2013 Saab 9-3 Review and Prices
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Saab came close to death in late 2009, then got a new lease on life with Spyker Cars NV. Spyker is the tiny Netherlands-based builder of high-end sports cars that purchased the long-troubled Swedish automaker from General Motors last February. For a bargain price of $326 million in redeemable securities and $74 million cash, Spyker got a company with an iconic brand image, considerable engineering expertise, 3,400 employees, and a small but enthusiastic global fan base. The sale also left Saab Automobile with three new GM-prepped models, plus a GM platform and other technology that will be the basis of future Saabs.
The deal was spearheaded by Spyker CEO Victor Muller, who became a Saab devotee while growing up across the street from the Dutch Saab importer in Amsterdam. But the takeover is rather like the proverbial minnow swallowing the whale. Spyker has only 100 or so employees and turns out just 30-50 cars per year selling for some $250,000 each. Moreover, Spyker has lost money every year since Muller resurrected the brand in 1999, just as Saab Automobile lost money in most of its 20 years under GM control.
Though Spyker expects another loss in 2010 and a further decline in global Saab sales, to around 45,000 units, Muller thinks he can have his new Saab-Spyker combine in the black come 2012. Until then, he says, the firm can get by on its own $364 million cash reserve and a $345 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank. But that seems barely enough to sustain operations, let alone develop the all-new vehicle that Saab wants to start selling in 2013.
Which is why the long-delayed redesign for Saab’s mainstay 9-3 will not produce the smaller, clean-sheet model once expected from GM. Instead, Saab’s next premium-compact car--which may be badged 93--will be a reengineered version of the 2003-2011 9-3, though with changes so extensive that it will be essentially an all-new car, or so Saab says.
Though Spyker expects another loss in 2010 and a further decline in global Saab sales, to around 45,000 units, Muller thinks he can have his new Saab-Spyker combine in the black come 2012. Until then, he says, the firm can get by on its own $364 million cash reserve and a $345 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank. But that seems barely enough to sustain operations, let alone develop the all-new vehicle that Saab wants to start selling in 2013.
Which is why the long-delayed redesign for Saab’s mainstay 9-3 will not produce the smaller, clean-sheet model once expected from GM. Instead, Saab’s next premium-compact car--which may be badged 93--will be a reengineered version of the 2003-2011 9-3, though with changes so extensive that it will be essentially an all-new car, or so Saab says.
source : http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2013-saab-9-3.htm 0
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