This morning Swedish car company Saab, which has been struggling financially for well over a year, announced its assets would be liquidated. No more future buyers, no more automobiles. This is the end, beautiful Saab. Somewhere in literary heaven, Kurt Vonnegut sheds a tear.

*There are 1,659 Saab models left in Cars.com’s new-car inventory:

9-3: 781 units
9-3X: 49 units
9-4X: 135 units
9-5: 692 units
9-7X: 2 units

Saab currently offers financing deals of 1.9% APR for 72 months through Jan. 3. IF you buy a Saab vehicle now, keep in mind that resale value will be minimal, and finding parts will become difficult, and more expensive for the owner to maintain.

As is customary on all Pedia blogs – we like to send off dying/deceased auto makers (see: Hummer) with a classic jingle:

*Cars.com Stats

If all goes as plan, Saab will soon be the beneficiary of $181 million dollars US, after a sales goes through to Zheijang Youngman, Lotus Automobile, and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. However, Saab still owes over $188 million US to their creditors. According to Bloomberg, Swedish Automobile could be forced to liquidate.

Saab still has money to make, with many dealerships across the US and Canada in business. Saab is also waiting on funds from the sale of company shares to Spyker.

“Private equity of firm North Street Capital LP has made an agreement to purchase Spyker for 32 million euros, which is translated into 42 million U.S. dollars,” according to Bloomberg and Automotive Discovery.

Saab is not out of the fire yet.

Source: Automotive Discovery

The announcement came with Spyker’s annual report. They’ve suffered a significant financial loss in 2010. Operating losses were experienced by both the Saab and Spyker; the company spent considerable money taking over Saab production from General Motors. Financial losses for the year were anticipated in Spyker’s business plan, but as they’ve stated, “the actual cash need was higher than planned.”

March sales of Saab automobiles reached 888 units in Sweden, 830 in the United States. Both are significant increases from 2010.

But that couldn’t stop Saab from being forced to shut down production on three separate occasions, when key suppliers and carriers held back deliveries cause of non-payment.

This particular crisis seems to have blown over. Deals were reached with all the vendors in question.

“A controversial but wealthy suitor is indeed in the wings for Spyker and Saab,” according to Automotive News. “Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, who helped Spyker finance the deal to buy Saab from GM before being squeezed out for ties to organized crime, is said to be a willing investor. Antonov insists that he has no ties to organized crime, and is being vetted by Sweden’s Debt Office, who has a say in any ownership changes at Spyker.”

Good luck, dear Saab, we’d hate to lose you after so many struggles.

Via The Car Connection

The 9-5 SportCombi comes with dual exhaust and a pairing of blade-like 19-inch ten-spoke alloy wheels.

This new ride, which will make its official debut in Geneva starting from March 3rd, will arrive in dealerships this September. It will sport an improved versions of the 1.6 and 2.0-liter turbo gas motors, and the 2.0 TTiD engine, which is also available on the sedan and is mated with the XWD all-wheel-drive system.

This new partner for the 9-5 “Saloon” will offer an alternative choice in the large wagon market segment, still a small section for Saab in the US. It could actually sell even better than its four-door peer, since wagons and hatchbacks are making a huge comeback.

SOURCE: Auto Evolution

Most notably, President and CEO Jan Åke Jonsson confirmed the next-generation 9-3 will arrive in 2012. This had been expected, but the upcoming 9-3 facelift caused speculation that the redesign might have been delayed until 2013.

As we have previously reported, the new 9-3 will ride on a modified version of the current Epsilon I platform and likely be offered in three- and five-door bodystyles. A variety of engines will be available, but a recent agreement with BMW will ensure there’s a MINI-sourced 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo with start/stop technology.

Besides talking about the 2012 9-3, Saab announced plans to unveil a new special edition. Details are limited, but the model will likely be based on the current 9-3 Convertible.

Despite the company selling just under 31,700 Saab cars globally in 2010, it reported a 129 per cent jump in figures between September and December; 11,448 cars were sold in this period, a 31 per cent jump on the previous quarter.

