Spyker, the denims company have purchased General Motors Saab division. Since General Motors was going through a cash crisis during the recent recession, everyone thought that Spyker had actually dug their own grave by purchasing the ailing Saab Motors. One couldn’t have been more wrong. Under the umbrella of the Spyker brand, Saab Motors have flourished and big time. So much that they are already planning on launching 5 cars in the following year.
After all this though the Saab Motors cars were run by General Motors engines. Even after the annexation, this trend continued. However Spyker have been in recent talks with other car manufacturers for sourcing out their engines for the Saab cars. BMW was one such manufacturer which was approached by Spyker and they have agree to supply Spyker with the N18 series of engines. A 200 Bhp version of this 1.6 liter straight six turbo charged engine would power the new Saab 9-3. This new Saab 9-3 would be going on sale by December 2010. This engine currently does duty in the Mini range of BMW cars.
Apart from the engines, Spyker would also be getting some technology information from BMW. This would include BMW’s regenerative braking system and also their stop and start technology to save fuel and improve the efficiency of the car. Saab Motors in itself is well known to tinker with engines and make them into performance ones using their advanced turbo charging systems, powerful Trionic engine systems and also direct ignition technology. BMW is expected to supply Spyker with about 2 lakhs of the 1.6 liter N18 engines for the year 2011. This engine may also do duty on the next gen 9-5. This car is expected in the year 2015. BMW has got award winning engines in their line up and it is estimated that most of the small capacity engines would find their way into the Saab Motors cars in the near future.
For the Indian market, the good news is that BMW group have joined the auto finance business in India and the operation would be through their finance arm known as BMW Financial Services. This move will allow dealers to boost sales as also give customers the much needed finance for their favorite BMW cars. The initial investment into the 100% wholly owned subsidiary of BMW Group, the BMW Financial Services is estimated to be Rs. 250 crores. This would also include the auto insurance sector for BMW cars. The headquarters of the BMW Financial Services would be in India’s capital, Delhi. Gurgaon to be precise.