Saab Files for Bankruptcy and Asks for $1 Billion

GM has announced that Saab has filed bankruptcy in Swedish courts in an effort to reorganize the company and to become independent from GM.

The reorganization of Saab will lead to the design, engineering and manufacturing being concentrated back in Sweden. But in order for this to happen GM needs to secure financing, which is the main issue. The Swedish government already rejected GM's request for cash. According to the Automotive News Saab may need as much as $1 billion to remain sustainable on its own.

Currently Saab plans on launching three new vehicles of the next year and a half, the 9-3X, 9-5 and 9-4X...well that's if Saab can raise the money to sustain itself.

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2010 Pre-Production Chevy Camaros Start Rolling off the Assembly Line

GM has released several photos of the first pre-production 2010 Chevy Camaros rolling down the assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario.

The first 2010 Chevy Camaros will start production on March 16th.

Enjoy the photos

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What Were the Top Ten Best-Selling Vehicles in 2008?

2008 is finally over and with it ends one of the worst years for the automotive industry in recent history. Most of 2008 was plagued by high fuel prices, which forced buyers to look for more fuel efficient vehicles. Even with this trend the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado pickups managed to remain at the top of the list for 2008.

In addition, even though buyers continued to ask for more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic were the only "small" cars to make the list.

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The Detroit Ballout is Not Over

All of Detroit is safe until after the auto show in January, sorta. The government approved $13.4 billion in loans for General Motors and Chrysler for immediate consumption (Ford said “no thanks” for now.) This will take them until February when another $4 billion may be available, but they will also have to show that their operations are able to show "positive net present value" – a tough goal I’ll get to in a moment.

This means at least when the North American International Auto Show hits Detroit in January, at least the Big Three won’t have to ring the Salvation Army bell, and instead they will be able to somewhat focus on products. But this isn’t the end of the fight, the big picture has four elements still to come:

There will be more layoffs

There will be more money needed pumped into the industry

It’s the end of fun new cars

The winner will be the one who returns to big cars first

So for this week, after the just I present a little accounting, a healthy dose of skepticism, and just enough optimism to keep fans of American cars from jumping out the window.