Koenigsegg leave Saab out to dry

[LEDninja]

It looks bad for SAAB when a small town newspaper in Canada publishes a story titled:
Bankruptcy looming for Sweden's Saab.
http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/552323--bankruptcy-looming-for-sweden-s-saab

Quote:
Saab, the Swedish car company renowned for its sometimes quirky designs, moved closer to bankruptcy Thursday after it conceded that it didn't have any money to pay employees' wages.

After months of production stoppages and problems with paying suppliers, Saab said the situation is so dire that it won't be able to pay its 3,700 employees, raising doubts over how long the brand can survive.

------

I never owned a car but liked that old SAAB sports car with the huge rear window. With the tiny rear windows of most current cars, there are multiple instances every year of people backing up in the driveway and running over their kids because the driver can't see low enough.

 

[mvyrmnd]

The fun thing about small town newspapers is sometime they're just looking for filler. My own small town newspaper, rather than finding articles about foreign carmakers, tends to just make stuff up. I prefer yours

For the real Saab news go to Inside Saab. Swade sold Saabs United and took a job with Saab, specialising in the internet and social media. This is where the real news is.

 

[StefanFS]

The really sad part is that the Swedish government really doesn't care one bit. We are moving into a post-industrial society they say. Manufacturing cars has no place there, so we won't help SAAB. No care for industry, development etc. SAAB is a key player in that part of the country, lots of suppliers rely on them and lots of university students do their interns for degrees in engineering et al. There are other concerns here and it's just sliding away in a morass of political babble... They don't see the domino effect it will have on the economy.

 

[HarryN]

A creative business person can save almost any company. The employees and creditors could be paid partially in shares if needed. Most likely someone is just trying to cash out by selling to the Chinese - a deadly mistake.

 

[saabluster]

A creative business person can save almost any company. The employees and creditors could be paid partially in shares if needed. Most likely someone is just trying to cash out by selling to the Chinese - a deadly mistake.

The CEO Victor Muller is one of the most creative businessmen you can find anywhere. In fact he is quite notorious for being creative. There are however a massive amount of things making his job next to impossible. SAAB has faced extremely negative press over in Sweden. Their own government leaders have on more than one occasion insulted and demeaned the company instead of supporting it. And by support here I mean that they have failed to offer even simple verbal support. Everybody says SAAB has no money but there are investors that want in that keep being blocked by the EIB. No explanation given. They just refuse to allow Vladimir Antonov to invest in the company. It's all very frustrating. Victor Muller most certainly has not been looking to simply "cash out". He has had to turn to the Chinese in desperation because the EIB and Swedish government have tied his hands. They have even tried their best to keep any deals from happening with the Chinese. VM however has come up with some cleaver ways around it to some degree. I still believe VM will pull it off but things are indeed quite dire right now. Keep this in mind folks. If SAAB dies people will die as a result. Sounds strange I know but consider the fact that SAAB has been a leader and innovator in automotive safety for years. If there are no more SAABs people will be driving other makes which may not offer the same protection they would have in a SAAB. SAAB has made huge contributions in safety that the rest of the industry has since followed on such as the anti-whiplash seats. These seats recently saved my father from injury in a rear-end collision that otherwise could have put him in the hospital. Fortunately he was driving a SAAB 9-5.

 

[Glenn7]

I see that the Chinese now own SAAB, still those Swedes do the designing and that makes me happy.

BTW I just bought a black 2002 Aero manual tweaked to 315 HP (or 220KW) which puts me back in this SAAB club - I dropped the ball there for a year and only owned a Nissan Murano, of which IMO is a dark horse in its own right Nissan thought out of the box with that one too, a little like SAAB.

 

[saabluster]

I see that the Chinese now own SAAB, still those Swedes do the designing and that makes me happy.

BTW I just bought a black 2002 Aero manual tweaked to 315 HP (or 220KW) which puts me back in this SAAB club - I dropped the ball there for a year and only owned a Nissan Murano, of which IMO is a dark horse in its own right Nissan thought out of the box with that one too, a little like SAAB.

Well the Chinese don't own them yet. A few hurdles yet to overcome. The SAAB affair the past two years has had so many twists and turns in the story it's almost inconceivable. I hope the best for this latest bit of news but I fear we have a few more plunges on this roller-coaster ride.

Congrats on owning a SAAB again! There's no substitute.

 

[Colorblinded]

Well that explains your user name to me now.

I really haven't liked what Saab became this past decade, I'm still hoping they can recover more of their quirky past self.

 

[mvyrmnd]

Well that explains your user name to me now.

I really haven't liked what Saab became this past decade, I'm still hoping they can recover more of their quirky past self.

I'm liking what they're becoming if they actually produce this:

http://inside.saab.com/poll-leaked-saab-image/

9-5 hatch anyone?

I've been 3 years Saabless now, and it still hurts every day

 

[Nicola]

Saab renaissance

If anyone is still interested...

http://www.saabsunited.com/2013/04/april-2013-status-of-saab.html