Earlier this week there were some reports that the production at Saab would resume in order to finish approx. 100 cars that are on the production line in Trollhättan. But now it seems these reports might have been based on assumptions rather than verified information.
According to AutoCar, the workers' unions have set their foot down and won't allow their members to return the factory to finish these cars. But discussions between the unions and the bankruptcy administrators are ongoing. In other words, at the moment noone knows if the last Saab has been made or not.
If they can reach an agreement where the workers return to finish these 100 cars, these could become highly sought after cars for collectors and Saab enthusiasts.
A blog fueled by enthusiasm about Saab, the greatest car company between the North and the South Pole. And their cars, which probably is the only cars that would start on a cold and crispy South Pole morning.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Chinese Youngman said to be administrators first choice
Swedish business news site Dagens Industri reports that Chinese Youngman is the bankruptcy administators first choice as buyers of Saab.
Representatives from Chinese Youngman are expected back in Sweden shortly to continue discussions with the bankruptcy administrators concerning a possible acquisition of Saab. The company has already invested at least EUR 70 million in Saab, which has given the company among other things rights to part of the newly developed Saab future vehicle technology. Now Youngman wants the rest as well.
According to DI's sources, the administrators have chosen to negotiate with Youngman with the goal of selling all of Saab. The problem is time. On January 19th it will be one month since Saab filed for bankruptcy and as time passes both employees, suppliers and customers will disappear. If the negotiations with Youngman have not proven sucessfull within January 19th, the assets of Saab might be sold in pieces.
The management of Saab has according to DI offered the administrators to continue working until January 20th, helping with sorting out the GM technology licenses and deals with Saab.
One obvious problem with selling Saab to Youngman is General Motors annoucement that it will not supply Saab with technology should the company become Chinese owned. Earlier it has been said that Youngman hopes to at least be able to produce the current Saab 9-3, which utilises mostly technology owned by Saab, awaiting the next generation of Saab vehicles based on Saab's future Phoenix platform.
The Turkish company Brightwell Holdins, which has made it clear that it wants to buy all of Saab, said yesterday that GM would be positive to a deal where the Turkish company buys Saab. Which would of course seem to make Brightwell a good match. But so far GM has not been in discussion with any parties about supplying GM technology to Saab in the future.
"We have been contacted by many parties interested in buying the Saab assets and getting access to GM's technology, but we are not in discussion with any of them," GM spokesman James Cain told Swedish Radio.
Representatives from Chinese Youngman are expected back in Sweden shortly to continue discussions with the bankruptcy administrators concerning a possible acquisition of Saab. The company has already invested at least EUR 70 million in Saab, which has given the company among other things rights to part of the newly developed Saab future vehicle technology. Now Youngman wants the rest as well.
According to DI's sources, the administrators have chosen to negotiate with Youngman with the goal of selling all of Saab. The problem is time. On January 19th it will be one month since Saab filed for bankruptcy and as time passes both employees, suppliers and customers will disappear. If the negotiations with Youngman have not proven sucessfull within January 19th, the assets of Saab might be sold in pieces.
The management of Saab has according to DI offered the administrators to continue working until January 20th, helping with sorting out the GM technology licenses and deals with Saab.
One obvious problem with selling Saab to Youngman is General Motors annoucement that it will not supply Saab with technology should the company become Chinese owned. Earlier it has been said that Youngman hopes to at least be able to produce the current Saab 9-3, which utilises mostly technology owned by Saab, awaiting the next generation of Saab vehicles based on Saab's future Phoenix platform.
The Turkish company Brightwell Holdins, which has made it clear that it wants to buy all of Saab, said yesterday that GM would be positive to a deal where the Turkish company buys Saab. Which would of course seem to make Brightwell a good match. But so far GM has not been in discussion with any parties about supplying GM technology to Saab in the future.
"We have been contacted by many parties interested in buying the Saab assets and getting access to GM's technology, but we are not in discussion with any of them," GM spokesman James Cain told Swedish Radio.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Lay offs begin
The lay off of the employees of Saab has now been started. The coming week or two all employees will receive a registered letter with the notice of termination.
Any company which are interested in acquiring all of Saab needs to hurry up if they want the employees also!
Any company which are interested in acquiring all of Saab needs to hurry up if they want the employees also!
