The last time the automotive industry heard from Saab, the future wasn’t looking the brightest. A month after their bankruptcy was announced, a liquidation of their assets went under way. As of now, more than 100 cars, some pre-production, have been sent off to be crushed and all but one museum Saab will be sold. Despite all of this bad news, the company still has work to do and thus, still has hope of survival. The receivers in charge of handling the bankruptcy have mentioned that there have been more than just one potential buyer lurking outside their front door.
“We have had discussions with a number of interested parties. Some of them are interested in the factory as a whole and some of them are interested in parts of it,” said Hans Bergvist, a Saab receiver, in an interview with Reuters recently. According to an Automotive News article, at this point in time there are three major maybes looking into the Swedish automaker. Perhaps the most prevalent is Chinese Youngman, who might try again with a fresh bid for Saab. They were the closest to owning the brand before General Motors stepped in and said no to all of the purposed buyouts issued by Youngman. The Indian utility maker, Mahindra and Mahindra, have also shown interest in the company and using their pre-existing SUVs, they could bypass the GM tied 9-4X and replace it with a rebadged version of one of their own. Another company interested is a Turkish private equity firm by the name Brightwell Holdings.
According the receivers, there is a high option for an outright sale of Saab. There have been no official proposals as of yet, but that could easily change very quickly. The three companies most interested in Saab will more than likely make a move before the spring to get ready for the 2013-2014 model year.
Source: AutomotiveNews.com
