END OF A BRAND - AT 7:17 P.M. ET:  This is sad, from the Washington Post:

Adjö, Saab.

The iconic Swedish car brand will be closed, General Motors announced Friday, after attempts to sell the troubled unit foundered.

"Like everybody, we would have preferred a different outcome, and we all worked very hard for that different outcome and we've come up short," GM Vice President John Smith said.

With the decision, Saab joins the tally of brands, including Saturn and Pontiac, that General Motors has left at the curb as it seeks to reorganize itself during the recession.

The recession has hurt Saab more than other automakers in its two main markets, Europe and the United States.

COMMENT:  It's easy to blame GM, and I'm sure they deserve their share, but remember that Saab, like Volvo, had to be sold to American car companies because they were in trouble in Sweden.  We were given a bill of goods for years that Sweden was some kind of paradise, where wonderful products were made, everyone was happy, and Tiger Woods could find a wife.  Only the third was true.

Saab never seemed to find an identity in the U.S. Part of the problem may have been styling.  It was hard to look at a Saab and fall in love.  Or even fall in like.

History now.  Along with Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Saturn.

But in an earlier era I saw Studebakers and Packards on the street.  And DeSotos.  And Kaisers.  And Frazers.  And Nashes.  And Edsels.  And even a few DeLoreans. 

In fact, the loss of car brands was much greater many decades ago.  There were even Deusenbergs, which gave us the phrase, "It's a Deusey."

Autos will survive, unless the enviro-nuts slash all the tires.

December 18, 2009