Notes from reconstruction filing

Here are some notes from the application Saab has filed at the Vänersborgs district court:

• New Saab 9-3 expected to be launched during 2013
• 1 - 2 new cars to be developed every 4 - 6 years
• Saab Great Britain used as collateral for Pang Da's payment of EUR 45 million for cars to be delivered this autumn
• Saab expects that a reorganization and integration of vehicle and powertrain development will save 15 - 20 per cent on development costs
• Will conduct a review of the business strategy in the USA, which is not functioning optimal at the moment

A delay in the next Saab 9-3 is of course bad news, but not unexpected. The last six months of financial problems must have affected also the development of future cars. Saab buys a lot of development services from external consultancy firms and when you have no money to buy these services, the development will hurt. There have also been reports that the work on the tools for the next 9-3 may have been delayed due to the money problems, which will also delay the launch of the car.

In the future Saab will develop 1 - 2 new cars each 4 - 6 years. That would imply that each car would live approx 6 years before being replaced.

Also interesting to see that Pang Da did get some collateral for the advance payment they did on the cars which were to be delivered this autumn.

Last but not least, it looks like Saab will do changes to their North American sales. Mike Colleran was replaced with Tom Colbeck earlier this year, and now it also looks like they will do some changes in the way they do business over there.

For the application (in Swedish) and Saab Automobile AB's balance sheet 30 June (in Swedish and English), go here.

The same for Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB.