SAAB News: Volvo PV vs. Fourier Transform

The fight for Saab has always been political. The choice of location for aircraft construction was pure politics. At GM times, the famous Trollhättan package was put together to improve the infrastructure in Västragötland. It has little use. GM has sold Saab despite the structural measures, the situation on the labor market in the region is precarious.

Yesterday Volvo bid for parts of Saab. After what Volvo press officer Per-Ake Fröberg told the media, the production facilities are to be dismantled and rebuilt in China or Torslanda. The Saab factory is considered modern and extremely flexible. Volvo is currently building two new plants, and production facilities are welcome.

The purchase intent of Volvo is contrary to the intentions of Fourier transform AB, This puts Volvo against the Swedish state, because Fourierransform is a government-led investment company. In order to prevent the brain drain of qualified engineers from the region, LeanNova Engineering was founded in Trollhättan. There former Saab employees work on solutions for the automotive industry. LeanNova should be able to handle complete development projects and deliver new car models, so to speak turnkey. Saab Know How, made by LeanNova.

Fouriertransform is currently part of a Swedish consortium about which little is known. If members are publicly named, a denial comes immediately. The only thing that is certain is that Fouriertransform, like Volvo, offers production facilities for the Saab. You may want to build at least one electric car in the stable. First and foremost, Fourierttransform is a state-controlled “backup” solution that only works if all other plans in the region fail.

Per Nordberg from Fouriertransform therefore considers the Volvo range to be “not helpful for the region and Sweden when facilities and skills disappear to China".

Today he appealed to Dagens Industri to the administrators to find a global company for production in Trollhättan. Politicians have clearly positioned themselves, says a Swedish friend. Trollhättan wants to make it interesting for an investor with promotional measures, the automobile production should be held. Degradation of the plants is considered undesirable.

Today is Friday, we have already survived another week of anxiety about Saab (almost). The month of February is soon to be past and depending on the only five, six or seven weeks of bankruptcy proceedings. Not only are my nerves blank, even those of many readers.

Due to the uncertainty, the reconstruction process in Sweden is progressing at a painfully slow pace. That's not good for Saab, not good for the staff, bad for the motovation. We lose valuable time. A solution, however, would bring security and make decisions easier.

Enough written about economics. It's about cars. Today Saab is meeting in Frankfurt. I'm looking forward to it. Finally, no business news, but nice people and a little talk about cars. At least that's good prospects.

Text: tom@saabblog.net