Why did GM have to run Saab into the ground?

Saab 23E Engine
1960 Saab 750 Gt Gran Turismo
1965 Saab 96


Hi folks -- truth be told, I loved those early Saabs. They were distinctive, utilitarian, a counterculture statement that simply said not all folks are obsessed with iron from Detroit. Saabs were aerodynamic, as you might expect, but with their 3-cylinder, 2cycle engines and front wheel drive they were indestructible and wonderful. Saab pioneered the use of the turbocharger in cars that the middle class drove.
So GM came along, used their platform, kept the key in the console, and thought that we Americans would somehow buy them.
50 years from now, when the history of the decline of American industrial might is definitively written, there will be a lengthy chapter on GM's misdeeds!