In Jan Åke I trust

Last week saw several stops at the Saab factory in Trollhättan. In the Swedish media both suppliers and the suppliers' association said that Saab had been late with payments or hadn't paid at all. The media commentators concluded that Saab had a liquidity problem because of a negativ cash flow that had drained the company of cash. Saab spokesmen and Spyker and Saab owner dismissed the reports that the company had run out of cash. Their explanation was that Saab was negotiating new delivery and payment terms and/or that the payment system had malfunctioned. I wanted to believe them, but as hard as I tried, I still felt uncertain and I didn't know who to believe in.

Then yesterday Saab opened their Nacka Strand Car Exhibition. Present was Jan Åke Jonsson. And according to Svenska Dagbladet, he denied the allegations that Saab has had trouble paying the suppliers. And I believe him and I trust him.

And this leads me to the point of this blog post. When Jan Åke Jonsson announced his retirement 25 March, first I was shocked, but then I started thinking that Saab doesn't rely on one single individual to be successful. The Saab spirit will also live through the next CEO and the next and next... But now I'm not so sure anymore. Jan Åke Jonsson has been steady as a rock, no matter how hard the storm was raging. And his presence has made me feel calm and optimistic about Saab's future. And I still am thanks to Jan Åke Jonsson words from yesterday. But what about the next time the storm rages around Saab, when Jan Åke is enjoying his retirement with his familiy, then who will calm me down?

All I can say is that Victor Muller needs to find a new CEO that inspires confidence. Someone who keeps his or her head cool. Someone like Jan Åke.

Thing just don't add up

The past days we have been told that Saab has trouble paying the suppliers. So far three suppliers have confirmed to the media that Saab has long due outstanding payments for services or parts delivered. First it was the advertising agency Lowe Brindfors, then the transport company DB Schenker and finally today the large components maker IAC. I have no reason not to believe them when they're saying that they haven't gotten paid.


So is Saab a remarkably bad payer? Or does the suppliers treat Saab differently than they would other customers?

According to ttela.se, Saab has bad credit rating, but Saab is a good payer. The accounts receivable management company Soliditet, says that one should only give Saab credit if one has collateral, but at the same time they say that Saab usually pays the bills five days before the payment deadline.That makes Saab better than the average.

At the same time, Swedish TV4 tells us that the automobile industry in general are lousy payers. The big companies use the smaller companies as an extra credit. Saab is not worse than others.

Over to Jan Åke Jonsson's retirement. Jonsson is a man of honor. But would a man of honor announce his retirement if he knew that Saab was in deep trouble and would get into production problems three days later? Would he retire and hand over the responsibility to Victor Muller just like that? Wouldn't the two most probable options be to resign immediately or stay as CEO until these troubles were solved?

Finally, the media say claims that Saab has cash flow and liquidity problems. When Spyker agreed to buy Saab they "entered into a EUR 150 million Equity Credit Line Facility with GEM Global Yield Fund Limited (“GEM”) for a term of 3 years." Has this credit line facility been used? And if not, and Saab and Spyker Cars really have a cash flow problem, then why not use this possibility? Because it's too expensive, even in the short run?

And not to forget; Saab still claims that they have no cash flow or liquidity problems. It is only a question of agreeing on new delivery and payment terms.

Maybe someone can explain to my what is going on?

900 new engineers needed in Gothenburg

A couple of days ago it was announced that a Swedish car maker will be hiring 900 new engineers in Gothenburg the coming years. And the car maker is Volvo Cars. But where will they get all these engineers from?


It is no secret that Saab has a tough financial situation. In the business plan there was/is money to set the 9-5 Sedan, the 9-4X and the 9-5 SportCombi into production, as well as developing the next 9-3 set to launch in October 2012. But in addition to set new cars into production and developing the 9-3, Saab also needs money to run the production plant in Trollhättan. Saab needs to produce and sell cars to create cash flow. The last couple of days can indicate that the biggest financial challenge at the moment is to have a healthy cash flow.


So if the sales don't not pick up soon and settle at a pre-crises level, Saab might need a new financier to come and invest more money into Saab and secure the operation for at least two or three years to come. Thankfully the Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, has taken the first steps to become shareholder of Saab, but we still do not know i he will succeed or how much money he is willing to invest.


