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Saying that the future of Saab is uncertain seems like a long running tautology, but the uncertainty has multiplied since parent General Motors hit its financial crisis. The withdrawal of small Swedish company Koenigsegg as a buyer has further escalated the uncertainty.

GM bought a half interest in Saab in 1989 and went to full ownership in 2000.

Scania then went off as a separate company specialising in heavy trucks and buses and is now one of the world leading companies in the sector. It is interesting that Volvo AB is also a world leader at the high value end of heavy trucks and buses, after selling its car operations to Ford.

GM and Ford largely departed from heavy trucks to focus on light vehicles and both have problem Swedish adoptees, while the original parents have gone on to incredible success in that part of the automotive market that the big Americans deserted.

Saab was progressively brought into the GM mould, losing much of its unique product character and quirkiness and thus appeal to buyers – the current 9-3 draws very heavily on the now superseded GM Opel Vectra and the next model 9-5 was scheduled to be built in an Opel plant.

In an attempt to bolster the Saab range in the US the company sold a Subaru Impreza with a Saab grille for a few years and also a rebadged GM SUV, neither with much success, and the Impreza clone ended when GM sold its shareholding in Subaru and Toyota took its place.

Sales have been on a long term decline and profit has been very elusive.

The Saab worldwide website lists Australia as one its top 10 markets and the Australian experience tells a sorry story, perhaps even sadder than the international story.

Saab was very much a niche brand in Australia, restricted for much of its early history by not having local assembly arrangements, and during the 1980s sales did not get above 2000 vehicles a year. The 1990s proved to be better, as the removal of quotas and falling tariffs made imports more accessible, with sales edging over 3,000 in a few years.

But ageing models, the loss of character and distribution and dealership changes have seen Saab sales evaporate this decade, falling below 2,000 every year since 2004 and almost certainly below 1,000 this year.

Saab has juggled prices and specifications in the Australian market incessantly during this decade so it is not easy to encapsulate the history, but it certainly appears that the company moved 9-3 prices up towards those of the BMW 3 Series and away from the closest Japanese equivalents such as Mazda 6, Honda Euro and Subaru Liberty – with notable lack of success.

Like Rover, are we about to see the end of another car maker with an interesting heritage? Perhaps a white knight will come along, but the GM experience with Saab suggests that it might only prolong the agony for a few more years.