Turkish Brightwell says GM will be positive to a deal
Updated with more info from Dagens Industri
Last week it was revealed that the Turkish company interested in buying Saab or parts of Saab is Brightwell Holdings. Now Swedish TTELA has had a talk with Zamier Ahmed, who is member of the board of Brightwell.
Zamier Ahmed told TTELA that more than six months on behalf of Brightwell Holdings he has followed the Saab saga. The reason is that the environmental interested company would like to get hold of the Saab brand name and Saab's advanced technology.
"The potential of the technology from an environmental perspective matches our policy very well," said Ahmed to TTELA.
At the moment Brightwell is waiting to hear from the bankruptcy administrators as to when a meeting can take place. Then Brightwell hopes to find out exactly how much of Saab the administrators want to keep in Trollhättan and also exactly what is up for sale.
"We're interested in all of Saab, not just small parts like the brand name. We understand fully the Saab brand's heritage, the history of the company and the high quality of the products," Ahmed told Dagens Industri.
Ahmed said that they want to keep production in Trollhättan, but could not say to what degree.
"We definitely want to keep production in Trollhättan, but we need to look at exactly how much. But we will not rule out that all will be kept there," Ahmed continued.
"We need more knowledge about the structure of the company before we can answer that [how much of the production that will be kept in Trollhättan]. We may need to produce some parts of the products on other locations to save costs."
Brightwell has during the past six months been in contact with Victor Muller, with the hope of taking a share or acquiring Saab, but Muller chose the Chinese investors.
"I've also been in contact with GM during this process and they have been very positive to us. Our government also supports this fully. We believe that Saab can survive and with the right leadership have a bright future."
Brightwell has previous experience from the automotive industry when they in 2010 acquired a European electric car, and ongoing negotiations with an American car manufacturer.
"I can not mention their names yet."
A quick Google search revealed that Brightwell is very much involved in environmental investments. According to their homepage, they have invested in SynergEthic SA, which develops a two-seater electric vehicle of small width, providing a pragmatic and innovative answer to traffic issues in urban areas. Furthermore, according to Olecars, Brightwell in November last year signed a declaration of intent to invest in the French company Heuliez Electric with the intent to build a future hybrid car or electric field through the expertise of Heuliez. Brightwell is also part owner of Turkish GreenWay solar energy company.
My previous doubt towards the Turks is starting to fade...
Last week it was revealed that the Turkish company interested in buying Saab or parts of Saab is Brightwell Holdings. Now Swedish TTELA has had a talk with Zamier Ahmed, who is member of the board of Brightwell.
Zamier Ahmed told TTELA that more than six months on behalf of Brightwell Holdings he has followed the Saab saga. The reason is that the environmental interested company would like to get hold of the Saab brand name and Saab's advanced technology.
"The potential of the technology from an environmental perspective matches our policy very well," said Ahmed to TTELA.
At the moment Brightwell is waiting to hear from the bankruptcy administrators as to when a meeting can take place. Then Brightwell hopes to find out exactly how much of Saab the administrators want to keep in Trollhättan and also exactly what is up for sale.
"We're interested in all of Saab, not just small parts like the brand name. We understand fully the Saab brand's heritage, the history of the company and the high quality of the products," Ahmed told Dagens Industri.
Ahmed said that they want to keep production in Trollhättan, but could not say to what degree.
"We definitely want to keep production in Trollhättan, but we need to look at exactly how much. But we will not rule out that all will be kept there," Ahmed continued.
"We need more knowledge about the structure of the company before we can answer that [how much of the production that will be kept in Trollhättan]. We may need to produce some parts of the products on other locations to save costs."
Brightwell has during the past six months been in contact with Victor Muller, with the hope of taking a share or acquiring Saab, but Muller chose the Chinese investors.
"I've also been in contact with GM during this process and they have been very positive to us. Our government also supports this fully. We believe that Saab can survive and with the right leadership have a bright future."
Brightwell has previous experience from the automotive industry when they in 2010 acquired a European electric car, and ongoing negotiations with an American car manufacturer.
"I can not mention their names yet."
A quick Google search revealed that Brightwell is very much involved in environmental investments. According to their homepage, they have invested in SynergEthic SA, which develops a two-seater electric vehicle of small width, providing a pragmatic and innovative answer to traffic issues in urban areas. Furthermore, according to Olecars, Brightwell in November last year signed a declaration of intent to invest in the French company Heuliez Electric with the intent to build a future hybrid car or electric field through the expertise of Heuliez. Brightwell is also part owner of Turkish GreenWay solar energy company.
