While General Motors is still trying to figure out what it’s going to do with its Saab division, Ford Motor Company announced today that it has settled all substantive commercial terms with China’s Geely Holding Group Company Limited on the prospected sale of its Volvo unit. Ford added that while some work still needs to be done before the deal is sealed such as final documentation, financing and government approvals, the company anticipates that a definitive sale agreement will be signed in the first quarter of 2010, with closing of the sale likely to occur in the second quarter of the same year. "The prospective sale would ensure Volvo has the resources, including the capital investment, necessary to further strengthen the business and build its global franchise, while enabling Ford to continue to focus on and implement its core ONE Ford strategy," Ford said in a statement.

The Detroit automaker added that it would continue to cooperate with Volvo Cars in several areas after the sale, but it does not plan to retain any shares in the business. It is said that Geely is offering the US automaker somewhere around $2 billion dollars for Volvo Cars which is less than a third of what Ford paid for the Swedish brand a decade ago. With the prospected sale of Volvo, Ford will offload the last brand in the Premier Automotive Group that also included Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.

By CarScoop

The Chinese maker of original masterpieces such as the Fiat Panda Haval M1, GWPeri, Toyota-Scion Florid and Coolbear, Great Wall Motors, has struck a deal with I.M. Group, a UK-based automotive importer and distributor for Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu, to import its vehicles into Europe starting from next year. The British company said that it will initially target the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and from 2011, the Scandinavian region, the UK and Ireland.

"Great Wall Motor Company, one of the few privately-owned Chinese car companies, has copied designed and built all of the European-bound models specifically to meet EU whole-vehicle type approval standards," I.M. Group said in a prepared statement for the press. "This will ensure that Great Wall models deliver high standards of crash-worthiness, equal to those of modern European and Japanese vehicles."

The UK-based importer said that it will release further details about the launch of the Great Wall brand next year. The Chinese automaker became known to the Western public a few years ago when it introduced a series of cars that shamelessly copied European and Japanese products including the Fiat Panda and Toyota - Scion cars.

Last year, the Fiat Group sued Great Wall Motors in Europe and China to prevent the company from selling the GWPeri claiming that the mini closely resembled it’s Panda model. While the Fiat Group won the legal battle in Europe thus keeping the GWPeri out of the EU, a Chinese court in Hong Kong dismissed Fiat’s claims for infringement.

By CarScoop

Spyker boss Victor Muller has submitted a new offer to GM for Saab addressing every issue that was causing the deal to fail. It’s all of 48 hours since we had a press release from both GM and Spyker saying that they couldn’t reach agreement on the sale of Saab to Spyker and all bets were off. GM said that as a result they would be winding Saab down and the marque would die.

All very sad, we have to say. But also a little odd. Our esteemed leader (it’s Christmas bonus time!) was having a conversation with a friend on Friday morning on this very subject. And the friend in question knows Victor Muller – Spyker boss – very well and had in fact been chatting to him just before the conversation with John. Victor was very bullish and felt that the deal was very doable. Which is the story we were about to do when the press releases from Spyker and GM came in.

Which all begs the question  - Was the announcement on Friday that Saab is to be wound down posturing by one side or the other? It now seems likely that someone was being a trifle intransigent – or playing who has the biggest cojones -  at  as we’ve just had an email in from Spyker which seems to say the deal is back on and going to happen – or at least it can from Spyker’s side.

Victor Muller has said that Spyker submitted an eleven point proposal to GM today addressing every one of the issues that arose during the due diligence process for the Saab deal. Victor said:

“We have made every effort to resolve the issues that were preventing the conclusion of this matter and we have asked GM and all other involved parties to seriously consider this offer. We are very confident that our renewed offer will remove the impasse that was standing in the way of an agreement on Friday, and this would still allow us to conclude the deal prior to the expiry of the deadline originally set by GM of December 31st”, said Victor. “Despite our collective eleventh hour set-back, we are returning to the table with a renewed offer, that addresses every known issue brought to light during the initial negotiations and that has the full backing of the Saab Management. The new offer eliminates the need for an EIB loan approval prior to year end, for example, which will allow the deal to be concluded within GM’s deadline. Our efforts are based on our passion for saving an iconic brand that we would be honoured to shepherd, and the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of loyal Saab employees, suppliers and dealers around the world. Some 1,500,000 Saabs are on the road today and their proud owners would no doubt welcome the survival of this phenomenal brand”, he added.

He went on to say, “Our company motto is nulla tenaci invia est via – for the tenacious no road is impassable. And we intend to remain true to that throughout these negotiations as we bid to secure Saab’s future and revive the company.” The offer is valid until 5pm tomorrow (21st December). Get out of that one, GM.

By CarsUK

General Motors announced that it will be closing down its money-losing SAAB unit after concluding that the sale of the Swedish brand to tiny Dutch supercar maker, Spyker Cars, could not be completed in the time frame that had been set.

"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution. We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars," said GM Europe President Nick Reilly. General Motors had turned to Spyker Cars after a failed effort to sell the Swedish brand to a consortium led by the Koenigsegg Group AB.

The Detroit automaker said that Saab will continue to honor warranties, while providing service and spare parts to current owners around the world. "We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner," Reilly said. "This is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation process. Consequently, we expect Saab to satisfy debts including supplier payments, and to wind down production and the distribution channel in an orderly manner while looking after our customers."

What GM did not say, is what’s going to happen with the Swedish firm’s upcoming models such as the all-new 9-5 sedan and the Cadillac SRX-based, 9-4x. Earlier this week, the Detroit automaker revealed that it had come to an agreement with China’s BAIC for the sale of the intellectual rights of the current-generation Saab 9-5 (not the 2010 model shown in Frankfurt) and certain 9-3 models.

Saab follows the same fate as several other GM-owned brands such as Pontiac and Saturn which were also axed.

By CarScoop

It was confirmed today that General Motors has come to an agreement with Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd (BAIC) for the sale of certain key assets from SAAB. BAIC, China’s fifth-largest automaker, bought the intellectual rights for Saab’s current 9-5 and certain 9-3s as well as some powertrain technology and tooling equipment. The agreement does not include the new 9-5 saloon that’s based on the Opel Insignia.

The deal will see BAIC manufacturing the current Saab 9-5 and certain 9-3 models in China while Saab will also help the automaker to integrate various technologies into future BAIC vehicles. "This arrangement is excellent for both parties, now and for the future," said Jan Åke Jonsson, Managing Director of Saab Automobile.

"We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles," he added. General Motors said that the deal with BAIC does not compromise in any way the sale of Saab to a new owner.

By CarScoop