RIP SAAB?

Discussion in 'Other Vehicles' started by Nathan, Sep 8, 2011.

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  1. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Saab plea for creditor protection rejected by Swedish court

    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Saab was pushed closer to bankruptcy today after a Swedish court rejected its application for protection from creditors.

    Saab owner Swedish Automobile had filed for protection from creditors yesterday to stop them from pushing the car firm into bankruptcy and to allow it to work on securing its future as it waits for planned Chinese investments.

    But the Vanersborg district court in west Sweden said in a statement on its Web site there was no reason to believe a new creditor protection process, known as a reconstruction, would work.

    Saab, in a statement, said it would appeal the decision.

    "Saab Automobile is disappointed with the ruling and will appeal the District Court's decision," the statement said.

    In response to the court decision, Swedish union IF Metall said it could within days demand Saab be declared bankrupt.

    "We will now thoroughly analyze the new situation. If the company doesn't find another solution or files a bankruptcy request themselves, we may be forced to do that in the next few days," Stefan Lofven, head of IF Metall, said in a statement.

    IF Metall has some 1,500 members working at Saab.

    Saab employees have not received their August wages and Saab needs to be declared bankrupt or be granted protection from creditors for a government wage insurance program to kick in.

    Saab has seen production at its Swedish plant at an almost continuous standstill since April because suppliers refused to provide parts until they received payment.

    Saab, when it was owned by GM, went through a reconstruction in 2009-2010.

    In June, Saab said two Chinese car companies, Pangda Automobile Trade Co. Ltd and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, had agreed to take a combined majority stake in the firm for a total of 245 million euros ($344 million).

    The deals are awaiting approval from Chinese authorities.

    Suppliers owed

    On Wednesday, Saab's CEO said the company owes 150 million euros ($210 million) to suppliers.

    Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Victor Muller said it was the firm's goal to pay its creditors in full.

    "We have to bridge the financial gap. We felt the most orderly and quiet way to do it, bring some peace to this company, was to seek the protection of the court and to ensure that nothing can happen to Saab in the meantime," Muller, who is also CEO of Swedish Automobile, told the news conference.

    Analysts warned that the company faced grave difficulties.

    "Obviously a restructuring is preferable to bankruptcy. But receivership is still a step closer to bankruptcy. We've always warned investors it was extremely risky," said Jan Maarten Slagter, director of the Dutch shareholders' association, VEB.

    Auto enthusiasts and Saab devotees worldwide are still hoping the firm will survive. Muller said the company had lost a lot of clients' trust, but added: "We are not dead yet."

    He also denied a report in Dagens Industri that his relationship with another potential investor, Russian Vladimir Antonov, had turned sour.

    "That is a joke... that is total nonsense," he said.

    Difficulty with China deal

    Chinese authorities have halted planned investments in the past, such as Saab's failed deal with Hawtai Motor Group in May and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial machinery's bid for GM's Hummer, which collapsed in 2010.

    Dagens Industri said state-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co (BAIC) or sport utility vehicle maker Great Wall Motor, were seen by Chinese officials as being more suitable partners. A source told Reuters in May that Great Wall had been talking with Saab's owner about a possible tie-up.

    Karl Ask, who heads the Swedish Saab fan club and owns 11 Saab models added: "I hope the Chinese come and help, otherwise I'm not so sure any more about Saab's future.

    "Victor Muller is interested in Saab, he loves Saab and that's good. But they need money."

    Source - http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110908/OEM/110909873/1131#ixzz1XMtDI6bA
     
  2. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Very sad day for Saab.....
    They made really nice cars and had a honorable motoring history..... I was really dreading this day....:(
     
  3. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    Does sound very grime indeed... :(

    .....somehow awaiting the Chinese to come to the rescue seems to be happening much too often.. Ironic?
     
  4. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Now they are just piling on...

    STOCKHOLM -- Swedish union IF Metall said on Thursday that it could demand Saab be declared bankrupt within days after a court rejected the carmaker's request for protection against creditors.

    "We will now thoroughly analyze the new situation. If the company doesn't find another solution or files a bankruptcy request themselves, we may be forced to do that in the next few days," Stefan Lofven, head of blue collar-union IF Metall, said in a statement.

    IF Metall has some 1,500 members working at Saab.

    White-collar union Unionen, with some 1,000 members at Saab, said it saw several reasons to act fast.

    "We will make a decision now" on whether to demand Saab bankruptcy, Martin Wastfelt, chief lawyer at Unionen, said. "It's all about minimizing the risks to secure our members' money."

    Saab employees have not received their August wages and Saab needs to be declared bankrupt or be granted protection from creditors for a government wage insurance scheme to kick in.

    The automaker is still struggling to pay suppliers who refused to provide parts before receiving payment for outstanding bills. As a result, production at Saab's Swedish plant has been at an almost continuous standstill since April.

    On Wednesday, Saab CEO Victor Muller said the cash-strapped automaker currently owes 150 million euros ($210 million) to suppliers.

    Muller, who is also CEO of Saab parent Swedish Automobile NV, added that it was the firm's goal to pay its creditors in full.



    Source - http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110908/ANE/110909876/1496#ixzz1XNBhZWRe
     
  5. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    File for bankruptcy, change their name to SAAAB and open up as a new company with no debt.
     
  6. Redbeard

    Redbeard JCW: because fast is fun!
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    Man. My Dad has had his fair share of SAABs through the years. He finally got frustraited by the GM electrical gremlins that kept popping-up. Now he has an '08 MCSa. I always liked the key in the center console thing and the general quirkyness of the cars. I hope they don't go the way of the Dodo.
     
