Is the writing on the wall for troubled Saab?

I BEGIN this week not with an intro, but a disturbing statistic. In December 2011 just eight of you treated yourselves to a brand new Saab.

That's not just the figure for a particular showroom or part of the north west, but for the whole of the country. I've refrained from writing too much about Saab's slow and painful demise until now because the story's a bit too soap opera even for this column, but unless a miracle of Lazarus proportions heads their way it's safe to say the Swedish firm is another motoring name consigned to the history books.

Which is a shame, because Saab made some cracking cars right up until their final dying moments, even if they did knock a few stinkers out along the way. They were a firm renowned for sticking their fingers up at the motoring establishment and insisting on doing things differently. Even when it annoyed the hell out of General Motors, their very boring and very American former owners.

How else do you explain efforts like the fabulous 99 Turbo, a quirky saloon renowned for its mid-range punch? Or that middle class icon, the original 900 Cabriolet? Admittedly, they weren't cars modelled on jet fighters (despite what the ads would have you believe) but nor were they automotive flotsam created by committees either.

My own favourites are the two generations of the 9-5, which disguised their humble Vauxhall origins to offer up their owners a masterclass in comfort and refinement.

Their killer problem was that 99% of the potential buyers decided they'd still rather have the BMW 5-Series instead, leaving the Saab to survive solely on its “at least it's not a BMW” appeal.

Saab could and should have flourished once it passed into independent ownership, but GM's insistence that nobody should have access to its technology has ruined any chances the Swedes had. There are all sorts of complicated reasons why the firm's Dutch owners have gone bust, but a big part of it was that General Motors vetoed any ideas of Beijing's car makers coming to the rescue in case the Detroit-funded tech underpinning today's Saabs fell victim to a bit of a Chinese takeaway.

Ford happily lets Indian-owned Jaguar use its technological know-how, and BMW grants MG's Chinese custodians the same privelige, but the idea of a Chinese firm getting GM's inside info via Saab just proved too much for the Americans.

Unless Saab is treated to a miracle which brings its UK sales above eight a month, I think the writing's on the wall.

Life On Cars has just enjoyed its best month ever, with the site being viewed more than 3,500 times in January! I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who reads and enyoys this site and the column in The Champion (published each Wednesday).

If you've got a motoring story or event you'd like to share get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below.

Saab isn't dead yet, former chairman insists

DON'T write Saab off as a name consigned to the history books because the company and its models aren't dead yet.

That's the message former chairman Victor Muller has told the world after most turbulent month in the Swedish firm's history, and suggested that a buyer for the beleaguered company may yet be found.

After personally declaring Saab bankrupt, Mr Muller told national media: “Under the new situation of bankruptcy, perhaps another type of scenario could be conceived, one where perhaps no Chinese parties are involved because that seems to be the sensitive element for General Motors.

"Perhaps Saab can find a new lease of life in a new structure with new ownership."

General Motors, the American automotive giant which owned Saab until 2010, still supplies Sweden with parts and technology for the 9-3 and 9-5 models, and has vetoed interest in the firm from Chinese firms after fearing that GM intellectual property would end up in the wrong hands.

Following the bankrupty declaration Saab's operations have been put under the control of receivers, but Swedish law allows companies that are in bankruptcy to be revived if an investor is found.

Do you own a Saab? Have you been affected? Let us know by sending an email to david.simister@champnews.com or by calling 01704 392404.

Swedish icon goes Dutch

ANSWER the following question honestly: would you buy a Saab?

Yep, I probably would as well, but today a Dutch businessman has taken his enthusiasm for the beleaguered luxury car brand to new extremes. He didn’t buy a Saab. He bought Saab. The whole company.

Victor Muller’s successful bid to snatch a Swedish icon from General Motors is no guarantee that the guys from Gothenburg are any safer in their jobs, but it does at last mean that Saab is no longer constrained by a bigger carmaker which is crippled by losses. It’s constrained by a smaller carmaker which is crippled by losses.

Spyker, Mr Muller’s other car company, is one of those boutique supercar brands which sells to a select few connoisseurs every year; it’s not a BMW competitor with more than 3,000 employees on its books.

It’s about as mad as Morgan putting in a bid for Mercedes-Benz, but already I’m hoping those crazy, sexy Dutch can make Saab work where America’s biggest car firm couldn’t. Even if the odds of one of motoring’s minnows succeeding is slim to ridiculous, I get the feeling Spyker understands what makes Saab buyers tick (and it isn’t thinly-disguised Vauxhall Vectras with “jet fighter” styling).

The new 9-5 looks hugely promising, but in order to buy one you’d have to overlook anything not only from homegrown rivals Volvo, but the finest from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Lexus too. Would you buy one over an XF? That’s a trickier question.

Saab should be about as attractively Swedish as IKEA tables or Agnetha from ABBA, but it hasn’t produced anything genuinely Scandinavian since it stopped making the original 900. It has so many icons and so much heritage it can draw on – some of which is genuinely linked to jet fighters – that it really ought to rise again.

My money’s on a retro revisit of the quirky and rally-winningly quick 96 from the ‘60s; can you imagine picking a Volvo C30 over that? Or how about a proper Saab Turbo for once? The possibilities are endless.

I think Mr Muller’s probably a little bit mad, but he’s exactly what Saab needs. That and a tasty grant from a generous backer, of course…