India’s largest utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra has been looking out at investing opportunities through buying stakes in overseas automobile manufacturers. Now, the company is again in the race to acquire a stake in Swedish premium car maker Saab. M&M may become a part-owner with the Hong-Kong based National Electric Vehicle or NEV, Saab’s current owner. NEV, which has gone bankrupt, needs funds to keep its operations functional.
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India’s Mahindra & Mahindra is one of the two potential Asian investors who are in the race to acquire and rescue Saab from bankruptcy. A technology magazine Ny Teknik reported, without specifying the source for the news, that NEV is negotiating with M&M about a merger to solve its financial problems.
However, M&M refrained from saying anything on market speculation. The Anand Mahindra leaded company had hinted interest for Saab a few years back just like it did for other global brands like Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover.
Pawan Goenka, ED of M&M was recently quoted as saying “The auto major has been eyeing a marquee brand for some time now, it wants the parent brand to turn premium even as it places Ssangyong in the luxury space.”
Earlier, M&M had acquired Ssangyong, a Korean SUV brand, in 2011. According to VG Ramakrishnan, MD at Frost & Sullivan, “M&M’s interest would be in Saab’s engineering and design capabilities. In terms of sales, it’s not a big player in the market.”
Source: ET Autos