Saab’s New Owner – Koenigsegg – Who Are They?
General Motors has been trying to sell off Saab for months, in order to save the struggling Swedish auto maker from being stricken off the face of our Earth. Well, now automotive consortium Koenigsegg has picked up ownership of Saab. But who are they, why did they purchase Saab…and more importantly – how do you pronounce their name?
Koenigsegg, no relation to Star Trek and Babylon 5 star Walter Koenig, is pronounced “Kein-ig-segg” – and is a fellow Swedish car manufacturer of high performance sports vehicles. I guess one look at the “Made From Jets” ad campaign from Saab and they were sold. Founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, their intention was to produce world class sports cars. Koenigsegg is also active in development of plug-in electrical sports cars. They are currently working on a four-seat, two-door solar electric vehicle, the Quant. Koenigsegg holds patents for the “Rocket catalytic converter,” which “reduces backpressure and size while shortening light of time” (whatever that means). Forbes Magazine (in their March 2009 issue) chose the Koenigsegg CCXR, pictured below, as one of the ten most beautiful cars in history.
On June 11th, 2009, it was reported that Koenigsegg and a group of Norwegian investors had signed with Saab to take over the brand from GM – the sale is expected to close in September. I guess they want to keep it “local” regardless the reason, we are relieved one of our favorite auto makers will survive the crushing blow to America’s Auto Industry.
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