Company President Is Pleased With New Headquarters

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by Ryan in 2010-2019, Royal Oak, Michigan

Photo Credit: David N. Posavetz / Daily Tribune

The Daily Tribune has recently visited the new headquarters for Saab Cars North America in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Here is the article below and keeping with the current trend, I will not be editorializing this article.

Company president is pleased with new headquarters.

ROYAL OAK — Mike Colleran, president and COO of Saab Cars North America, looked at hundreds of buildings for a new headquarters, sometimes not knowing if the company “born from jets” in 1937 would survive the automotive downturn.

It was a long and bumpy road from the towering General Motors offices at the Renaissance Center in Detroit to a one-story gray structure in a suburban industrial district.

However, the Saab saga has a happy ending with a new era and tagline — “move your mind” — unfolding in the surprisingly sleek interior of a renovated warehouse at 4327 Delemere Court.

Sitting behind his blond desk with a single line of paperwork stretching neatly from top to bottom, Colleran described the tumultuous time for the Swedish-based company’s 3,400 employees worldwide, including the few dozen who handle sales, service and marketing in Michigan.

“It was a rollercoaster ride, no question about that,” Colleran said in an office where photographs of Saab cars wait to be hung on white walls. “It started in late 2008 when GM announced a strategic review of the Saab brand.”

Soon, members of the Swedish government and Saab team were in Detroit for talks about the future of the GM

subsidiary. GM wanted Swedish officials to inject money into the brand while it sought help from the U.S. government to avoid bankruptcy.

Sweden rejected the request for funding and Saab ended up in bankruptcy in February 2009. GM determined the way to go was a formal restructuring to create an independent entity that could be spun off or sold.

A preferred buyer, Koenigsegg Group AB, stepped forward and it looked like the brand appreciated for quirks like being the first to offer heated seats in 1971 would persevere.

“They went through their due diligence but by Thanksgiving they pulled out for their own reasons,” Colleran said.

Uncertainty loomed again.

“I had strong confidence in GM and strong confidence in Saab, but the industry was very tenuous at the time,” Colleran said. “Everyone was worried about themselves, the companies and their coworkers. I definitely shared that.”

While GM looked for a buyer, Saab’s small but loyal following had trouble getting the cars that start at $28,000. GMAC had halted the popular lease deals and inventory dropped.

Saab sold 8,600 cars in the United States last year compared to 21,368 in 2008.

“Historically we’d sell 25,000 to 35,000 cars in the U.S.,” Colleran said. “Without leasing it was like fighting a prize fight with one hand behind your back.”

Still, he followed a plan that Saab would be its own entity in January 2010. Last summer Colleran started his search for the next North American headquarters and looked into tax incentive packages from several states.

In the meantime, Spyker Cars NV, a Dutch automaker, took a long look at Saab after its CEO, Victor Muller, and his team attended the Los Angeles auto show.

“He fell in love with the vehicles,” Colleran said. “He has an incredible eye for design. He didn’t know a lot about the brand but he respected it and he thought it was under-achieving its potential. He saw it as a gold mine.”

Muller put together an offer.

“We realized if we were going to be an independent company we would need a new home,” Colleran said. “GM didn’t throw us out. I was looking at hundreds of places.”

He was skeptical when a commercial real estate agent took him to an industrial district in the area of 14 Mile Road and Coolidge Highway. The streets are lined with vanilla brick buildings filled with mechanical contractors, plumbing businesses and an auto detailer.

“We drove down Delemere and I thought this location wasn’t likely,” Colleran said. “There were some properties we didn’t even walk into, but I did go inside. I barely stepped one foot into the door and I thought this place is almost ready for us.”

The building owner, Ronnisch Construction Group, had designed the space to be its base, but after a company downsizing it entertained offers to relocate for prospective tenants.

The frosted glass over the reception desk and the metal wall accents gave the lobby a Scandinavian feel. He liked the sculpted wood beams covering the ceiling of the conference room and the portal windows.

Colleran pursued tax incentives from the city and Michigan Economic Development Corp. The Royal Oak City Commission approved a tax break worth $29,000, but just before a state package worth $1.2 million was up for a vote, GM announced sales talks with Spyker collapsed.

Last December GM said it would shut down Saab, prompting customer rallies around the world. By the end of February, a last-minute deal was reached with Spyker giving GM $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred shares of the Spyker-Saab entity.

“Saab needed an owner who is hands on and that was difficult for GM to do,” Colleran said. “Victor saw potential and he was impressed with the passion people showed. We had a ready-made base of customers to go forward and that was significant. Saab is a little different from other brands. Customers are fervent loyalists.”

To serve those customers, Saab is hiring about 25 more employees at its new headquarters mostly for marketing and management positions that will pay $60,000 to $80,000.

“We’re looking for a wide range of talent,” Colleran said. “We’re focusing on selling, servicing and marketing both parts and vehicles, and less on engineering and manufacturing, which is handled mostly in Trolhatten, Sweden.”

As Saab weans itself from the last of its support agreements for services with GM, more jobs will open, Colleran added.

“We will grow over time,” he said.

Saab will invest about $2.4 million in building modifications and equipment in Royal Oak, where a call center is expected to eventually open.

The road ahead is looking smoother for the company. Next month the rugged 2010 9-3X designed for active people who don’t want a large SUV will debut in the United States followed by four other models into 2012.

“We’re taking our history and making it the foundation of our future,” Colleran said. “Independent thinking, responsible performance, aircraft heritage — those are the standard tenets of what makes a Saab a Saab. We’re really excited to get started marketing the brand. We’re coming to Royal Oak to make this our home and grow with the community.”

Tags: Coolidge Highway, Delemere Court, manufacturing, metal wall accents, North American headquarters, preferred buyer, real estate agent, Renaissance Center, Saab saga, Spyker