Tagged: GM

Saab filed for bankruptcy in Sweden on Monday after its former owner, General Motors, opposed a plan that could have bailed the company out. 

Saab developed severe cash flow problems almost immediately after GM sold it to a Dutch company, Spyker. Saab had to stop making cars this year while it sought new investors. 

The company found a buyer in China, but GM  said no to the deal.   

Selling the company triggered contract clauses that required GM to sign off on transfers of technology used in many Saab vehicles.

A GM spokesman said the company didn't want to lose control of its technology and allow Saab to become a competitor's shortcut into the thriving auto industry in China.

AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan says there's now little hope the quirky little brand can be saved.  

"[Saab] was a vehicle that could easily be seen on the road as a Saab," says Sullivan. "It could never be mistaken for anything else, and I think we’re losing an iconic design."

Saab sold only a few thousand cars in the U.S. last year.

United Auto Workers members are voting on whether to authorize a strike at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township plant.   The vote centers on several workplace issues.   

The Delta Township plant produces the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.  Tracy Handler is an analyst with IHS Global Insight.    She says if UAW members strike at the Lansing plant, the effect would not be immediate on GM.   

Former GM Chairman John Smale led the company from late 1992 until the end of 1995. He died today in Cincinnati at the age of 84. He was a board member of the automaker for more than two decades starting in  1982.

Smale also led Cincinnati based Procter & Gamble from 1981 to 1990.

The Canadian with German ancestry graduated from Miami University (Ohio) in 1949. He joined P&G in 1952, working for what was then called the toilet goods division. He rose through the company, becoming president in charge of all U.S. operations in 1974 and chief executive in 1981. He added the chairmanship in 1986.

During his tenure, Smale moved P&G businesses into new markets in huge developing countries such as China, setting the stage for P&G's rapid growth in Asia in recent years. P&G also acquired Richardson-Vicks, which broadened the P&G portfolio to include Pantene shampoo, Olay skin cream and Vicks cough medicines, which are major brands today. In a smaller acquisition, P&G obtained the CoverGirl makeup brand that also is still growing.

At GM, Smale help change the structure of the automaker's management and put a renewed focus on customers.