With this knowledge at hand, how do the engineers at Saab think? The last number I saw regarding engineers at Saab was just 900. Since then, some followed over to e-AAM and some to Vicura. Will Saab's engineers stay at Saab with their hopefully interesting and enjoyable jobs, or will the security of being part of a bigger company like Volvo lure them down to Gothenburg which is just 100 km south of Trollhättan?

Only time will tell. And time is of essence. The sooner Saab can reach financial stability the better.   

Saab - a humerous car?

In the 1980ies and early 1990ies Saab was a very trendy and cool car, and who better to drive a Saab than Jerry Seinfeld?

Another well known comedian who has a Saab is Jay Leno. He owns a 1958 Saab 93B.

But Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno aren't the only stand-up comedians driving Saab! In an interview done with Chicago Tribune, Sarah Silverman tells us that she has a Saab.


So is Saab the car for people with a good sense of humor? I choose to think so ;) 

For every CEO there is a season

To everything there is a season. Even Jan Åke Jonsson's work at Saab. He has worked 40 years at Saab and six years as CEO. His six years as CEO turned out to be six very different years than he and everybody else could have imagined. Instead of running a car producing company, he ended up being involved in a reconstruction (more or less a chapter 11 reorganization), a sales process, a wind-down process, a sale, a starting up process and building up an independent company. Nearly everything besides producing cars. Of course Saab has also produced and sold cars under Jan Åke Jonsson, but the hours he spent focusing and concentrating on producing cars must have been very limited. There is no doubt that Jan Åke Jonsson is a big reason Saab is still alive today. His contribution can not be overstated. But the paradox is that we don't really know how good he is as a CEO of a company focusing on one thing only, developing and producing cars.


Maybe Jan Åke Jonsson's task was supposed to be to "save" Saab. And now a new season has come, a time for a new CEO to show us what he or she can do for Saab. So in a bizarre way, maybe it is a good thing that Jan Åke Jonsson retires.

The weeks to come there will be many possible CEOs presented by blogs, news media, so called business and car industry experts and Saab fans. I have already pointed my finger towards one man I feel could be a candidate for new CEO. But in the end the decision is in the hands of Spyker Cars' board of directors.  

Thank you Jan Åke Jonsson, and welcome to a new CEO whomever it may be!

On retirements and losses

Yesterday was a messy day. Jan Åke Jonsson retiring, Spyker Cars losing SEK 1.3 billion in 2010 and needing more capital in 2011, and the media suddenly remembering three days old news that the new CFO changed his mind and never started in his new job at Saab.


Jan Åke Jonsson retiring
Yes, Jan Åke Jonsson will retire as CEO in May. But would Jan Åke Jonsson, like some Swedish media speculate, leave Saab if he thinks the whole company is going down the drain? Would he use three years working day and night to save Saab and now leave because he thinks the company can't be saved anymore? I don't thinks so and  Jan Åke Jonsson says it ain't so. On the contrary, Jan Åke Jonsson said repeatedly yesterday that he sees the company being profitable in 2012, just like the business plan says. And Saab is in much better condition now than one year ago. The debt is much smaller and the world economy is in a much better shape. "Saving" Saab again will be much easier this time around.
And I almost forgot, Jan Åke Jonsson has said that he started discussing his retirement with Victor Muller in October of last year. So this is no sudden decision. And Jan Åke Jonsson and Victor Muller's relationship has been good from the start and still is. There is no negativity between them.

 

Spyker Cars losing money and needing more money
Yes, Spyker Cars lost lots of money in 2010, but they didn't lose more money than the business plan said they would. With a hard focus on cost cutting, Saab now has a cost base that is very low and that most likely will bring Saab and Spyker Cars into profitability in 2012. So in a sense Saab is actually delivering with accordance to the business plan. Of course the sore point is the number of cars sold. This number needs to increase and fast. Saab needs cash flow and car sales means cash flow.

Over to needing more money. Vladimir Antonov has said in media that he thinks Spyker Cars needs more money this year, and it turns out that he may have been right. Yesterday Victor Muller said that Saab may need more money this year. That's a hard fact. Muller said that issuing new shares isn't necessarily the only and best way to raise money. He also said that Saab could decide to share the new technology with other parties and raise money that way. Time will tell if issuing shares or selling technology is the solution.

The new CFO jumping ship
After four days of silence, Nils-Johan Andersson yesterday told the press that his decision not to start at Saab had nothing to do with Jan Åke Jonsson's retirement or Saab not performing as expected. On the contrary, he said that he knew about Jan Åke Jonsson's retirement already in January and he also said that he had full insight into the business plan and how Saab is performing. So it turns out that he was just very undecided, and some would say unprofessional, and in the end he put Saab in a tricky position.


