Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB has come to its senses. The company decided to pull out of its earlier agreement to buy Saab from General Motors. Barring some new edict from GM s board, the auto maker will likely just wind the brand down. Management doesn t want to keep it, say two GM executives familiar with the company s planning. So unless the board overturns their wishes, Saab will join Pontiac and Saturn on their way to the auto industry s Boot Hill.

For GM CEO Fritz Henderson, this is the third attempted deal that has fallen apart. His own board decided to keep Opel rather than sell it to a consortium of parts maker Magna International and Russia s OAO Sberbank. Renault-Nissan wouldn t provide the new cars to fill Saturn showrooms once dealer chain Penske Automotive Group took it over. So the deal died. And now the Saab deal has fallen apart.