Saab and Opel development to be merged
13 January 2003: General Motors is to merge Saab's independent product development and manufacturing operations into Opel's, as part of a turnaround strategy for loss-making Saab. It also fits into a strategy to make Opel profitmaking.
The latest move will eliminate about 1,300 jobs at the GM Swedish subsidiary, which sold around 120,000 cars last year. The recent launch of the new Vectra-based 9-3 (above) would increase global Saab sales from 120,000 in 2002 to about 135,000 this year, but the company needs to sell 200,000 cars annual to to be adequately profitable.
GM Europe will eventually be structured similar to General Motors in North America, which has combined division engineering staffs into a single corporate engineering staff.