At the beginning of 2010, Spyker had to slash Saab’s sales target of 45,000 cars because it had to rebuild its supplier base after the unit was bought by Spyker from GM in February. This caused a severe production disruption, but Saab sales did, nonetheless, see a progressive sales hike in key markets.

According to a statement by Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson: “I am confident that we can keep up the current sales momentum as we continue to enhance our offering with the biggest ever product offensive in Saab’s history.”

The company will continue to expand its distribution network in China and Russia and expects rising sales figures in 2011 thanks to its entry into markets such as Japan, Canada, Portugal and Australia last year.

The new TTiD 1.9 diesel, another option of UK and possibly US buyers, brings in a total of 180 horsepower and lowers fuel consumption.

Other trim levels bring in newer alternatives in horsepower – 130 and 160 hp respectively, which gives values of consumption and emissions same as top diesel. Gas and diesel range will be assisted by a new automatic transmission with six cylinders.

Let’s not forget the new Saab 9-5, which receives an updated engine. The automaker, which was recently bought by Spyker, will introduce two new versions of the current 9-5 this fall – a gas and diesel counterpart. The diesel sedan gets a 2.0 TTiD powerplant with190 hp. The gas version gets a 1.6T with 180 hp. Diesel Saab can hit up to 60 mph in less than nine seconds.

With the new engines, Saab 9-5 offers customers a more generous color palette with 11 shades, as well as Adaptive Cruise Control.

Source

Now that Saab is owned by the Swiss, fully again, the construction of their smaller 9-2 sedan/hatchback will (hopefully) commence.

In an interview with MotorTrend, Spyker Saab CEO Victor Muller revealed a design proposal for the upcoming model. While Muller wouldn’t officially release the image, the car has styling cues from several vintage Saabs (the 92, the 93, and the 96). It has a rakish roofline, which would likely limit rear passenger headroom, and a modern front-end. As MT’s Todd Lassa explains, “it’s a polarizing design – you will love it if you’re a Saabanista.”

Despite being a design proposal, Muller says 9-2 “is my priority, Saab’s top priority.” Unfortunately, the model is still in limbo until Saab’s finances turn around. To go it into production, Saab will “need to find separate financing, or (we have to) perform so well, we can do it out of our own means. … Or find a partner who we can share a platform with, who has deeper pockets, so we can share it on their balance sheet.”

-Source: WCF

It’s been many, many…MANY months since Spyker, a small Dutch sports car producer, began talks with General Motors to purchase what was left of Sweden’s Saab.

Well now the make has been saved at the zero hour! New York Times reports:

“General Motors said Tuesday that it had reached an agreement to sell its Swedish unit Saab to Spyker Cars, a tiny Dutch maker of high-end sports cars, saving Saab from what seemed like certain extinction after earlier bids had collapsed, The New York Times’s Nelson Schwartz reports.

G.M. had begun the process of shuttering Saab’s production line and other facilities in Trolltattan, Sweden, at the beginning of the year, but the deal with Spyker will halt that process and buy time for Saab to begin rolling out new cars.

“General Motors, Spyker Cars and the Swedish government worked very hard and creatively for a deal that would secure a sustainable future for this unique and iconic brand,” John Smith, G.M.’s vice president for corporate planning and alliances, said in a statement.

Spyker intends to form a new company, Saab Spyker Automobiles. The transaction is expected to close in mid-February.

The announced deal is the latest turn in a saga that had riveted workers and politicians alike in Sweden, as well as Saab’s famously devoted customer-base.

Still, it will be an uphill battle for Saab to survive over the long-term, auto experts said, noting that just finding a buyer took more than a year for G.M. Amid the uncertainty over the company’s survival, sales plunged 50 percent in the first half of 2009, to 24,000 cars, far too slow a pace for Saab to operate profitably.”

Saab lovers across Europe have already gathered in solidarity for the car make, and GM has noticed. Last week, just before GM was ready to cut Saab completely, they resigned its position and kept the brand on for an extended deadline. As companies continue to make offers for Saab the clock keeps on ticking. Guess we’ll find out by January 7th, according to General Motors, what will happen to Saab. We hope to have protest photos up by week’s end, and more news concerning your favorite Swedish auto maker!