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Loss-making car manufacturer Saab is to be bailed out by the European taxpayer and end up in the hands of fellow Swedish company Koenigsegg, the maker of $1-million-a-time supercars.
Saab has been stalled in bankruptcy protection following the failure of its parent company General Motors, best-known in the UK as the US auto giant behind Vauxhall.
Today it was announced Koenigsegg is to take control of Saab with the help of a $600 million loan from the European Investment Bank, the European Union's financing arm, guaranteed by the Swedish government. Saab has been regarded as a national, industrial icon in Sweden, where it employs 3400.
Koenigsegg, despite its boys' toys profile, is a tiny company. It employs just 45 and makes just 18 cars a year.
Its founder and boss, 36-year-old Christian von Koenigsegg, has no experience of running a company the size of Saab.
Saab fortunes have been as bad as any in the recession-hit car industry. In Britain last month it shifted just 536 cars, a year-on-year fall 63%.
The future of Saab will be watched closely by Vauxhall workers and their unions.
They fear the UK car and vanmaker could be cast adrift from the wider rescue of GM's interests in Europe.
Reader views (1)
Saab won't survive as its new owners don't have sufficient capital to develop urgently needed new models.
- Roger, Winchester, England, 16/06/2009 22:22
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