This popped up in comments in the last hour.
Many have worried about a Koenigsegg bid for Saab because of questions relating to their experience in managing a larger volume producer.
Johan, our comment author, takes a sober yet optimistic look at this possibility. I thought it was superbly presented and tend to agree on many fronts. I’ve got to say, I’m warming more and more to the Koenigsegg possibility.
Thanks Johan.
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Koenigsegg as an owner all comes down to who is financing the affair. I hardly think Eker himself has enough money to be able to pull this of and Christian Von Koenigsegg certainly doesn’t have the money, he can’t even afford to buy one of his own supercars (his claim). So for Koenigsegg to be able to pull this off they need someone financially strong to back them up.
To have a larger company as a daughter company is not a problem, I believe there was a similar situation with Saab-Scania in the past where on paper Saab was the owner of Scania. But Koenigsegg doesn’t have to be structured as the owner of Saab, Saab can merge with Koenigsegg and make Koenigsegg a part of Saab while Koenigsegg shareholders get shares in the new company instead. There are many possible solutions here, so that isn’t really an issue.
In any case, such a deal offers several interresting possebilities. To beging with it would give Koenigsegg, through Saab, a new distribution chain and aftersales. It would also give Koenigsegg the facilities it need to produce a cheaper entry level model. Such a model could be based on an aluminum chassi from a supplier such as Alcoa (just like Ferrari does it), and could be assembled in the Trollhättan plant. A cheaper version of that car could be the basis of a Saab Aero-X, using Saabs current V6 as the base engine (naturally twin turbocharged and direct injected). This would increase the volume and distribute the cost of running a factory with a capacity of about 170k cars so that the cost per car decrease.
Many parts on the Koenigsegg cars could also be sourced from Saab, providing a new income for Saab. Saab would also, very importantly, get a larger freedom in what they can do while their lifetime licenses of GM platforms and technology gives them the technology required to start their new independant company. On the longer term they can seek cooperations with other manufacturers to increase volumes and share development costs. Many required parts and system can also be sourced from suppliers which usually have many solution on the shelves these days.
For Saab I think the main advantage with Koenigsegg as a owner is that Saab can operate freely and react quickly, there isn’t some big foreign boss that only cares about big volumes you need to convince before you can start work. Koenigsegg as an owner is also great from a PR perspective, quite the opposite to Renco Group. The question is how financially strong a new Koenigsegg-Saab company would be, and as a said before, it all comes down to who is backing them up financially.
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