At Saab's manufacturing plant in Trollhättan Sweden, production has been stopped for almost 8 weeks. The reason being a liquidity squeeze that led to the supplies of parts and components being stopped by Saab's suppliers and subcontractors. With fresh money coming in the past two weeks, the aim is to restart production on Friday next week.
In Mexico however, Saabs are being built! General Motors, who manufacture the new Saab 9-4X for Saab, has not let Saab's recent financial challenges affect the planned production start of the 9-4X. The production started Monday 16 May and all 2011 Saab 9-4X are spoken for. They will start to pop up at the US dealers next month. Isn't that wonderful news? I believe that with the favorable reviews the Saab 9-4X has gotten, this may be the car that puts Saab back on the map in the US! The car that makes the public once again curious about this small Swedish car brand who is unlike all the rest.
Kudos to both Saab and GM!
Over at Automobile there is a blog entry by Ezra Dyer about why some cars work as commuter cars and others don't. And he makes a very good argument for the Saab 9-3! First he writes some wise words about why a car that is great on the racetrack makes little sense as a daily driver. And isn't that the problem with many car reviews, that they review the car as if everybody who are buying cars are race driver?
Anyway, here is what he writes about the Saab 9-3 and why it makes sense as a commuter car:
Which brings me to Saab. As someone who used to spend ninety minutes a day behind the wheel of a Saab, I can tell you that the car had certain talents that couldn't be measured with a stopwatch.
For one thing, consider Saab seats. Have you ever heard the expression, "As comfy as a Swede riding shotgun"? No, you haven't, because I just made it up. But it's the truth, I tell you. If you're uncomfortable in a Saab bucket, you have your knees on backward. Four-cylinder Saabs, by dint of their turbochargers, have plenty of low-end torque, yet they get decent fuel economy. And, despite their ambitious sticker prices, you can lease a Saab for roughly the cost of a daily ham sandwich. (I'm only half-joking there—Saab is offering a lease on the 9-3 that works out to about $13 per day.) Think about it like that and a 9-3 starts to make sense. Wow, I think I just justified Saab's business plan for the past twenty years.
Those lines are so true. Now just more people need to realize how great Saab cars really are!
According to TTELA, Saab now confirms that the upcoming 9-3 replacement, scheduled to launch in October 2012, will come in three main variants: a hatchback, a convertible and a crossover.
This information was given at the Spyker Cars (now named Swedish Automobile) shareholders meeting yesterday afternoon when the product strategy was presented.
A replacement for the 9-4X is planned for 2015. That would mean that current model will be for sale 4 to 5 years.
One of the solutions proposed by Saab to raise money has been to sell Saab's properties and then lease it back. Originally Vladimir Antonov's Convers Group was the intended buyer, but the European Investment Bank stopped that deal for unknown reasons. Now Saab looks for a new buyer for the property.
According to Dagens Industri, yesterday the commercial real estate advisor DTZ visited Trollhättan and looked at Saab's property. They were given a tour by Gunnar Brunius, Vice President Purchasing & Manufacturing at Saab. The hope is that DTZ can find a buyer and Saab then can raise money to use in the daily operating of the company.
Vladimir Antonov says to DI that he is informed:
"I am informed about everything that happens at Saab. The more investors who want to contribute funds to Saab, the better," he says to DI.
At the general meeting for shareholders in Spyker Cars NV this afternoon, the meeting decided to change the name of the company to Swedish Automobile NV. A wise move as the company's only business as soon as the Spyker Automobile subsidiary is sold as planned, will be the subsidiary Saab Automobile AB.
The meeting also decided that a listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange is not a priority at the time being.
"There's no point changing the listing now," Muller told Bloomberg. "We have other things to focus on, including getting a good business going again. We'll have to think about whether it's any point ever listing in Stockholm."
The company will however remain listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Saab manufacturing plant in Trollhättan has been closed 7 weeks but according to DI is still receiving 80 to 100 orders for new Saab cars each day. A proof that the car buyers still have confidence in Saab. Before the production was halted Saab received 200 to 250 order each day.
The aim is to restart production next Friday with a production of about 100 cars each day. The same day a delegation from Pangda Automobile is expected to visit the factory. To restart the factory EUR 90 million is needed. Saab has already received EUR 30 million from Gemini Investment Fund Ltd and another EUR 30 million from Pangda Automobile. In addition, Spyker Cars has utilized the GEM Global Yield Fund Ltd facility which will raise around EUR 4 million. But Saab also needs the EUR 29.1 million from the European Investment Bank. But as usual the EIB is taking its time.
At the general meeting of shareholders in Spyker Cars this afternoon, Victor Muller said that a new CEO for Saab will be announced soon. Jan Maarten Slagter, CEO of VEB, attended the meeting and he got the impression that Muller and the board is talking to a candidate and that a announcement of a new CEO is near. But no name where mentioned.
To Svenska Dagbladet Victor Muller says that a new CEO may be announced soon, but it can takes months before a new CEO can start as most people qualified for such a position already has a good job which they can't leave immediately.
Could that mean that the new CEO will not be from inside Saab, but an external person?
Victor Muller also said that he hopes for a restart at the Trollhättan manufacturing plant on Friday next week. Signals he has gotten from the people at Saab working on restarting the factory are good and the aim is a restart next Friday when also a delegation from Pangda will visit the factory.
Some Twitter updates from Jan Maarten Slagter at the Spyker Cars general meeting of shareholder:
(Translated from Dutch with Google translator. Beware of possible errors!)
- Antonov wants to invest EUR 100 million in Saab
- Black figures is still the target in 2012
- Muller: Never before been as embarrassed as when the Hawtai deal was canceled.
- Muller: Pang Da is a great deal. Provides access to the largest car market.
- Muller: sale and leaseback of Saab property is still planned. Can now be done without time pressure.
- We are almost ready with new CEO for Saab.
