BREAKING: Swedish Patient Succumbs – Deal for Saab is dead on the table, GM to wind down brand

Filed under: GM, Saab, Earnings/Financials

2010 Saab 9-5 – Click above for high-res image gallery

After a protracted saga that has seen bidders drop in-and-out and old model tooling and assets sold off to the Chinese, the enigmatic brand known as Saab is dead. In a press release issued this morning, General Motors announced that the “intended sale of Saab Automobile AB would not be concluded.” GM had been in talks with Dutch exoticmakers Spyker Cars after pursuing a number of other buyer leads (including the aborted sale with Koenigsegg), but The General says that in the course of due diligence, the resolution of certain unspecified issues became impossible in the time frame that they had set for themselves.

As such, GM will immediately begin the “wind down” of the much-loved yet perpetually unprofitable cult brand, but says it will continue to honor warranties and provide spare parts and service – presumably through other GM brand dealers – as Saab dealers go offline. Officials note that this is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation situation, so outstanding creditors should still expect to receive payment.

It is not clear what will happen to the production-ready 2010 9-5, nor the current 9-3/9-3X model and almost-ready 9-4X. Official death certificate available after the jump, historical slide show of the brand in photographs viewable below.

Gallery: Saab – A History in Pictures