So there you have it. Once again Swedish media have guessed, lied, speculated and generally being as rotten as they can be. Everything is normal in the Swedish media.

My tip for new CEO of Saab

I was shocked to learn earlier today that Jan Åke Jonsson is retiring as Saab CEO. How can Saab possibly continue without Jan Åke? Jan Åke has been the rock the last years, and he was the reason I still believed in Saab!

Now that I have had some time to deal with this news I'm starting to realize that there are of course other people out there who can do a great job for Saab. And the first name that comes to mind is Bo I. Andersson.

Bo Andersson was born October 16, 1955. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stockholm University and completed the senior management program at Harvard University in 1999. He began his career with GM in 1987 as a manager with Saab. After holding various leadership positions, he was appointed vice president of Purchasing for Saab in 1990. In August 1993, Andersson transitioned from Saab to GM. At GM Bo Andersson held different executive positions over the years. He was vice president of Purchasing for General Motors Europe for a few years, and the last years at GM he was vice president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. In 2009 he left GM to become CEO of Russian GAZ.

Just a few weeks ago, he was actually named the best business leader in Russia for his excellent work at GAZ by the Association of European Business in the Russian Federation.

It has also been reported that he recently said that he is not certain how long he will stay in Russia at GAZ.

So could Bo Andersson become a new CEO for Saab? I have no idea if Victor Muller even knows him or if Bo Andersson would be interested, but there is no doubt that he is a capable man and he is a SWEDE!

Sources:http://www.automotorsport.se/news/18531/gm-s-bo-andersson-till-ryssland/
http://www.affarsvarlden.se/hem/nyheter/article3130366.ece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Andersson

I love my Saab!

Tonight I had one of those moment. One of those moments we all have from time to time. I had been out doing some cross-country skiing. The dark was falling and my skiing trip came to an end. I approached my car on the parking lot. It was covered with snow, ice, salt and mud. It looked really dirty . But so so hot! I got in, pushed down the start button and the engine growled. I put it into gear, drove off and felt so in tune with my 9-5. I wished the drive would never end. I just love these moment! :)

Happy Independence Day!

I wish everybody associated with Saab around the world a happy Independence Day!

I know that Saab will celebrate this day at the factory with cakes, speeches and entertainment. And I'm sure many Saab dealers and Saab enthusiasts around the world will take a moment and enjoy this special day and be grateful to Jan Åke Jonsson, Victor Muller and everybody else who made this a day to celebrate.

As coincidence had it, I marked this day by passing the first 10000 kilometres in my Saab 9-5.

A review of the first 10000km is coming up.

Get this guy into a Saab 92X!!!!

Here's a clip of PG Andersson at Rally Sweden.




PG Andersson proved in Rally Sweden that he can keep the same pace as the world rally stars like Sebastian Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg. PG won four stages, but due to some technical problems and a few mistakes, he couldn't compete for the victory. But I still say: Get this Swede into a Saab 92X!


BTW; Did you know that Saab is the manufacturer with the most wins in Rally Sweden?

My wishes for the next Saab 9-3

It's been a long time since my last post. The past weeks I have had an eye infection and therefore I decided to take a break from staring too much into a computer screen. I also got an unwelcome break from driving my Saab more than necessary. But I have had much time to think and dream about what I want in my next Saab. 

I am a humble Saab enthusiast who admire the achievements Saab has made the past year. I don't expect Saab to go from being a restrained division in a global automobile company to a technology leading company in one or two years. And so my wishes for my next Saab are humble.

Fuel efficient petrol engine 
In my next Saab I want a fuel efficient and low emission petrol engine that produces around 150HP. I live in Norway and can't afford a too powerful engine as the taxation of cars is among other factors calculated on the basis of horsepower and co2 emission. It will be nice if Hirsch can get the engine up to 200HP. My current Saab 9-5 has a diesel engine, which is a good, but I have to admit that I prefer the smoothness and responsiveness of a petrol engine.

Automatic or dual clutch transmission
The engine I want in my next Saab should be connected to an automatic or dual clutch transmission, which does not increase the fuel consumption or emissions compared to a manual transmission. If this isn't doable, then I will take a 6-speed manual transmission.

