While I was driving through the woods of Sweden, there were some drama unfolding in the Saab world. And the cause of drama was a Reuters report quoting Pang Da's Chairman, Pang Qinghua, saying that the deal with Saab was no longer valid after Saab entered reconstruction.
"Now that it's in bankruptcy protection, all previous pacts are invalid. It's up to the court to decide. It can also find a new partner," Pang Qinghua allegedly said at an industry forum in Chengdu.
A statement that made little sense to Saab who had been negotiating with Pang Da just the day before.
"We do not know if he has been misquoted or if it was taken out of context. But it is a misunderstanding," said Gunilla Gustavs from Saab.
When Reuters contacted the other Chinese partner Youngman, the spokesperson of the company wisely declined to comment.
And not surprisingly just a few hours later the misunderstanding was sorted out and the deal is still valid.
Saab and Pang Da issued the following statement:
Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., Ltd (Pang Da) have taken notice of media reports questioning the validity of the partnership agreements between Swan, Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) and Pang Da after Saab Automobile entered into voluntary reorganization. Swan, Saab Automobile and Pang Da underline that these reports are based on a misunderstanding.
To clearify what he meant, Pang Qinghua said the following to Reuters:
"What I meant was that during restructuring, the court is authorized to adapt any restructuring plans, including vetoing previous agreements. It's up to the one handling the reorganization to decide whether the previous agreements are valid or not."
In other words, much ado about nothing and I am glad I was sitting at the dealer looking at beautiful Saabs while all this happened.
