Victor Muller describes Spyker’s acquisition of Saab as the world's biggest bargain, saying that the move was “a no-brainer.” He said that for $74 million, Spyker was able to buy a company worth $1.1 billion. In the process, Spyker also received several vehicle programs. Spyker gets access to nearly $550 million, which is provided by the European Investment Bank and the Swedish government. Saab also now owns a state-of-the-art assembly plant and engineering center in Trollhattan, Sweden, as well as a crash laboratory, wind tunnel and climate chamber.
Muller, who functions as both the Spyker CEO and Saab’s chairman, said that the company likes to say that it “paid for a wind tunnel and got a car company included.” Muller has vowed to return Saab to its old glory and to do that, it has to cut losses, break even as an independent automaker and build confidence in the brand. Saab has to do all these while selling GM-developed projects for two more years.
For Saab to succeed globally, it will have to reduce its breakeven point. To reach that level, Saab has to sell more than 100,000 cars. Muller has set a goal for Saab to get the breakeven point down to 80,000 units by 2012. Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said that if Saab can sell 120,000 cars per year, then it “will have a good return on the business.” [via autonews - sub. required]
