I've expressed my own cautionary feelings about the Saab-Koenigsegg deal on this site already. My main worry is that the K-Segg consortium don't have adequate resources to pull off what they're trying to achieve.
Without knowing who their backers are, it's really hard to know. I find myself having to be confident in two things:
- one report that suggests that they may have enough backing to not even need government loan guarantees (sorry, can't find the link) and
- the fact that if they do need the loans, the very prudent Swedish government has looked them over and given them the thumbs up.
One report suggests that rather than Norwegian money, as is widely believed, Koenigsegg might have a lot of US money behind them. I've heard one name mentioned via Djup Strupe. The name is Mark Bishop, but I can't find anything about such a person at this point.
Note: This bid has been named as a Koenigsegg bid, but it might be just as appropriate to call it an Eker Group bid. Bard Eker, who owns 49% of Koenigsegg, is the one who's done the most talking about this process and may be the one attracting the foreign investment, too.
Given Eker's substantial role in all this, the other thing I'm worried about is the status of Saab's engineering corps. They will play a huge role in Saab's development in the future, including the ability to sell technologies to GM and other companies. Eker's concentration on running as lean as possible is fine for a small operation, but he's not proposing to buy a small operation (despite Saab's meagre market share).
I'll come back with some more commentary at the end of all this.
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Robert Collin from Aftonbladet is not amused by what he sees as a bit of a joke.
He sees the Koenigsegg bid as an exhibition of megalomania rather than good business sense. Koenigsegg's business has struggles itself at times, and the proposition of buying a struggling company like Saab is ludicrous given Koenigsegg's own problematic record, according to Collin.
If I'm translating his article correctly, Collin contends that Koenigsegg weren't that interested in Saab early in the process and only came back to being a serious candidate when the ranks thinned.
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This is from The Local:
According to Lasse Svärd with Dagens Nyheter (DN), the marriage of Saab and Koenigsegg is a positive development for Saab, at least in the short-term, as it signals that things are finally moving forward for the troubled Swedish brand after months of uncertainty."Saab needs to quickly find some peace and quiet with a far-sighted owner that can supply the company with the resources to help it create new models," he told DN.
But Svärd stopped short of embracing Koenigsegg as an ideal owner for Saab......
"It's really a hard question to answer. Spontaneously, my answer is no, at least it's hard to see how it will all work," he said when asked if the exclusive sportscar manufacturer was the right partner to give Saab the lift it needs.
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And in the same report from The Local:
Expressen's automotive reporter Jan-Erik Berggren was more direct in expressing his concerns about Koenigsegg's suitability for Saab, despite the professed excitement from Saab enthusiasts, who for months have expressed their keenness for a Saab- Koenigsegg tie-up on blogs and internet forums."For them, Koenigsegg is like a wet dream," writes Berggren.
"But it's time for them to wake up."
I think Jan-Erik's disappointed that his theory of a German Bank fronting for a Chinese laundry fronting for Mickey Mouse didn't turn out to be correct, but that's just me.
Well, it was something like that. I wish he'd taken up my nudie run challenge.
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ctm gave me his reading of much of the local Swedish media via email to me:
Swedish media is filled with the story. The angle in articles and editorials is that this is a dead end for Saab and that someone is just out to try their luck in a business deal without any logic. Lots of articles downplaying Koenigsegg and the Norwegian inverstor, portraying them as jet-setters, and all auto experts are doing thumbs down on the deal. The forums are filled with people saying "wow, cool" - but, then again, it's just comments from people that don't really know anything about it.
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And finally, this report via Bloomberg:
The Norwegian designer (i.e. Bard Eker) has overcome obstacles and turned around bankrupt companies before. He bought Hydrolift out of insolvency in 2001 after working with the boat maker on a deck design. The Hydrolift factory burnt to the ground in 2005 and was rebuilt the same year, according to a May 2009 article in Finnish boating magazine Kippari. Today, the boats are used by clients including Norway's police, according to Hydrolift."Baard is an extremely hard worker, a very talented artist and a good business man," said Dag Alexander Hoeili, an investor involved with the design of the Koenigsegg cars. "So if there's anything to the talk about Saab, then I am convinced he'll succeed."
Thanks MoodySaaber!
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I think this requires a full editorial, but I'll say it quickly here.
We all know that Saab faces challenges in the future. We all know that sales are slow, new models can't come soon enough and that Saab desperately needs a new 9-3 as a volume seller.
What's done is done.
Koenigsegg are the bidder that's been chosen and whilst the deal isn't sealed yet, they are the company that Saab stand the biggest chance of moving ahead with.
