Koenigsegg to buy Saab -- probably
I was going to post a wrap-up of our fantastic road trip -- which, technically, ended yesterday -- but instead of writing, I spent most of the day wandering around San Francisco Airport trying to find out what was happening with my flight. (To give you some idea of how it went, I was supposed to spend Wednesday night at a hotel in Knoxville, but instead slept at a friend's house in Dallas.)
So instead I'll talk about something I've been meaning to mention -- that Saab is going to be purchased by a small Swedish automaker called Koenigsegg (pronounced koh-nig-zeg, I think), provided financing ($600 million from the European Investment Bank, backed by the Swedish government) goes through. If you're a die-hard fan of the BBC TV show Top Gear, you might have heard of Koenigsegg, but if you haven't, they're a tiny purveyor of supercars.
Koenigsegg's primary product is the CCX, a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car powered by a twin-supercharged 4.7 liter V8 producing -- you'd better sit down for this -- eight hundred and six horsepower (on 91 octane unleaded, no less). They sell for about $1.2 million (enough to buy 112 Hyundai Accents). They also have a green version -- the CCXR, tuned specifically for ethanol. When run on E85, it produces 1,018 hp. I'll retype that so you know it's not an error -- 1,018. We're used to cars producing less power on ethanol, but the fact is that if an engine is tuned specifically for E85, it can take advantage of that fuel's higher octane rating. (The CCXR can also run on 98 octane unleaded, but it loses 212 hp.) Incidentally, there's only one other automaker I know of that was looking at taking advantage of the higher power potential of ethanol, and that was -- you guessed it -- Saab.
Saab is tiny by General Motors standards. They sell about 98,000 cars per year worldwide, which is about 1/3rd of a good year for the Civic in the States alone, and it took them thirty years to sell as many cars in the US as the rest of GM sells in three months. But Koenigsegg has less than 50 employees and built 18 cars last year. This is a little like Rhode Island taking over the former Soviet Union. Unlikely as the marriage seems, it makes sense -- Koenigsegg designed the CCX with the US market in mind, and buying Saab gives them something just short of a turn-key US marketing operation. On the other hand... a tiny shop taking over a (more-or-less) major world-wide automaker? Someone throw some popcorn in the nuker, this is going to be good.
Kirsten Hall-Geisler, our Guide to Exotic Cars, has put together a concise history of Koenigsegg, which I recommend checking out. Thoughts on the merger of the Little Swede and the Big Swede? Click the "comments" link below. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Koenigsegg
Comments
Would this give them the ability to enter NASCAR? I did read that NASCAR is talking with some foreign automakers for entry, but there are stipulations. Having a US shop is one of them, if I am not mistaken. Just a thought…
This is just what Saab needed. The 9-3 while is nice looking car. The car has way to GM of a dashboard. Cheap plastic all over it. crappy dials and buttons. It just lost a little Saabness over the years. Swedish designers will be able to bring it back and make it a sports car again. Make a sick viggen (Sp?) version.
So the let me see if I have this straight. Small Swedish car company hits it big, gets bought by American all profit no performance car company, gets run into the ground, and then is sold back to other small Swedish car company. Sounds like Saab dodged a bullet.
I look forward to the crazy forward thinking futuristic designs Koenigsegg introduces in the Saab line-up. Let’s hope they don’t go Ikea on the cars and make the interior cheap plastic assemble yourself in 9 billion not-so-easy steps.
Agree with Gary. Saabs were never great cars but they had something special. Getting caught up in the GM web was completely wrong for them. But pairing them up with a funky supercar company? Now that could be interesting. And they should bring back the hatch. My first car was a 1986 900s. Had 159,000 miles when I got. Had a good time with that old piece. We were lucky to have a “Saab guy” down the road to look after her though.
I love when these luddites lament the GM takeover of Saab. All I can figure is they’re just GM haters.
Fact is Saab is making the best cars in their history both in reliability and sportiness. We bought a 9-3 for my wife last year and that little 2.0 turbo operates flawlessly on regular gas and returns excellent fuel economy.
We drove the supposed competition but when it came to price in the entry lux. market there was no competition.
Being affiliated with a super car manufacturer will probably add some needed panache to Saab’s image. The down side is GM is losing their leading test bed for upcoming AWD vehicles. The introduction of Saab’s AWD system had placed them near the top in terms of sophistication.
GM may now not get the chance to capitalize on Saab’s advances. Something they’ve desperately needed since unloading their stake in Subaru.
Anyway, I’m just glad to see some positive possibilities for Saab.
I have admired Koenigseggs for several years now and think this is a great opportunity to really put their name out there. Not only are they specialty supercars but they are very well made high quality cars to boot. Not just an engine.
It is also great for Saab and Sweden who hated the fact that they were bought by GM. This pairing could possibly put Saab back on the map as the sub-luxury(?) brand they always marketed themselves as. GM had nothing whatsoever to do with the less than stellar quality of Saabs because that it how Saabs have always been. This might just be what they need to turn the corner.
As far as E85 development goes, there is one manufacturer here in the US coming online soon:
“….Mr. Pelmear’s 400-horsepower engine and its 500 foot-pounds of torque to travel up to 200 mph and get 110 mpg – though admittedly not at the same time.”
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090530/BUSINESS03/905300338/0/BUSINESS02