General Motors Corp. is shutting down Saab after a deal to sell the Swedish auto brand crumbled.
Click here for the details from the Associated Press.
GM has failed to sell Saturn, Pontiac and Opel, too. At least the Chinese bought Hummer.
My wife and I leased a $42,000 Saab in the mid-1990s. It was the only new car I ever drove that died along the road, requiring tow-truck revival. So much for the reliability reputation. And nobody seemed impressed. Friends told me I was basically just driving a Chevy.
I am so much happier in my bought-and-paid-for, $17,000, 2005 Toyota Camry. The last Saab I drove belonged to my brother in law, a convertable with the ignition between the seats. Drove me crazy, always looking on the steering column for the key hole.
Saab’s looming demise is a deal that makes you wonder if maybe socialists are better capitalists. GM paid $600 million for half of the Swedish car maker in 1989. It bought the rest in 2000 for another $125 million. Now all it can do is part out the assets.
It’s not a good time to unload an automobile company, but GM has got to repay U.S. taxpayers. And that’s a deal that makes you wonder if maybe capitalists make better socialists.
