The founder of Koenigsegg is confident that the group will be able to turn around loss-making Saab.

In a first interview after the announcement that the small Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg will become the new owner of Saab, founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg said to the TT news wire that they will “contribute in creating a forward-looking and profitable Saab”.

On Tuesday General Motors confirmed that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to sell Saab to Koenigsegg Group, a manufacturer of high-performance cars based in Ängelholm, south Sweden.

Critics have shaken their heads doubtfully. If General Motors wasn’t able to make Saab profitable, how will Koenigsegg, that makes as many cars a year that GM makes a minute, pull it off?

“I’m struggling to see the point of this deal,” said Philippe Houchois, head of European auto industry research at UBS in London, to New York Times. “Is it to ensure the survival of Saab, to save jobs? It looks like a short-term solution that doesn’t resolve the core issues.”

However, Christian von Koenigsegg wants to make it clear that its not just the sports car maker that acquires Saab but rather a consortium of capital-strong investors.

“It’s a misunderstanding. It’s not the small car maker Koenigsegg that possesses Saab. We are a group with great purchasing power”, he said to TT without revealing who the other investors are.

He believes that the global car industry is about to brighten up and that the worst times have passed. He’s also confident that the group will be able to turn around loss-making Saab, which is under protection from creditors.

“We’ve been penetrating Saab in detail to find its strengths and weaknesses and we believe that with our entrepreneur-spirits and knowledge of the car industry, and other sectors in our group, we will be able to contribute in creating a forward-looking and profitable Saab", Christian von Koenigsegg said to the news wire. "This is a process that will take long time, a lot of endurance and work”.

He also pointed out that the group's ambition is to keep Saab’s manufacturing in Trollhättan, south west Sweden, and that most of the jobs will be kept in Sweden.