  7. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad Club Coordinator

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    So I guess the company isn't in the aerospace business anymore? No mention of that in the press releases.

    "Made from Jets" was a fairly recent promotional tag line.
     
  8. Redbeard

    Redbeard JCW: because fast is fun!
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    SAAB Automobile was a division of SAAB AB which was primarily an aerospace company. In 1990 GM bought 51% of the Automobile division then bought the remainder in 2000.

    SAAB AB is still in business and doing the jets and aerospace thing. :Thumbsup:
     
  9. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    SAAB Gripen Fighter

    [​IMG]
     
  10. werD

    werD Club Coordinator

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    I have always had an affinity for the SAAB and my 9-3 was a really nice piece (in spite of a questionable past and some gremlins). I'd hate to see the make disappear, but at this juncture I am not real sure what miracle may arise to save the day for them...
     
  11. grodenglaive

    grodenglaive New Member

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    Even James Bond drove one - a SAAB 900 turbo in License Renewed (written by John Gardner). A far cry from the Aston Martin, but it was the 80's after all.
     
  12. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    The fake James Bond drove the SAAB, the honest to god real James Bond drove the Aston Martin.....:D
     
  13. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    TROLLHATTAN - Saab lurched further into crisis on Monday as two of the carmaker's own unions served bankruptcy applications despite the company having conjured up a promise of 70 million euros ($96 million) in vital financing.

    Two white collar unions at Saab, whose members had their June and July salaries delayed and have not yet got their August pay, said their patience had run out and that they were using their right to apply to put Saab into bankruptcy.

    "This is not a situation that any member of Unionen wishes to be in," said Cecilia Fahlberg, chairwoman of the union, after the application.

    The move came after Saab announced the latest in a long line of money-raising exercises led by Chief Executive Victor Muller, saying it had arranged the 70 million euros in bridge finance with the help of a Chinese guarantee.

    The move was aimed at buying some time as the company, based in Trollhattan in western Sweden, seeks court protection from its creditors.

    The 60-year-old carmaker, owned by Dutch-listed Swedish Automobil, has staggered from one crisis to another in the last few months after running out of money. Its production line is halted and it owes money to suppliers and staff.

    Bankruptcy decision in weeks

    Unionen, which represents 1,100 Saab staff, said the court would take three to five weeks to decide on the bankruptcy application for Saab, which Swedish Automobile, then called Spyker, rescued from closure by General Motors in early 2010.

    A smaller white collar union, Ledarna, representing 126 people, also handed in an application. Both organizations say it is the only way to ensure that a state scheme to pay salaries of employees of companies in trouble will be activated.

    "We think that this is necessary to secure our members' salaries. Our members have not had their money and so we cannot take everything on trust and hope," Unionen chief lawyer Martin Wastfelt told reporters.

    The union stressed the application would be dropped if Saab paid the salaries. If Saab won an appeal to get protection from creditors, the bankruptcy application would also fall, it added. Unionen said it would also cooperate to help Saab win the appeal.

    The main blue collar unions have said they would wait with their bankruptcy aplications.

    Saab meanwhile confirmed it would appeal a court ruling rejecting its application for protection from creditors while it secures its long-term future and raises short-term financing.

    New money 'not enough'

    The new money raised by Saab came from a technology licence agreement with a special purpose vehicle, or SPV.

    As part of the deal, Chinese car maker Youngman has also signed a technology licence deal with the SPV, providing a guarantee for its payment.

    Swedish Automobile said the deal was part of a bridge loan which it intended to repay with proceeds of the 245 million euro equity investment promised by Chinese partners Pangda and Youngman.

    That investment still needs permission from the Chinese authorities.

    David Tomic, economist at Dutch shareholder group VEB, said the Chinese deal could help to get court support for creditor protection, but was likely not enough.

    "This is to show they have done everything possible to get money. This will be ammunition in the court case, but it won't be enough if all the suppliers combined already claim more than 100 million euros in bills," Tomic said.

    Muller said last week Saab owes suppliers 150 million euros.

    "As a company it is hard to keep alive. If you look at the man (Muller), he has shown in the past (he has tried) to keep a company going using all kinds of tricks," Tomic said. "Muller may still bring in support from somewhere."

    Source: Reuters
     
  14. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    Yep sounds like a catch 22 for the workers... They need to get payed to make their own bills but to force a final belly up for Saab, will effectively end future employment there...

    RIP
     
  15. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    SAAB continues to scream out "But I'm Not Dead Yet!" to anyone that listen.

    While the unions and creditors are looking to lop the head from the body to get what ever might be inside the beast SAAB went back to court to fight.

    Follow the bouncing kronor....

    SAAB says it has secured a bridge loan worth $96 million from a heretofore unknown legal entity known as Specialty Purpose Vehicle. Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile (which we'll mention again in the next paragraph) has signed an agreement with the aforementioned SPV to license certain technologies from the legal entity.

    This $96 million bridge loan would supposedly be paid back by the $352 million deal that SAAB had previously signed with Chinese partners Pang Da and Youngman – and yes, that's the same company that is apparently licensing technology from SPV under this latest agreement.

    My head is spinning!!
     
  16. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like the Chinese want to secure something of value that Saab owns, but not the car company itself.....

    Believe Saab is, how you say it in Chinese? Kaput.
     
  17. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Kaput in Chinese 过时的
     
  18. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    You are a gentleman and a scholar, thank you! LOL
     
  19. DneprDave

    DneprDave Well-Known Member
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    I wonder if the SAAB jets have the ignition key on the floor, like the old SAAB cars?:biggrin5:

    Dave
     
  20. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    SAAB comes back fighting....

    Source - http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110919/ANE/110919848/1494#ixzz1YPOKL42C
     

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