Saab News Beijing: Uncertainty about Saab's new brand in China

Victor Muller spoke at the Beijing press conference yesterday about the new Saab offshoot for China. So Pang Da and Saab want to start a new “brand” and build cars together in China for China. Nobody really answered yesterday what the new brand is all about.

Gunilla Gustavs from Saab emphasized that it was just a local brand. It is also not clear in which price segment you want to go, or which technology will be used. Saab board member Muller spoke in Washington last week about the Saab dealer network selling cheap cars in the € 10.000 segment from China in the future. Is Muller building a second (cheap) mainstay with the second brand?

Joint ventures of this kind need the approval of the National Reform and Development Commission. That may take a few months, but we'll know more by that time. Because until then, Saab must have done its homework and return to stable economic conditions. It is clear that Pang Since about 1.300 cars ordered in Sweden has the Saab together with the approximately 5000 cars in the backlog sometime build. Gunilla Gustavs expects that the production could run in a week, which is probably too optimistic.

Because the tapes can only run if EIB, Pang Da and Gemini have transferred. That's three “if” and in the case of the EIB, an “if” is always a threat. The EIB in particular has, after positive signals on Friday, sunk into a deep, official silence. In China, the stock exchanges are convinced that Pang Da has made a good investment. Pang Da stocks were up 4% this morning in Shanghai.

Text: tom@saabblog.net