Curious about the entrepreneurial adventure behind inspiring brands, Brand and Strategic Professional Martijn Arets decided to quit his job, hand in his lease car, ignore all uncertainties and follow his dream. For five months, he travelled more than 15,000 kilometres across Europe in a one-of-a-kind 1971 Volkswagen T2 camper van, meeting with the founders, CEOs and brand managers of 20 authentic European brands in what was to prove a unique trip: Brand Expedition. On popular demand, he has bundled the lessons and stories behind 20 appealing European brands such as Lego, Mini, Skype, The Body Shop and Adidas to create Brand Expedition, the book. More information? Check www.brand-expedition.com or send Martijn a Tweet: @martijnarets.

1. READ OUT LOUD
THE STORY BEHIND
- KOENIGSEGG -
FROM BOYHOOD DREAM TO SUPERCAR

2. BEFORE YOU START….
please look into your camera and tell
us slowly your name, city and
country… Then you can start reading
this paragraph out loud… Have fun!

3. “In those days, General Motors was
trying to sell everything it could. But
it had not yet done anything to
separate Saab from the organization.
Furthermore, the Swedish
government was in no rush to

4. arrange the financing with the
European Investment Bank. We were
left doing the work for both parties.
Meanwhile, production at Saab had
come to a standstill and every week
that went by, this decreased the

5. chances that the company would ever
become healthy again.” Koenigsegg
decided to retract their bid when it
became clear that the process was
going to take another couple of
months.

6. Victor Muller of the Dutch company
Spyker became the new owner
of Saab in March 2010. Says
Christian: “If I could do it over again,
I would bang my fist on the table
sooner, to wake everyone up. Things

7. might have gone differently if I had.
After the failed take-over I
nonetheless ordered a Saab, because I
still believed in the future of the
company.

8. - END OF RECORDING-