Bailout Blues: GM lost $5,100 US on each Saab it sold

[OntarioVanMan]

Koenigsegg_Saablogo Perhaps this is why potential saviours Koenigsegg wants to double the price of Saabs.

According to the Swedish government and their consulting firm KPMG, parent Government Motors had lost $ 5,100 US on each Saab it sold during the last eight years.

I’ll let the business press figure out whether or not this is all a bit of creative accounting to make sure Saab gets the EU to approve the Swedish government’s guarantee of a loan to Koenigsegg group. But it makes you wonder how Saab can survive moving forward.

The only good news? GM has hard a time selling Saabs. Imagine the losses if it had sold more.

Even with up to $10,000 discounts, only 41 Saabs were moved last month in Canada—less than the number of Panameras Porsche moved. In fact, for the first 10 months this year, Saab Canada sales are down by half.

Look. We all know under GM’s watch Saab’s so-called premium products became nothing more than gussied-up, mainstream Opel Vectras. But that’s the game Honda’s Acura, Toyota’s Lexus, and Nissan’s Infiniti plays as well. Now please, you can’t tell me Honda loses over five grand on each Acura TSX (nee Euro Accord) it sells.

So what of this KPMG report?

Do you really think what few Saabs were sold really cost GM $5,100 US each?

And if so, does Saab have a future selling cars for profit?

 

[aristotle]

Does General Motors have a future trying to sell cars at a profit? Seems no matter how many brands GM sheds, their business model no longer works. Union labor kills jobs. Irony or oxymoron... you decide.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Does General Motors have a future trying to sell cars at a profit? Seems no matter how many brands GM sheds, their business model no longer works. Union labor kills jobs. Irony or oxymoron... you decide.

Now remember a union can only do what a company lets it get away with....

GM sold out morally years ago...only fitting they way it is turning out with union ownership...

 

[FIS53]

Years ago Saab did away with the traditional assembly line. Each vehicle was built by a team. They are assigned a chassis and build it from beginning to end. I can't see GM losing that amount per vehicle but then again what were the costs in getting the cars built and to market. Saab has had a hard time for years and so maybe the end for the brand. I know up here the dealers have almost disappeared and little to no advertising. Not only that they charged more for labour at the dealers for work on a Saab (107/hr to Saturn 95/hr).
Rob