-
I just read some interesting info pertaining to Saab. According to Automotive News, last year, in the US, There were more Porsche Carreras sold (5737) than the entire Saab lineup (5445). That's crazy! That means that, on a statistical basis, it's more rare to see a Saab than a Carrera!
-
Apparently situation seems to be improving.
[url="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/15/report-saab-secures-financing-to-restart-production/"]Report: Saab secures financing to restart production Autoblog[/url]
-
"Volvo no longer stands alone as the only Swedish automaker with a Chinese partnership. According to Autoblog.nl, Saab and The People's Republic's Hawtei are reportedly set to announce that the two companies have joined forces. Hawtei, formerly Hautai, is likely best known on this side of the globe for strutting a logo that could have been the bastard child of the BMW roundel and the Microsoft window. At this point, it's unclear exactly what each automaker hopes to gain from the alliance, though something tells us that Hawtai will likely supply the capitol needed to keep the lights on at Saab.
The news comes after Saab announced that it had secured a loan to resume production in the short-term.
Autoblog.nl reports that Victor Muller, the current owner of Saab, will be part of an announcement about the Chinese partnership on Tuesday. "
Saved from the brink?
-
shares of Spyker today in Amsterdam rose by 20%
-
I lol'd when I saw Hawtais logo. What the hell were they thinking???
Also, does anybody know how much cash Hawtai has? I've also read that the Chinese government wants to narrow the market down to just 3 big car companies, and I have no idea how "big" Hawtai is...
[IMG]http://www.chinacartimes.com/wp-content/hawtai1.jpg[/IMG]
-
Latest news.
[url="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/03/saab-sells-30-percent-stake-to-hawtai/"]Saab sells 30-percent stake to Hawtai Autoblog[/url]
-
Seems things have taken a turn for the bad.
[url="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/12/saab-deal-with-chinese-partner-collapses/"]Saab deal with Chinese partner collapses Autoblog[/url]
-
Reading their own PR, it seems like it was Hawtai who couldn't meet the requirements. Which is probably a nice way to say "Hawtai's investors were scared to death about investing money in Saab".
I wonder how Muller became so rich if he can't run a company for his own admittance (and he also proved that with facts).
-
You know, it wasn't really ever clever to keep Saab alive. I guess their only chance is being bought by a Chinese company, but will that be good for Saab/us? Maybe it would just be best for all involved to let it die.
-
We just need to wait and see what will be of Volvo to see if that's an ption also for Saab. That said, Volvo was in much better shape when it was sold.
Saab has survived with too many years with way too old cars (9000/9-5) or boring and average cars (9-3).
The 9-3 was nice at first, but wasn't as special as a 900, not as peculiar. As a result, it sold even less than its niche predecessor.
The 9-5 has been dead, basically, for so much time people don't even remember about it. And the new model is nice and everything but a bit too sedate and once again average. Same with the 9-4x, even if being an SUV that may be the only hope for the brand.
A couple of weeks ago I saw a 9-7x, completely white wheels included. How sad, leave the dead alone.
-
[quote=LeonOfTheDead;967006]
I wonder how Muller became so rich if he can't run a company for his own admittance (and he also proved that with facts).[/quote]
Muller became rich because he is an absolute brilliant salesman. I talked to him about a year ago, two days after the announcement of the take-over. I was pretty sceptic about his plans, but he was able to completely convince me. However the facts (about Spyker and now Saab) make it almost impossible to believe it is being ran well. I really hope that he can turn things around but I think it will end up more or less like Spyker, only with a much bigger loss. :(
ps: If you have serious questions, I might be able to get his contact details again from my former colleagues and pose them to him.
-
Moar news.
[url="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/16/saab-announces-memorandum-of-understanding-with-chinas-pang-da/"]Saab announces memorandum of understanding with China's Pang Da Autoblog[/url]
To me this is I getting highly confusing.
-
1 Attachment(s)
Breaking: Saab fan builds the earth destroyer, world collapses :cool:
-
[quote=Commodore GS/E;967164]Breaking: Saab fan builds the earth destroyer, world collapses :cool:[/quote]
Maybe if they had built [I]more of these[/I], everything would've been fine...
-
Spyker set to [I]not be Spyker[/I] anymore.
[url="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/23/spyker-to-be-renamed-swedish-automobile-n-v-as-pang-da-talks-wi/"]Spyker to be renamed Swedish Automobile N.V. as Pang Da talks with Chinese gov't. Autoblog[/url]