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

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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Rumors, speculation, wishful thinking, dreams, tabloid journalism. Take your pick.. There have been too many of these kind of rumors and stories in the last year. Show me a credible news source or press release and I'll believe it.

A RWD Saab would be uber cool though..

So would a FWD Turbo BMW.... lol

That would be perfect as i am about to enter the world of BMW..... new job.

Fucking vultures. But yeah, BMW rescuing SAAB would be great.

The sad thing is I can’t even remember how many companies and countries were the next best owners. Just 2 weeks ago, it was Brightwell, last week Mahindra and this week BMW. Next week it will be Lada or some investment company in South America. Or the Chinese again. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see Saab survive just as much as any other enthusiast but this is like that poor kid who never got picked in gym class.

Is it still depressing to wish for Koenigsegg to come back into the picture?

Originally Posted by Shazam

Is it still depressing to wish for Koenigsegg to come back into the picture?

Pretty much - they are not up to the task of running Saab.

BMW has a very good chance if they actually are interested and are persuading interest. They have deep enough pockets to tell GM to go "F" themselves and then develop their own technology which would still be 5-10 years ahead of anything GM could tinker together in their current line-up. Best part would be there is such a huge dealer network already in place - they can do what they did for Mini (but with style I'd hope). Hope this rumor has some serious fact behind it - it's the best rumor and news leak in weeks. I still have very little faith that GM and the politics involved would allow Saab to emerge from the ashes yet again.... but I do want them to.

Any car manufacturer from western Europe would be awesome. I have nothing against BMW and it would be awesome if this is going to happen. I always thought the PSA group (Citroën / Peugeot) would be an interesting combination with Saab. But when you think of the French and Swedes having to work together, that'll probably be a disaster by itself..

Well BMW already had a stake in Saab; offering their 1.6L I4 for development in PhoeniX architecture-based cars. So it would make sense that BMW would be willing to pick up the company on a fire sale. It would bring a platform that BMW would really like to have: a mid- to high- range FWD line to slot between the MINI [sic] line and their "Ultimate Driving Machine(s)." Not to mention that the PhoeniX architecture was being built with BMW engines in mind, so more of their homework is already done for them. I've heard people talk that they're (the auto company interested in Saab, based in Munich; not necessarily BMW) interested in buying all of Saab and continuing to build Saabs in Trollhättan. As long as this unnamed Bavarian company does just that and, I don't know, maybe tries to revive the key components that made a Saab a Saab, I would be perfectly fine with that.

There is one company based in Munich, BMW. Audi is in Ingolstadt, about 100km north. Since I would be incredibly suprised to hear VAG interested in Saab, I'm willing to say it's a pretty safe bet that BMW is definitely the interested party.

Well, if the company is indeed based in Munich it has to be BMW. We'll see.

Munich has been mentioned by a few of the parties privy to the information. I think they were trying to be discreet but with only one manu located there it's not hard to draw conclusions.

I've been moved to graveyard shift so I have plenty of time to lurk around and stew up tons of info. I'm so bored...

Originally Posted by Frank Wulfers

I always thought the PSA group (Citroën / Peugeot) would be an interesting combination with Saab.

This just in: Peugeot and Opel may work together.

Peugeot Is In Talks With General Motors on Possible Alliance; Shares Surge - Bloomberg

Doesn't this sound familiar?

GM is struggling in Europe with its unprofitable Opel brand. Auto executives expect deliveries in the region to shrink in 2012 for a fifth straight year.

“A partnership with GM would make sense, because Peugeot and Opel both lack scale,” said Sascha Gommel, a Frankfurt- based Commerzbank analyst with a “hold” rating on Peugeot shares, adding that Fiat SpA in Italy is also a potential partner. “Peugeot’s in a difficult situation because competitors like Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan can produce much higher volumes and so have a scale advantage.”

I can see BMW buying Saab and I'm not opposed to it.

Interesting thread on a GM forum.
Is BMW interested in Saab?

Doesn't surprise me GM is doing bad in Europe. Opels are boooooooring... I didn't notice all the Opels driving around until I started looking, their cars don't stand out at all!

This is about the best possible outcome we could hope for, short of Koenigsegg re-entering the picture.

Originally Posted by jk88

This is about the best possible outcome we could hope for, short of Koenigsegg re-entering the picture.

I disagree on Koenigsegg. Short of some Swedish nationalistic pride, BMW owning SAAB is a much better proposition, as far fetched as it may seem right now. Rumors are rumors...

Originally Posted by rpiereck

I disagree on Koenigsegg. Short of some Swedish nationalistic pride, BMW owning SAAB is a much better proposition, as far fetched as it may seem right now. Rumors are rumors...

BMW as a parent makes miles more sense, due to economies of scale, varied manufacturing bases, existing dealer network, etc.

It obviously didn't make financial sense for Ksegg from very early on, when the brand starting taking on water -- but purely from a unique/fun/Swedish standpoint, no one could have been better than them.

And there could have been a production Saab Aero X from the marriage between Koenigsegg and Saab. Now we're really dreaming..

Originally Posted by Frank Wulfers

And there could have been a production Saab Aero X from the marriage between Koenigsegg and Saab. Now we're really dreaming..

Since we're dreaming now, ditch the Opel Omega engine on the Aero X, slice the Koenigsegg's V8 in half and make the Aero X the first SAAB V4 in a few decades...!! Half a Koenigsegg engine should be good for at least 450 hp!