Koenigsegg backs out of Saab deal

• Source: Global Times
• [16:00 November 25 2009]
• Comments

General Motors Co. announced in a statement November 24 that the Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB has pulled out of deal for GM's Saab Automobile unit.

GM said its board plans to determine what to do with Saab next week.

"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," GM's chief executive, Fritz Henderson, said in a statement.

The chairman of Koenigsegg Group, Augie K. Fabela II, said Tuesday the decision to terminate the deal was purely due to timing, but funding issues had been worked out.

Saab sold 7,441 vehicles the first 10 months this year, a decline 61.5 percent year-on-year. It sold 513 units in October.

This is the third time for GM to fail in selling its brand in less than two months. Penske Automotive terminated its deal to buy Saturn in September, and GM decided not to sell its European operations, Adam Opel, to Canadian parts supplier Magna International three weeks ago.