GM Can't Afford to Keep Saab

In 1937 Saab began making airplanes and 12 years later brought out their first car, the 92. They weren't a big company in their early years, but they made lots of airplanes. In 1968 they merged with the Scania truck company, who now sell semi trucks in Europe. 1968 also brought the Saab 99 hatchback, which was made for 16 years. It was replaced by the Saab 900 hatchback and 90 coupe. The 90 and 900 were some of the most successful cars Saab made, because they had a good design, their impressive safety, and they drove quite well. Saab also made fast turbocharged versions of the 900 in the 1980's. In 1985 the Saab 9000 was introduced. It had a type four platform that was used in the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma, and Lancia Thema, the 9000 also had Saab's turbocharged 4 cylinder engine. GM bought 51% of Saab in 1990 and by 2000 owned the whole car company. The Saab 9000 was replaced by the 9-5 in 1997 and the 900 was replaced by a new 900 in 1994 (the 900 was renamed 9-3 and heavily updated for safety in 1998). The Saab 9-3 and 9-5 were based off the Opel Vectra B made from 1995 to 2002. The 9-3 and 9-5 were also the first car to get a maximum number of points in the EuroNCAP side crash test, thanks to their advanced head and torso combination airbags. The new Saab 9-3 was brought in 2003 and is built off the Opel Vectra C, which was brought out in 2002. The new 9-3 was one of the first cars to get a 5 star crash test rating from EuroNCAP and to be a IIHS double best pick. The 9-3 is still a Top Safety Pick for every version, even the convertible. The 9-3 Sportcombi was introduced in 2006 to replace the old hatchback 9-3. Saab made the 9-2X or Saabaru as it is better known, it was a more expensive Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon. The problem with Saab now is they can't make any completely new cars unless they make their own platform, which GM can't afford. The 2008 9-5 is still built off a 13 year old Opel Vectra platform and neither the old Vectra or 9-5 was ever a very good car, even in 1997 when they were new. GM has a replacement for the current Vectra called the Insignia and it is a very good looking car that should have a good chassis, but it would cost too much to much to make a new Saab 9-5 from it and the 9-5 still wouldn't be competitive. What GM keep trying to do is make 9-5's with more and more power, when they first introduced the 250hp Aero it had horrible under steer and now they have 260hp in every U.S. 9-5 so it's even worse. The 9-3 also doesn't have a very good chassis, it surely isn't competitive and also suffers from bad under steer, but at least the new XWD (Saab's AWD system) is an improvement. The 9-3 would be a good candidate for the Insignia platform, but cost could prevent that for making it into a 9-3. The only solution GM has is too sell Saab to a company that can fix Saab, the Japanese car companies would work or Renault, who have turned Nissan around would also be good.