There are undoubted challenges, but Saab's management remains. If this goes through, Saab will be Swedish again. That counts for a lot. They will have new models soon and they will have a new, refreshed message and presumably, the financial backing to carry this through.
Size is no guarantee of success. Hard work and smarts will get you a long way there, though, and these Swedes will have those two elements in spades.
I'm cautious, but I'll throw my full support into this deal and seeing a successful new day for Saab.
Can someone photoshop a Saab Scania emblem replacing Scania with Koenigsegg?
on topic-
Swedish media is always such Debbie downers. They should have pride in their auto industry and support it accordingly. This is not the end of the world or the worst case scenario, jeez!
It seems from Chrysler, GM, and the French show that size does not guarantee success. Koenigsegg, Tesla, Fisker, Aston, and some others are out trying to prove that small can be successful, but the story has not yet been written. You could argue that BMW proved in the 70's that small can work, but they were also diversified.
As I think, the Eker group is only one part of the story.
There were some hints at U.S. investors, and I can imagine Koenigsegg were chosen as the ones up front because they are Swedish and have a high reputation among many of the SAAB fans.
From a marketing point of view, Koenigsegg were predestined to make it.
So, whoever decided to let things work out the way they did, made a wise decision.
What remains to be said - and has been said by some of the analysts - is that Koenigsegg and SAAB have little in common and that the business decisions will quite likely be taken by the people behind Koenigsegg - by Mr. Eker and the other investors.
Koenigsegg will lend SAAB some of their splendor, some of their technology - and I think we'll see a Koenigsegg Edition of this and that SAAB in the near future.
I think it is highly probable there will be an updated SAAB Aero X spearheading SAAB's sportive image in, say, four or five years from now.
Even if it may seem so, I think the Koenigsegg deal is not crazy at all. I think the decision makers involved know rather well what they are doing. Of course, the idea of an independent SAAB implies some risk to be run, but as a whole I think there is quite a lot of reason to take an optimistic view into the future.
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=56275808&searchSource=basic_ssb&singleSearchBox=mark+bishop&personName=mark+bishop
He used to be with Porsche and is now with Jebsen. Jebsen's website says this about him:
- Responsible for the Motors, Watch and Marine divisions and the business development of other luxury brands.
- Over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, spanning UK, Middle East and Asia.
http://www.jebsen.com/PageDisplay.aspx?did=93099441-099b-4a80-947d-19ddc80d2836
Koenigsegg is a very different company from Saab, as we all will agree. They don't care about cost, and hence can build cars with a minimum engineering overhead (an engineer knows what material or solution is best at any cost, it only gets complicated if price comes into play). So, I would not be surrprised if the price of Saabs will increase.
Further, I appreciate Saab cars as fun-to-drive, fast family cars (though my children disagree, since the back seats are not so nice, they prefer Opel Zafira or Opel Astra, sigh). Koeniggsegg ownership, which I belive would be associated with a bunch of automotive fanatics, might lead to a more "sporty", but less usable car; unfortunately a trend that is already abound for years, seems as if premium means DINKs to them.
"ANGELHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - Sweden's Saab Automobile, renowned for stodgy family sedans, may soon be in the hands of a man who makes some of the world's sexiest sports cars...."
STODGY FAMILY SEDANS????? Isn't that Volvo?
Do all Swedes look alike?
yes, thanks MoodySaaber for that bit about Bart Eker's turnaround of Hydrolift. It makes sense for Eker to channel his bid through his 49% ownership of Koenigsegg, especially if that solar electric Quantum has commercial promise - that looks like an assembly line production model for New Saab, even if the assembly line is at Valmet (keep it all in Scandinavia!).
also thanks to bizhaoqi for the bit about the Mark Bishop with Jebsen, a Danish trading company with very long history in distribution of luxury autos into Asia.
I still wonder if Roger Penske gave his blessing behind the scenes - helping to solve the North American distribution/dealer/parts distribution issues for New Saab.
All these news sources sound like they just do not get how the global auto industry paradigm is changing. No dot-connectors.
What makes them think that any of the other investors would have made something different about this? What is wrong with people?
Man, just thinking what a Saab sale would have been like 10 years ago with the Internet in its infancy, no awesome blogs, no Google Translate and no instant news. We would have had to rely on TV and the mainstream press - yuk!
So, thank you Swade for an amazing blog! :)
lack of vision, imagination, curiosity, and, for many journalists, Gordon has it right - that statement by Marchionne that only global scale in autos will survive at 5-6 million vehicles/year really took hold as new conventional wisdom. and then the media echo makes it even worse.
what saddens me is that the most negative reactions are from Swedish press.