China’s BAIC is not giving up on its aspirations to buy a foreign brand, if Gasgoo is not mistaken. Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), already a joint venture partner of Germany’s Daimler in China, may bid for General Motors’ Saab unit. Saab piqued their interest, as BAIC’s attempt to acquire Opel looks unlikely to succeed—at least for now.
Gasgoo heard that the Chinese government has intimated that it would support domestic automakers to acquire oversea assets—at least if the acquirees are BAIC, owned by Beijing, and not Tengzhong, owned by a mining baron who loves Hummers.
Saab’s CEO, Jan-Åke Jönsson, said last week that his company is down to just two potential buyers. He hopes to have a letter of intent from a “serious buyer” ready before mid-June. BAIC had held talks with German government officials on a possible takeover of Opel last week, but wasn’t regarded as an all too serious bidder. The race was between Fiat and Magna. Magna and Russia’s Sberbank were chosen, and now there are headaches, big, migraine-sized headaches.
As for Saab, someone with the same name as mine wrote in Gasgoo: “Saab? Maybe. Hard to implement. They are basically re-badged Opels. Slapping “Saab” on a home-grown make is not as easy as selling a Changan Volvo as a Volvo abroad.”
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Did you notice that the Bertel Schmitt writing in Gasgoo was formerly a marketing consultant to Volkswagen AG? What are the odds?
Doublepost.
I was… nevermind.
This doesn’t square with other reports out there:
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE55812320090609
More China rumors. Nothing to see here.
“Nobody wants a Pontiac in Europe, and if the Americans don’t want an American Pontiac, would they buy a Chinese one? Maybe, if the price is right.”
I don’t agree (for once) with you, Bertel. I don’t see many opportunities for Europeans to buy American cars or trucks. Funny, over the last five years, now that Chrysler is going down the tubes, I am seeing more Jeeps and PT Cruisers but dealerships are usually small and out of the way. Not in prime real estate like VW, MB, Opel, Renault, and FIAT. No “American” Fords like the Mustang or F150 (of course Ford Europe’s cars), no GM’s that are not Opels or Daewoo. Europeans don’t even get the choice to buy them (if they could afford the engine CC taxes).
Am I mistaken that American imports are restricted in some way and can’t compete equally with home brands and the imports from Japan? Or did the US brands just drop the ball?
There are no restrictions on car imports from any country, as long as they meet EU specs.
In Germany, new dealerships are ALWAYS out of the way, hidden in some industrial park or other places with zero curbside appeal.
The established dealers in their prime real estate locations soon find out that the prime real estate is their only serious value – and they sell it. Move to industrial parks, or exit the business.
Hey Bertel, Ensidlerhoff BMW is right there on B15, the main road between Landsthul & K-town. I drove my one & only 850 there. :)
I was just searching for a Chevy dealer in Portugal and found the Opel, Saab and http://www.chevrolet.pt web site. On the site, and I could be wrong but… the only American Chevy is the HHR. They also bring up the Cruze but it is not on the list of available models. I don’t know if the Cruze is US or Daewoo like the other models.
That is just Portugal. Germany, GB and others might be different but I see a lot of Toy/Nis/Maz/Ford (Mazda) Pickups and the only Chevy/GMC/Dodge/Ford F150’s are owned by the US bases or my American’s assigned to them.
As is the Magnums, Chargers, G8’s, Impalas, etc. I guess my question really is “Why?”
Did the US just not want to attempt the market? Did they get run out? Looks like “just another reason they failed”.
Swedish Name. Made In China.
Perfect…the 2011 IKEAmobile.