter from Ally from June 13:
Ally is pleased to announce the sale of 67 high content, low mileage Saab company cars for immediate bid. Ally invites eligible parties, as defined below, to bid on the company cars.
67 Company Cars:
Eligible bidders- Saab dealerships in the United States, Canada, and Europe Bids accepted through- 5:00 pm Eastern time June 27, 2012.
Neither your submitted bid, nor Ally’s receipt or evaluation of it, constitutes a binding contract to sell the Saab cars at issue. You may revoke your bid at any time before Ally accepts your bid in writing, and Ally may decline your bid at any time.
To obtain a list of the available cars, please contact --------- by e-mail at -------- or by telephone at ----------.
Currently Ally is expecting to sell the remaining 900 new Saabs in groups, as detailed below.
300 New Cars:
300 new Saab vehicles offered through SmartAuction
Eligible bidders- U.S. Saab dealers (subject to sales results)
600 New Cars:
Eligible bidders- Rental car companies and car exporters (subject to sales results)
67 Company Cars:
- Lot A- 35 units located in Michigan
- Lot B- 32 units located in storage facilities across the United States
- Lot A and B- all 67 units
Eligible bidders- Saab dealerships in the United States, Canada, and Europe Bids accepted through- 5:00 pm Eastern time June 27, 2012.
Neither your submitted bid, nor Ally’s receipt or evaluation of it, constitutes a binding contract to sell the Saab cars at issue. You may revoke your bid at any time before Ally accepts your bid in writing, and Ally may decline your bid at any time.
To obtain a list of the available cars, please contact --------- by e-mail at -------- or by telephone at ----------.
Currently Ally is expecting to sell the remaining 900 new Saabs in groups, as detailed below.
300 New Cars:
300 new Saab vehicles offered through SmartAuction
- First auction of 45 units to be held on June 28th
- Further information about SmartAuction sales and vehicles offered for sale will be provided at a later date
Eligible bidders- U.S. Saab dealers (subject to sales results)
600 New Cars:
- 6 Lots, each consisting of 100 units
Eligible bidders- Rental car companies and car exporters (subject to sales results)
Balance sheets from court documents show the value of the vehicle inventory is almost $33 million and company cars is just over US $ 3 million.
Update by Dave T.: company cars are going to be auctioned on June 27, first lot of 45 cars to Saab dealers on June 28
The first two of a series of auctions will soon take place for Saabs at ports in the United States. Ally Financial obtained a court judgment to the cars after Saab missed payments on the cars. About 900 Saabs have been in storage in Newark (near New York), Port Hueneme (near Santa Barbara, California), and Brunswick, Georgia. There are a few cars in other locations, including a few in Sweden.
On June 27th, there will be an auction for assorted cars, such as former company cars and several 9-4X vehicles that have no title and can only be used for display or parts. Parts of the Heritage Collection are not included.
On June 28, 2012, the first lot of 45 cars will be auctioned. This lot is part of about 300 cars that will be eventually auctioned to Saab dealers. These cars were selected with the assistance of Tom Backes, part of the Saab National Dealer Council, and others based on their assessment of cars that will likely be sold easier in the United States. Some of the cars are described as "high content" cars.
About 600 cars will be auctioned to car exporters and/or rental car fleets. By not unloading all 900 cars in the U.S. market, it is hoped that the price of Saabs will not be severely depressed.
Ally Financial is auctioning the first 45 cars through its established system called Smart Auction. Only Saab dealers may bid as they are already established in the system. Individual cars are being auctioned, not a combined lot of multiple cars. The first lot is being auctioned to gauge interest. There is a minimum bid of 50% of MSRP (retail price). Information of the cars in the first lot of 45 is being submitted to dealers so that they may gauge public interest in the cars.
Some dealers are open to discussion with the public to bid for a car for an individual customer. Some dealers did not respond to requests from this editor to consider the idea.
The source at Ally Financial, who requested that the public not contact him because they are unable to handle a high volume of calls or e-mails, said that some dealers might cooperate with each other and arrange for one truck to deliver 10 cars to them. This suggests that shipping costs are additional. If there is a car that an individual is interested in, there are several theoretical possibilities, ranging from the dealer submitting a bid for a fixed fee or the buyer signing a purchase order for a car for a specific price (contingent on the dealer getting the car) and the dealer deciding the bid price and transport arrangements.
Of the 900 cars to be processed, slightly more than half of them are Saab 9-5. Slightly more than 400 are 9-3 Sports Sedans. Nearly 60 of the cars are 9-3 Sport Combis (wagons). Roughly 28 are 9-4X vehicles with titles. There are few convertibles, roughly a dozen.
The 45 cars are:
all at located in Newark, all with moonroof (except as noted). Minimum bids are 50% of MSRP
9-3
9-3 convertible, Manual, Laser Red
MSRP of $43,455
10 9-3, 2.0T, Automatic, Glacier Silver, Diamond Silver, Nocturne Blue (3), Jet Black (3)
2 9-3, 2.0T, Manual, Jet Black (no moonroof), Nocturne Blue
12 9-3, XWD, Automatic, Arctic White, Black (2), Carbon Gray (2), Java, Diamond Silver (2), Nocturne Blue
1 9-3, XWD, Manual, Carbon Gray
1 9-3 Aero, Automatic, Jet Black
1 9-3 Aero XWD, Manual, Glacier Silver
1 9-3 SportCombi, Automatic, Carbon Gray
1 9-3X, Automatic, Laser Red,
MSRP of 9-3 cars: one $29,725, others are $32,570-40,095
9-4X
1 9-4X Premium, Automatic, Birch White (with panoramic moonroof)
MSRP of $41,920
9-5
2 9-5, Manual, Jet Black, Fjord Blue (neither with moonroof)
5 9-5, Automatic, Arctic White (2), Carbon Gray, Diamond Silver, Fjord Blue
4 9-5 V6, Automatic, Carbon Gray, Granite Gray, Oak, Black
3 9-5 Aero, Automatic, Diamond Silver (2), Black
MSRP: two for 39k, others are $46,655-53,780
All 9-3's have Comfort package, except as noted. All 9-5's have Technology package, except as noted. All cars have moonroofs, except as noted. Minimum bid is 50% of MSRP. Dealers may bid for one car.
Saabs at FAPS storage facility in Newark
Saabs at FAPS storage facility in Newark
Saab of Troy, Michigan storage lot a few months ago
Thanks to Aireeca for sharing this available information here on SaabWorld!
Images copyright SaabWorld, free to use unaltered on other sites.
More reading:
SaabWorld - Many Saabs still waiting for their new owners at Port Newark
SaabWorld - Ally Financial is suing SCNA to seize Saab vehicles at the Port of Hueneme, California
SaabWorld - Last chance to buy a new Saab
SaabWorld - Hundreds of new Saabs stuck in the Port of Newark, New Jersey
Events
Recent CMS Comments
Facebook
vBulletin Message