Koenigsegg pulls out of Saab purchase

General Motors may now close its Saab operations after a consortium led by SwedenÔÇÖs Koenigsegg Group walked away from the sale yesterday.  The future of the Swedish automaker will be decided at a GM board meeting on December 1, where the company will vote to either keep Saab, as it did with Opel earlier this month, or wind it down.  Closing Saab instead of selling would help Detroit-based GM to achieve its goal of trimming its US brands to four from eight in an effort to return to profit following its bankruptcy earlier this year.  In February, GM announced that it wished to focus only on its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands.  YesterdayÔÇÖs collapsed agreement is the third failure by GM to sell a loss-making brand since its bankruptcy. GM backed out of the Opel sale to a group led by Magna International and US dealership chain Penske Automotive Group withdrew in September from a plan to buy Saturn.  So far, only the sale of GMÔÇÖs Hummer brand, to Chinese firm Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, has gone through.  In June, GM signed a memorandum of understanding with Koenigsegg, which produces supercars priced at up to $1.5 million, to sell Saab.  The transaction had been expected to close by the end of this month. A successful sale would have protected the jobs of many of SaabÔÇÖs 4,100 employees and provided funding to finance a planned production boost of both older and new models. "We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," said GM president and CEO, Fritz Henderson, in a statement.  "Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB.  ÔÇ£Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week."  The investment group included Koenigsegg Automotive; ChinaÔÇÖs Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.; and Baard Eker, a Norwegian entrepreneur. The team was led by American businessman Augie Fabela II, who co-founded Russian mobile-phone operator OAO VimpelCom.  Having posted losses for many years under GM, Saab had planned to become profitable by 2012 with annual sales of 100,000 vehicles. Last year, the unit sold just 98,000 cars worldwide.  Koenigsegg won the bidding for Saab in June, and the European Investment Bank approved a Ôé¼400 million ($600 million) loan for the purchase on October 21.  *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *