The Last Swede Leaves SAAB
Except for the faithful at Saabsunited.com, there aren’t too many left who are convinced of Saab’s success. Now, there is one less. Dubbed as “the last Swede,” Saab’s CEO Jan Ake Jonsson handed in his resignation after leading the company through what must have been six very stressful years.
Saab’s Amsterdam-listed parent, Spyker Cars, reported a full-year net loss of €218 million ($303 million) on sales of €819 million ($ 1.15 billion) for 2010 after the Dutch boutique supercar maker bought Saab from General Motors last year. Jonsson sent in the resignation letter along with the numbers.
Financial Times reports that Spyker’s Victor Muller will take over as interim CEO until a (preferably Swedish) replacement is found. Muller will have a hard time finding a candidate for the ejection seat.
“There is so much cynicism that if I say something is red, people think it must be black,” Muller told the Financial Times.
It’s the other way round. If Muller says numbers will be black, people see red.
Saab sold just under 32,000 cars last year, down from a peak of 130,000 in 2006. Saab wants to sell 80,000 cars this year, a goal which Muller concedes is “a stretch.”
Muller said that he hopes that Russian entrepreneur and alleged organized crime figure Vladimir Antonov will return to Spyker as a big investor “sooner or later.”
With friends like these …
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
True, Honda/Toyota people will never buy a SAAB. But we have been here before. I have some very cool cars in my driveway but what do I long to drive the most? My classic SAAB 900 Turbo... an old and fragile car for sure but oh so special. So, so special...
Can't wait to see Saab go. No need to be sentimental about these things. Of course I'd have been happier if GM had taken the knee, along with Chrysler, too, but you can't have everything, I guess. Maybe once the Obamanator is through with Libya, whoever is left over there can be forced to buy whatever is rolling off GM and Chrysler assembly lines. Especially now that they won't be able to buy Saabs.
There has never been a compelling reason to buy a premium or near-premium car at all. It's all about things you don't really need, and that you can also have in a F...., a Ch........, or a T........... It's just that they don't feel like what you are used to ..and if it comes to blows, it's always been good to have some Swedish safety technology around you. Apart from that, I remember there were some crazy people who believed that a bike from Milwaukee was different - for reasons millions of other people just couldn't understand. You think that's a different story? Then you most likely belong to the millions of other people. Nothing to bother about: There are hundreds of thousands of great cars that are waiting for you - and there is no compelling reason to buy a SAAB today, tomorrow or next week. Still, there are some people who have always known the difference - and maybe one day, you'll sit in a SAAB and understand. Welcome to the club, then!
I do not see why some are against premium cars and wish to have less choice in the market. Not every one wants to drive Camry or BMW. But premium does not mean that car has to be overpriced and SAAB is overpriced. SAAB makes FWD cars based on GM platforms - why it should cost substantially more than Buick or Opel? Buick is also premium marque but it sells at reasonable price. I do not see how SAAB is better than Buick. People who want to drive SAAB are not rich and why Muller thinks that he can to screw them? People who are rich, arrogant or want to make statement about their income will rather buy Mercedes or BMW.