STOCKHOLM - Saab Automobile, a subsidiary of US group General Motors, announced Wednesday the resignation of chief executive Peter Augustsson, who was leaving to create a business development company.
The resignation came in the wake of GM's choice of Opel to build its next mid-size car range.
Augustsson, who was the Saab CEO since 2000, had been chairman of the board of directors since 2002.
Saab said Jan-Ake Jonsson, the General Motors Europe sales and marketing director for the Nordic region, would aussume the role of managing director for the Saab brand.
Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe, will succed him as chairman of the Saab board.
The departure of Augustsson and the appointments of Jonsson and Forster are effective April 1.
Saab said Augustsson planned to open his own business in the near future.
"I felt that it was the right time for me to move on to something I've wanted to do for some time," Augustsson said in the company statement.
"This has been a very challenging, but exciting, time for me professionally. I am absolutely convinced that the direction GM is taking the Saab brand is good for the brand and the local employees here in Sweden."
GM, the world's biggest car maker, said last Friday it had chosen its German unit Opel over Saab to make its mid-size Opel and Saab models, in return for big concessions from the German workforce in pay and working hours.
03/09/2005 11:20 GMT