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Beijing Automotive Plans to ‘Move Fast’ on GM’s Saab

November 30, 2009
2 min to read


Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. said it will “move fast” on General Motors Co.’s Saab unit after its partner scrapped a bid for the Swedish automaker, Bloomberg News reported.

“Stay tuned,” Beijing Auto President Wang Dazong told reporters today in Nanjing, eastern China, when asked whether the company would bid alone for Saab or as part of a group. He declined to say whether a bid would be submitted before GM’s board discusses the unit’s future at a meeting tomorrow.

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Beijing Auto previously offered to buy GM’s Opel unit to tackle what Wang today called a lack of “technology depth” at the Chinese automaker. While GM directors might opt to keep Trollhaettan, Sweden-based Saab, as they did with Opel this month, GM has a contingency plan that calls for winding down the brand, people familiar with the plan have said.

“If Beijing Auto bought the technology, they wouldn’t have anyone who understood it,” said John Zeng, a Shanghai-based analyst at IHS Global Insight. “It would be a big challenge for them to make it a success.”

Koenigsegg Group AB last week walked away from a Beijing Auto-backed bid for Saab, saying it ran out of time to complete a transaction. Beijing Auto, Merbanco Inc. and Renco Group Inc. have since made approaches about Saab, two people familiar with the situation have said. Wang declined to say whether Beijing Auto has made an approach.

“I can’t control GM’s timetable,” Wang said. “We want to move fast.”


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