Saleen Empire Crumbling?

Monday's announcement of the retirement of Steve Saleen, founder and vice chairman of the board at Saleen Inc. should have come as no surprise to anyone that even vaguely keeps track of the industry's movements.

Troubles became evident as early as last November at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Attendees that had previously booked appointments at the Saleen booth were unable to locate the booth and, upon inquiry, found that there was no Saleen booth in the show register.

Delays in launching the Parnelli Jones special edition Saleen Mustang had caused some people to scratch their heads, but were not enough to suggest any preciptious problems. More recent actions by Hancock Park Associates, a private equity investment firm founded in 1986, which now owns Saleen, Inc. were quietly reported to have reduced Saleen's staff burden by forty people several months ago.

Within the past two weeks, comments attributed to ASC President Paul Wilbur, themselves seeking bankruptcy protection, suggested some forthcoming unification between ASC (formerly American Sunroof Corporation) and Saleen. If you are a believer in the axiom "Where there's smoke, there's fire," the room was filling quickly.

As recently as this week, reports emerged of a west coast Ford dealer looking to dump a significant number of brand new red F-250's. The trucks were apparently scheduled to go to Saleen, but are now back on the market.

ASC became a builder of specialty vehicles, including the Chevrolet SSR pickup truck and the Dodge Viper. However, the loss of SSR production and the Viper's V10 engine failing to meet government certification placed the company is a precarious position. Protection under Chapter 11 provisions was sought as a means of biding time until new arrangements could be made.

There may or may not be any validity to the idea of ASC and Saleen becoming initmately involved with each other under the financial umbrella of Hancock Park Associates. At the moment, Chris Theodore remains with ASC, however. Theodore, a.k.a. "The Father of the Ford GT", moved to ASC after falling victim to the ascension of Bill Ford Jr. to power in 2001.

These wheels within wheels will sort themselves out in due time, however, Saleen himself intends to remain involved with the car builder. "I have a vested interest in the company's future and intend to remain involved," said Steve Saleen in the official announcement of his retirement.

As founder and a major shareholder in the company, Mr. Saleen will continue to influence product design and development activities, as well as its branding strategies and promotional efforts.