General Motors Co. has just found out that it may actually be able to sell its Saab brand despite the fact that it recently lost the bid from a partner for the Trollhaettan, Sweden based auto maker. Word has come out that the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. of China is planning to move quickly to snatch up Saab while it can. The president of the company, Wang Dazong, told the press that the company will bid, but it is unclear whether it will bid as part of a group or entirely on its own. Dazong has said that he believes his company has a lack of depth in the field of technology and this is why Beijing Auto had been offering to buy the Opel brand that GM now operates. Instead, GM found that it wished to keep Opel and set Saab up for sale instead, but those inside GM have spoken with reporters to say that they know GM has a plan in place to simply shut down Saab if need be instead of selling it. An analyst in Shanghai, John Zeng, has said that if Beijing Auto did buy such a technologically advanced auto brand they would not have the man power needed to run it since they do not have engineers educated in the important aspects needed to run such a brand.
Not only is Beijing Auto approaching GM about Saab, other companies such as Merbanco Inc. and Renco Group Inc. have also made an attempt to make a bid for the Swedish brand. GM may not be willing to move as quickly as the Chinese company would make, but some say that Merbanco and Beijing Auto may team up to make a more attractive bid for the brand and help seal the deal more quickly.
