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Saab has reduced its breakeven point dramatically since GM sold it early this year, the Swedish automaker's Chairman said Thursday.

Thanks to a combination of cost cutting and new models, Chairman Victor Muller promises Saab, whose North American headquarters is in Royal Oak, will turn a profit at global sales of 80,000 to 85,000 vehicles a year by 2012. Saab's current breakeven point is 105,000, sales, down from 130,000 when GM owned the company, he said.

Saab will be profitable in 2012, Muller told journalists late Thursday.

Saab's sales are disastrously low this year, largely because GM stopped building cars and began to liquidate the company when it appeared no one would buy the boutique Swedish brand. Saab sold just 4,371 vehicles in the United States through November.

Muller expects Saab's worldwide sales to hit 80,000 next year, when it has plenty of units of its new 9-5 sedan and station wagon and 9-4X crossover to sell. The 2011 9-5 sedan is just reaching U.S. dealers. The 9-4X goes on sale in May.

Muller expects the U.S. to account for about a quarter of Saab's global sales in the future.

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