Saab Cars North America Appoints New President and Chief Operating Officer

ROYAL OAK, Mich., May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saab Cars North America today announced the appointment of a new president and chief operating officer, Mr. Timothy Colbeck.  The announcement comes as Saab is embarked on its biggest-ever product offensive with four all-new products since 2010 – the all-new Saab 9-5 Sedan, Saab's first crossover- the 9-4X, the 9-5 SportCombi and the 9-3 Griffin range.

Effective Monday, May 9, Mr. Colbeck will oversee Saab's largest market, North America.  He will report directly to Saab Automobile AB vice president and head of global sales & aftersales, Matthias Seidl and the Saab Cars North America Board of Directors.

Mr. Colbeck joins SCNA with 25 years of automobile industry experience in the United States with Subaru of America.   Most recently he was the senior vice president sales.   Under Tim's direction, Subaru of America achieved record sales and market share in the last two years and was the only brand to achieve sales increases in each of the last three years.   During his career at Subaru, Tim has been in various executive roles, with experience in sales, ebusiness, finance and fixed operations.

"Tim's impressive accomplishments during his automotive career in rebuilding the Subaru brand are invaluable to the Saab team and represent his ability to further Saab's vision for success," said Matthias Seidl, vice president and head of global sales and aftersales.  "We are pleased to have Tim join our North American team during such an exciting time for Saab Cars North America and we are confident Tim will help increase our brand image and sales."  

About Saab

Saab, or Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aircraft Company), was founded in 1937 as an aircraft manufacturer and revealed its first prototype passenger car 10 years later after the formation of the Saab Car Division. In 1990, Saab Automobile AB was created as a separate company, jointly owned by the Saab Scania Group and General Motors, and became a wholly-owned GM subsidiary in 2000. In February 2010, Spyker Cars N.V. of the Netherlands, acquired the company from GM as an independently-run business.

Saab cars reflect the brand's unique Scandinavian design ethic, which is fused with its aircraft engineering heritage. The company is a global premium car maker with a distinguished history of innovation. It is recognized for its pioneering role in turbocharging, as well as occupant safety and the introduction of flex-fuel technology through Saab BioPower. Saab Automobile AB currently employs approximately 3,800 staff in Sweden, where it operates world-class production and technical development facilities at its headquarters in Trollhattan, 70 km north of Gothenburg. http://media.saab.com

SOURCE Saab Cars North America