Koenigsegg buying Saab

A consortium headed by Sweden’s Koenigsegg has struck a deal to buy loss-making Saab from General Motors.

Few financial details have been made public. GM Europe says the deal is being partially funded with 430 million euros worth of financing from the European Investment Bank guaranteed by the Swedish government.

Sweden’s industry ministry said it did not know if Koenigsegg would need loan guarantees or not.

Tiny Koenigsegg makes some of the world’s most expensive sports cars – just 18 of them last year – with a workforce of just 45.

Analysts were sceptical about the tie-up, noting that Christian von Koenigsegg, founder of the firm bearing his name, has no evident experience of owning or running as large as Saab.

Meanwhile, new car registrations in
Europe fell for the 13th straight month in May. They were down by 4.9 percent with 1.27 million vehicles sold.

State subsidies in some countries for scrapping old cars helped boost sales of cheaper models. Renault’s low-cost Dacia brand saw its sales double in May.

Overall new car registrations in Europe during the first five months of this year are down 14 percent.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: Cars, Industry