Electric cross wheel drive
My current Saab has front wheel drive. Most of the time I do not need all wheel drive. And when taking added weight and increased fuel consumption into consideration, I'm not sure if I want cross wheel drive at all. But for my next Saab I want electric cross wheel drive. My understanding is that Saab's upcoming electric rear axle does not increase weight all that much and does not increase the fuel consumption. And so I want the eAAM hybrid all wheel drive. So Saab, please offer this system also with the low output engines!

DriveSense
For improved chassis performance, I want the option to get the next generation DriveSense adaptive suspension. At the moment I haven't made up my mind if I want HiperStrut or not. Do I need it? I don't drive my car like a racer driver, so the answer is probably no. But I guess HiperStrut would be nice as an option.

Head Up Display
Head Up Display is mandatory! Of all the electronic gadgets in the new Saab 9-5, the Head Up Display is without any doubt the last feature I would part with. And it's very Saab-like to offer a feature taken from aviation. Just like Saab did with the Night Panel.

Keyless entry
Apart from the HUD, the most beloved feature in my 9-5 is the keyless entry. It is very nice to not have to get the key to unlock or lock the doors. I just keep the key in my pocket and touch the door handle, that's it! So for my next Saab, I want to stay lazy.

Design
For the design of the car, I trust Victor Muller, Jan Åke Jonsson and Jason Castriota. I am sure that they will see to it that the car gets an unique and beautiful design. The only thing I want to say is hatchback.

That's it. Shouldn't be too difficult to achieve, right? Anyway, I trust that Saab will make the upcoming 9-3 the Saab I am dreaming of! :)

A fantastic Saab year!

What a fantastic Saab year this has been!


First Saab was saved in January/February. Then the Saab 9-5 Sedan was launched. And then from nowhere Saab came up with new diesel engines for the 9-3 that set the norm in the premium mid-sized car class! Now that Saab isn't held back by GM anymore, I think we got lots of exciting innovations coming our way.


Personally my highlight in 2010 was of course buying my very own Saab 9-5 Sedan and started my "Living with the new Saab 9-5" blog. So far I have driven 6500 km and have enjoyed every second.


Up to now the blog has had visitors from 66 different countries (check the flag map on the bottom of the blog) and every continent except Antarctica has been on visit. In total there have been more than 19 000 page views in just over three months. I owe all of you a big thank you for stopping by and reading my everyday life thoughts and experiences with my car. Thank you!


2010 is soon over and a new year is approaching fast. So what do we Saab enthusiasts have to look forward to the coming year?


What about the Saab 9-5 SportCombi, the Saab 9-4X, a facelift of the current Saab 9-3 and a new concept car that displays Saab's long term design vision? Doesn't that sound like an exciting 2011?? :)

 Have a happy new Saab year!

Happy Christmas from me and Oakie!

For Christmas I gave my car, Oakie, a good wash. Or to be honest, I paid a car care shop to wash my car. And I am glad I did. The result is great. After two months of winter with salty roads the car is now spot free.

From Oakie I'm getting gifts every day. Every minute I spend driving is wonderful.

God jul!

Back in a land of Saab

I'm back in cold and wintry Norway after a week of summer temperatures on the Canary Islands. And it felt good to be back in my Saab! I've been driving a Citroen C4 rental for the past week and even though it's not fair to compare that car to the Saab 9-5, I still do.

(This was not the car I drove, but it looks similar) 

First of all, when I got in the Citroen C4 and closed the door I was surprised by the "tin can" sound. It made the door feel cheap and weak. The interior was full of hard plastic. I started the car and grabbed the gear stick. It felt wobbly. But when driving off I was surprised by the responsive petrol engine.  Getting out on the highway the car accelerated okay, but there was some engine noise. I think the car was set up with gear ratios that makes the engine feel responsive, but at the same time it gets noisy. On the highway the car felt a bit unstable when going over 120 km/h. And the engine noise was massive. So it's definitely no highway cruiser.

It was an okay car, but after driving Saab for the last 8 years, I would never trade any of the Saab's I've owned with the Citroen C4. It feels very good to be back in my own Saab 9-5. I am a very happy owner. :) 

No Saab's land

I'm a long way from home and I miss my loved Saab so...
The only sign I have seen of Saab here is this:

Mem Saab - Indian cuisine

Mem Saab was good, but not exactly what I expect from a Saab :)

Moose collision!

