IMPORTANT NEWS: National Electric Vehicle Sweden has agreed to buy the assets of Saab Automobile and the sale is expected to be finalized during the summer.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Money for wages coming today?

TTELA reports today that Youngman yesterday told Saab that the money to cover wages for November will be transferred to Saab today. If this holds up, wages could be paid on Friday. But do the employees believe before they can actually see the money in their owns accounts? Probably not.

"All our indications are...that Youngman has decided they are going to pay all that is needed for the company to continue the reconstruction and that that will be done during the week,"  legal adviser of the blue-collar worker union IF Metal, Darko Davidovic, told just-auto.

But if money for wages are transferred to Saab today, then the Chinese sunk cost has increased further. And I can not interpret that any other way than both Youngman and China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are very eager to get the deal to buy Saab done! I can't see that the Chinese authorities would allow yet another transfer of money into what Victor Muller yesterday called "a black hole", if they do not 100 percent support Youngman and Pang Da's attempts at acquiring Saab.

"They are talking about...trying to make another ownership structure to make GM say yes, because one of the biggest issues was this 60:40 ownership," Davidovic also told just-auto. "Now they will try to make some third part, I don't know in which way. Lofalk is this day talking to GM in the US."

Sweden has made it somewhat political by asking Sweden's ambassador in the USA to accompany the court appointed administrator of Saab's reconstruction, Guy Lofalk, to meet representatives of General Motors in Washington.

What about China and the NDRC? Is also the political China now engaged in finding a solution?

From Shanghai and Gasgoo.com we learn that Youngman and Pang Da have formed a new proposal that they hope GM can accept.

"We have resubmitted a new proposal [regarding Saab] to GM, and they have still not agreed," Yang Guangyu, an employee on Pang Da's board of directors' office, said, adding that the final result depends primarily on GM's response.


So if Youngman pays the Saab wages today, then maybe the reconstruction can continue another month and Victor Muller has bought even more time to find a solution that all parties can accept.