My previous doubt towards the Turks is starting to fade...
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Outside Saab Support Meetings
Since there is not really any big news today, I would like to draw your attention to Outside Saab. Outside Saab is an initiative to arrange Saab meetings all around the world on January 14th and 15th. The purpose is to show support for Saab. So please visit Outside Saab and check the plans for your country.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Saab sales in December 2011
If the Saab brand is not miraculously saved, then I guess this will be the last update on sales of new Saab cars.
Sweden
According to Bil Sweden, there were 18 new Saab cars registered in Sweden in December, compared to 1,111 cars in December of 2010. For the year 2011 as a whole, 3,482 new Saabs have been registered in Sweden, compared to 8,683 the previous year.
USA
According to Automotive News, 270 new Saab cars were sold in the USA in December 2011, compared to 1,074 the previous year. For 2011 as a whole, 5,610 Saabs were sold, up 3 percent from 5,446 in 2010.
UK
According to SMMT, there were 8 new Saabs registered in the UK in December, compared to 750 in December 2010. For the year as a whole, 4,138 new Saabs were registered, compared to 5,898 the previous year.
Norway
TBA
Ireland
TBA
Sweden
According to Bil Sweden, there were 18 new Saab cars registered in Sweden in December, compared to 1,111 cars in December of 2010. For the year 2011 as a whole, 3,482 new Saabs have been registered in Sweden, compared to 8,683 the previous year.
USA
According to Automotive News, 270 new Saab cars were sold in the USA in December 2011, compared to 1,074 the previous year. For 2011 as a whole, 5,610 Saabs were sold, up 3 percent from 5,446 in 2010.
UK
According to SMMT, there were 8 new Saabs registered in the UK in December, compared to 750 in December 2010. For the year as a whole, 4,138 new Saabs were registered, compared to 5,898 the previous year.
Norway
TBA
Ireland
TBA
New Year, new possibilities
Another year and another work week. Now that both the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, we can expect more intensive work on selling the assets in the Saab bankruptcy estate. And hopefully a deal to sell the whole group of Saab companies can be reached.
So far the following companies seem to be in the race to buy parts of Saab or the whole business: From China Youngman and Dongfeng, from Turkey Brightwell Holdings and from India Mahindra & Mahindra.
All seem to be strong competitor. We know that Youngman got a head start since the company knows Saab and Saab's assets well after negotiating with Saab since January 2011.
But I wouldn't be surprised if many Saab fans hope that the huge Indian company Mahindra & Mahindra will be interested in acquiring all of Saab and continue the operations in Sweden. But during Christmas we got the disturbing news that the bankruptcy administrators had canceled a meeting with M&M because their representative in Sweden was Lars Carlström. Carlström was previously spokesman and representative of the Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov who is under the suspicions of fraud. But to Swedish newspaper GT the bankruptcy administrator Hans Bergqvist says that they are aware that the Indian company is a large company, and they are open to discussions:
"I know that it is a large and reliable company and we are not closing any doors," administrator Bergqvist said to GT.
And by saying that Bergqvist also more or less confirmed that the Indian company is Mahindra & Mahindra.
So far the following companies seem to be in the race to buy parts of Saab or the whole business: From China Youngman and Dongfeng, from Turkey Brightwell Holdings and from India Mahindra & Mahindra.
All seem to be strong competitor. We know that Youngman got a head start since the company knows Saab and Saab's assets well after negotiating with Saab since January 2011.
But I wouldn't be surprised if many Saab fans hope that the huge Indian company Mahindra & Mahindra will be interested in acquiring all of Saab and continue the operations in Sweden. But during Christmas we got the disturbing news that the bankruptcy administrators had canceled a meeting with M&M because their representative in Sweden was Lars Carlström. Carlström was previously spokesman and representative of the Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov who is under the suspicions of fraud. But to Swedish newspaper GT the bankruptcy administrator Hans Bergqvist says that they are aware that the Indian company is a large company, and they are open to discussions:
"I know that it is a large and reliable company and we are not closing any doors," administrator Bergqvist said to GT.
And by saying that Bergqvist also more or less confirmed that the Indian company is Mahindra & Mahindra.
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