No, I didn't hit a moose, but my sisters fiancé did with their 2001 Saab 9-5 SportCombi. He wasn't going very fast, maybe 40 km/h when he hit the moose, but when you get 500 kilograms of moose on the hood and into the windshield, it is still noticeable!

I wonder what would have happened if he'd driven a 2001 Toyota? To quote a past Swedish car slogan: "There are no moose in Japan"...

Make "my" new Saab 9-5 the Car of the Year!

Each year the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet has a Car of the Year award. First a poll is run over several weeks where the people can cast their vote. Then a panel of so called experts pick the winner. So you might think that what the people vote is not important. Well, it is important because the car that's the people's choice gets a lot of attention!

Last year the Saab 9-3X won the people's vote, but the Toyota Prius won the Car of the Year award due to the experts not listening to the people. They claimed the Prius was a more modern and technological advanced car.

But this year, let's vote the new Saab 9-5 as the Car of the Year and give the so called experts another challenge! 

Visit the following link, scroll down to the voting section, pick the Saab 9-5 and click "Send inn".

http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/10/22/tema/arets_bil_2011/bil/13964844/

Thank you :) 

 

Would you like to get a photo book with your new Saab?

Several months ago I got an idea how Saab, with simple means, could strengthen the bond between the Saab owner and his new car and subsequently between the Saab owner and Saab Automobile AB: Make a unique photo book of every car manufactured and include it with the car! The book could cover the design and development of the model, as well as the production and assembly of that specific car.


Recently it’s become known that Saab is installing web cams around the factory to let the buyers follow the production of their car through mobile text and multimedia messages as well as through pictures on the Internet. I love it! :)

But why the photo book in addition to this?

Well, because a photo book is a lasting memory. You can turn the pages and look through the photo book when you get the car, one year later and ten years later. You can have it on the book shelf, on the coffee table or on the bedside table. You can keep it as a memory when you sell the car or you can send it along with the new owner.

So Saab, why not contact an international photo developer and make a deal?

I am sure that there are one or more photo developers who would set up a server where Saab can upload the pictures and where the Saab buyer can log in (with a code that comes with the car) and order a pre-setup photo book for free. If the developer has the chance of getting up to 125 000 new customers each year from this deal, then I bet the company will give away a free photo book to the new customer!

Here's an example how a photo book could look like

Page one: Maybe a picture of Jan Åke Jonsson and a "personal" message from him?

Page two: The production form

Page three:  The sketch

Page four: The CGI 

Page five: The clay model 

Page five: Wind tunnel

Page six to twelve: Your car being manufactured 

   

And then some blank pages where the owner can put in his own pictures.

Bad idea? Good idea? 

Getting some winter tires

Today I'm off to buy some winter tires. I will get the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R if I can get them at an affordable price. They have done good in a recent test. For rims I will use my 5-spoke blade rims that came with the car.


Also, you should check out my new blog page about the future for Saab.

A big thanks to you and you and you and...

My blog has now been online for three weeks and I've had approx. 4800 page views and visitors from 36 different countries and five different continents! Thank you to everybody for stopping by.

The visits to my blog really took off when the online master of Saab news and analysis, I'm of course talking about Swade at Saabs United, were kind enough to post some of my pictures and a snippet of my review with links back to my Saab 9-5 blog. So a big thank you to Swade.

The good thing is that now some Saab enthusiasts seem to stop by every now and then. I hope I can give you some interesting reading and inside views of the new Saab 9-5 the months to come. Among other things, I plan to make a short video to show some of the technological features of the new 9-5.


Some facts about you
73 % of you use Windows 
23 % of you use an Apple product (Macintosh, iPhone, iPad and iPod)
The rest of you use Linux, Unix, Nokia and even Playstation 3.

The most popular  Internet browsers are:
Internet Explorer (42%)
Firefox (23%)
Safari (19%)
Chrome (9%)
Opera (4%)

Most of the visitors came from (in falling order):
Sweden
USA
Norway (includes a number of my own visits)
Germany
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Canada
Finland
Belgium
China 


But there were also visitors from the following countries:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bulgaria
Cyprus 
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Greece
Hong Kong 
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Poland
Romania
Russia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Switzerland 
Taiwan
Thailand
Ukraine
Åland


My next goal must be to get a visitor from the continent of Africa. I guess to get one from the last continent, that is Antarctica, is somewhat optimistic. :)