With Saab gone for 5 years and producing cars on the assembly line for 6 years (some minor exceptions), what mistakes were made?
I start off with 2. Some may have been unavoidable.
Mistake 1. When Saab was spun off in 1989, it did not own the rights to the Saab name. This was not corrected when GM bought 50% of Saab the following year. If Saab had the rights to the Saab name, even if not the logo on the emblem/badge, then the company would have been worth more. Now, NEVS has only Saab history to brag about and that is losing value by the year.
Mistake 2. Saab did not expand to new car models until late. The 9000 did not come out until 1985. Other car models might have been built in countries with lower labor costs, such as Spain or the U.S., possibly even Thailand, Brazil, Slovakia, or Mexico.
In contrast, BMW's model lineup was not much bigger than Saab. Opportunity comes and goes. For Saab, after the SAAB 99 was started around 1967, the chance to develop a second model wasn't done in the mid 1970's but happened with the 9000 in 1985. BMW expanded with the 5 series in 1972 and the 7 series in 1977. BMW now has the 1, 3, 5, 7 series. Also the X1, X3, and X5. It also has lower volume Z series, as well as the 6 series, X4, X6, and i series not to mention MINI and Rolls Royce.
On the other hand, correcting mistake 2 would have been difficult and expensive.