GM’s President Fritz Henderson Says “Saab Is Not A U.S. Strategy”

Posted on 22. Jan, 2009 by Ryan in 2000-2009

Photo Credit: Saab History

“Saab is not a U.S. strategy.” came out of the mouth of Fritz Henderson, GM’s President today, according to Motor Trend.

This is not the first time he’s mentioned Saab, so here’s what has been said according to various news organizations over the past few years.

“GM will seek a buyer for Saab” – December 3rd, 2008

“Saab Is Key to GM, but It Has To Perform” – October 7th, 2008

“I am A Fanatic About Saab” – August 25th, 2007

As we see the conversation over the past year drift away from how he is a “fanatic about Saab” to now saying that “Saab is not a U.S. strategy”, it really makes me wonder if he really cared about Saab Automobile to begin with, having autonomy as a President of GM for all intents and purposes.

In retrospect, it’s incredibly challenging to recall sitting down to a banquet dinner at the 2007 Saab Owners Convention in Troy, Michigan where we all listened to him tell us that he was a Saab Enthusiast and really liked the brand and saw a great future with it under General Motors ownership. That statement is now invalidated given that there is no more future with Saab Automobile in the United States, under GM ownership according to him and his other colleagues in Detroit.

I hope that the top management at General Motors stop the bitter dialog about their personal thoughts about how they had no clue as to manage the Saab Automobile brand. It’s time now for them to just admit and face up to the fact that they never understood or cared about the brand’s future but only their own brands instead and just sit down and do whatever necessary to safely ensure that Saab Automobile’s transition to independence is truly victorious!

Tags: Detroit, Fritz Henderson, Fritz Henderson Says, General Motors, GM's, Motor Trend, President, saab, Troy, United States