Once Spyker, then Swedish Automobile, and now back to Spyker

Ever since Spyker Cars – the tiny company very little have heard of – purchased Saab from General Motors twelve months or so ago, very little has happened. The biggest change which occurred was the name which saw the Spyker/Saab pair become Swedish Automobile N.V. Since that time, Saab has continued to weigh the small company down and after consecutive offers made by Chinese company Youngman to purchase the ailing Swedish brand, Spyker finally parted ways.

As a result, Spyker Cars which was known as Swedish Automobile is once again back to its original roots as Spyker. We have no idea how much this entire venture has cost the brand, but we’d prefer not to think about it. It definitely wasn’t a smart move to purchase Saab on their part. Consequently, we would be very surprised if Spyker released any new cars in the coming months and years.

Youngman, which is actually one of China’s biggest companies, originally put a bid in to buy Saab off GM back in February when they offered $298 million, but as Saab’s debt totals more than $2 billion, this offer was unsurprisingly knocked back. Since then, the issue has remained fairly steady with Youngman announcing that it will invest no less than $1.8 billion into development of new Saab models if its latest undisclosed offers are accepted.

In our opinion, Youngman is out of its mind with these bids. Not only will the company have to spend billions to prop up Saab, consumer confidence in the Swedish brand has been completely and utterly smashed through the floor, even though they’ve developed a few nice cars. In turn, sales would be shaky and remain unsteady for years if Saab’s production line began to turn once again.

What do you think, should Saab finally bite the dust and leave us?

topspeed.com