Saab crisis: No - we are not giving up!

Back in the office. From Saab is now the press release on the announced demolition of the reconstruction before. But it is still too early to give up hope. I'm not talking about a third party that could buy Saab out of bankruptcy. I'm talking about current negotiations in Sweden.

The request for demolition of the reconstruction will be made in Vänersborg today. The court will not decide immediately, it usually takes a few days. Maybe even a week. This is a free time that hopefully will benefit the Saab management. Now Victor Muller can prove that he can save automobiles without Lofalk Saab.

There are several ways of thinking about this in Sweden. The partners from China, Pang Da and Youngman, will remain minority owners, both acquiring less than 20% of the shares. If I understand the contracts correctly, the deal would not require approval. Neither from the government nor from GM nor from the EIB, whose loan is still to be redeemed. The license agreements could continue to be used and production would be secured.

The liquid funds are to flow as venture capital, the investors could receive non-voting preference shares. After the end of license production, these papers could be converted into ordinary shares.

That's just one of the possibilities and time is pressing. For the suppliers in Sweden the demolition would be a disaster. Many small and medium-sized businesses would lose a lot of money on a Saab bankruptcy and some would go bankrupt as well. It would also be a big blow for the Swedish auto industry. Volvo alone could not secure the location, branches of foreign suppliers would close.

Amazing is the passivity of the Stockholm administration. A national icon threatens to disappear and it does not seem to matter in the capital.

The blog, as I once wrote, writes until the factory gates finally close. It stays that way. We are close. But it is not so far yet.

Text: tom@saabblog.net

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mac9-5
mac9-5
12 years earlier

At the moment I (almost) don't like to stop by here in the morning ... ;-(

Otherwise in the morning was always (well, for a few months) the following ritual:
- MBP starts up automatically and automatically starts my favorite music (swissgroove.ch) Music in the apartment (via various AEs and iTunes)
- then get up lively, switch on my Silvia, freshen up extensively, be in a good mood
- with fresh, fragrant espresso to the computer and immediately looked at what Tom was writing so nice new

Since the news has been getting worse and worse for days / weeks, I (almost) no longer want to watch ...
... Espresso then tastes bitter, mood becomes lousy and the desire to work is usually gone before the start.
;-(

Hopefully this theater will soon come to a (but still positive?) End ... or something!

PS:
Of course, I still stop by here several times a day ... it's still the best and fastest German-language information site !!!! 🙂

mosch
mosch
12 years earlier

Hallo,
actually I wanted to buy another SAAB next summer ...
After reading recently that VW has a R & D budget of 6 billion (!) $ For 2011, and MB and BMW each have a good 4 billion $, I wonder what the future of SAAB should be. You can of course buy everything as a second-hand buyer, but this is compatible neither with the claim nor with the market situation. In addition, it is difficult, with very low vertical integration (and it runs out of it) still earn money. At the moment, I can not imagine a working, long-term solution.
I keep my fingers crossed for the Swedes, hope dies last.
mosch

Püssel
Püssel
12 years earlier

Now it's getting exciting: VM wants to borrow 5,5 billion SEK directly from a Chinese bank, without Youngman's involvement. A rogue who thinks what ...

Dieter
Dieter
12 years earlier

“The passivity of the Stockholm administration is astonishing”. Yeah that's amazing. In other cases (Estonia, Wiki Leaks) the government in Sweden acts against all reason and logic. But always in favor of the Americans! System?

TT
TT
12 years earlier

No, you can not give up yet. But if it really came to the uttermost, I have to change my plan (I wanted to drive my Saab a few more years before I buy a new one) and patriotic as I am otherwise inclined to buy me a vehicle from the German South. I think it would turn my stomach so bad, if somehow through any channels for spare parts even a penny of me would end up with these American cutthroats

Marcus
Marcus
12 years earlier

Hello Tom,

your headline could be from vm ...
i am very confident that there is still a solution and gm is just stupid - after all, you earn money from the licenses and the parts that you supply for the current models.
I also don't know which know-how you want to protect - does anyone really believe that the chinese have not had the current know-how for a long time? how highly innovative does gm rate itself with the technology installed in saab?
they really live in a cloud cuckoo land ...

Joachim
Joachim
12 years earlier
Reply to  Marcus

Dear Mark,

that with the licenses is only being pushed forward - otherwise one can hardly hinder the activities of SAAB / investors from GM from a purely legal point of view!

In reality, they are simply afraid that SAAB will take away market share. Sounds kind of ridiculous - but it's a fact! If the pipes had better products, there would be healthy competition (as actually makes sense). With their American sledges, they are simply fed up with their pants and try to completely shut down their former daughter, who they never really promoted. Great behavior - and then SAAB also has a government behind them. Poor Sweden!

Joachim

Püssel
Püssel
12 years earlier

If GM wants to stick to the contracts so strictly, so be it. That means you “only” have to formulate a contract that satisfies GM's requirements ...... and also a confidential subcontract that specifies how you will then behave in reality.

martin saab
martin saab
12 years earlier

If 2 Chinese investors ever take just under 20%, it is also almost 40% Chinese share.
And GM will not agree again ...
Will the thing with the convertible options work? My last (?) Hope ...

Philmos
Philmos
12 years earlier

The behavior of GM is unfortunately totally destructive, unfortunately that has always been the case. No sooner had they been saved with US tax money than they felt themselves again. There you should completely replace management with capable people. If Saab falls, GM will not benefit either. The fear of know-how migration to China seems to be greater than anything else ...

Joachim
Joachim
12 years earlier

First, a comment on the Swedish Government and Mr Lofalk:

Actually, both parties can only be described as counterproductive in terms of SAAB.

If thousands of directly affected people (factory employees, suppliers, global dealers, etc.) as well as hundreds of thousands of SAAB owners and fans worldwide didn't have to suffer somehow, the whole thing would not be classified as so important - but as we know, the whole matter even affects the substance whole regions in Sweden, said people should finally exert their brains or if nothing comes out, at least not keep throwing clubs between the legs of other parties (similar to the people from Detroit).

I think the suggestions made in the blog yesterday to temporarily minimize the product range are very good. My suggestion would be that other companies that have bottlenecks in small car construction should also manufacture their vehicles for a few years to order - so that funds can also come into the cash register via this channel. The modern plant in Trollhättan simply cannot lie idle - that would be an impossible situation.

As always, many greetings from the Hanseatic city of Hamburg

Joachim

MM
MM
12 years earlier

What is with this scenario?

19,9% Youngman
19,9% Pang Da
19,9% Chinese bank
40,3% Swan

GM could say nothing too?

In any case, they should finally go crazy!

turboelch-we
turboelch-we
12 years earlier

Is all this just targeted tactics or are all involved negotiating partners just too stupid (sorry)!?!?!?!?