GM increases incentives to help dealers move out leftover Saturns and Pontiacs
General Motors is pushing close to $7,000 at dealers in order to move the remaining Saturn and Pontiac models sitting on dealer lots. The move comes as GM was forced to close down 4 brands (Hummer, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac) leaving only GMC, Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet left. Sales of the Saturn and Pontiac brands were down sharply this year, which is to be expected, I mean, who would really want to buy a brand that will no longer be around come spring of 2010? For more details, head on over to MSNBC.
(Image source: GM)
According to reports coming from Dagens Industri in Sweden, GM has some ideas for Saab even as it closes the brand down. Rumor has it that General Motors is considering bringing the completed 9-5 here and badging it a Buick. This would make complete sense to me, as the 9-5 has been finished and is (according to insiders) a very impressive looking sedan. Only time will tell however, so stay tuned for more news. Until then, head on over to Autoblog for more details.
(Image source: GM)
GM to offer test drives at the North American International Auto Show!
General Motors has some extra room this year at the Detroit Auto Show since Saturn, Pontiac and Saab will not be there, so it has decided to do something innovative. The General will offer test drives at the show for the nearly 1 million people who will come through the show this January. With sales down in 2009, automakers are trying to figure out anything they can do to boost sales. This will give potential customers the opportunity to try out one of the many new cars from GM and then talk to sales people on the show floor! For more details, head on over to the Detroit News.
(Image source: GM)
GM advises dealers to prepare for the new small cars…
General Motors held a conference in Novi last Friday for about 430 of its dealers to explain to them the importance of the new small cars being launched over the next two years. Cars such as the Chevy Cruze and Volt are just two of the new vehicles expected from GM in the next few years. The dealers were also prepped on how the General plans to deal with the 3 million customers who will lose a model, dealer or brand by the end of the year due to the death of Pontiac, and sale of Saab, Hummer and Saturn. For more details, head on over to The Detroit Free Press.
(Image source: GM)
General Motors is dropping the corporate “Mark of Excellence” for 2010
That’s right folks. The little “GM” badge that has appeared on all GM vehicles since 2005 will be removed starting with 2010 models. I didn’t mind the badges, and they seemed necessary when GM had 8 brands ranging from Chevrolet, to Saab to Hummer, it was hard for people to know who was what. Now that the General is down to just 4 brands, it should really be so hard anymore. For the full story, head on over to The Detroit News.
After countless rumors, it’s pretty much official that Koenigsegg, a super-duper-fast-sports-car-maker, is going to purchase Saab from General Motors. The Swedish brand, Saab, is going to return to Swedish control, Koenigsegg, since 1990, when GM started buying the brand. The final details are still being worked out, but it sounds like the deal is going to go through with support from the Swedish government.
I’m a fan of Saab, but haven’t been a fan of GM letting the brand “go.” Therefore, I am glad that Saab is going to live on, and hopefully will get back to its roots of being a quirky little brand. Born from jets!
Read the full article at the Los Angeles Times.
GM has supposedly narrowed its negotiations two to possible parties interested in the Saab brand, according to Saab’s chief executive, Jan-Ake Jonsson. Jonsson says that the deal should be sealed within a maximum time frame of two weeks. Hopefully that is true because it’d be nice to start tying up all of the loose ends in the mess known as the global auto industry.
According to undisclosed sources (is anyone ever disclosed?), the two potential parties interested in Saab are Koenigsegg, a Swedish luxury carmaker, and U.S. financier Ira Rennert and his Renco Group.
Interesting news…but I just have to make some comments about Reuters, the source of this story. Why does Reuters have to refer to Saab as a “loss-making” brand? What the hell is that? Couldn’t the author just refer to Saab as Saab? I never liked Reuters, here’s another reason why. Thanks for the article guys.
Read the full article here.
Saab Concept
In more depressing auto related news, GM has announced this morning that Saab has filed paperwork with courts in Sweden for reorganization that would lead to it’s independence. This is basically equivalent to Saab filing for bankruptcy and would require GM to come up with $1 billion in order to seperate Saab. Read the full article, plus GM’s press release at The New York Times.
