Saab Automobile lodged an application for reorganisation today. A decision on this application is still pending as I write this. If granted, the reorganisation process will allow us court protection from creditors’ actions whilst we continue making the financial arrangements we need to carry us into our long-term deals with partners from China.
As you might imagine, it was a pretty busy day here today. I am preparing some text on the reorganisation process, some plain-speak on what it will mean for Saab and our stakeholders, but that will have to wait until the court’s decision is announced.
For now, I thought you might be interested in a first-hand view of some of the things that happened here today.
We started the day with a meeting around 9am to take the marketing, sales and aftersales teams through the press release and associated points about the actions taken today. The meeting was led by Matthias Siedl and Knut Simonsson, our global sales and marketing chiefs.
Following this, there was a presentation by Victor Muller to the full workforce at Saab inside the factory in Trollhattan.
Victor spoke about all manner of things regarding the current situation and introduced Mr Guy Lofalk, the administrator nominated by Saab to take charge of the reorganisation process. Mr Lofalk also oversaw the previous reorganisation when Saab was owned by General Motors in 2009.
Victor Muller explained the road that Saab had taken over the last few months and included his personal apologies for the current delays in wage/salary payments, explaining that the filing today would help staff to get paid sooner, whilst providing a more stable and certain environment for Saab to pursue their funding requirements.
Staff were offered the opportunity to ask questions a small number of them took this opportunity before the meeting dispersed.
L to R: Guy Lofalk, Kristina Geers and Victor Muller
Saab expected a decision from the court in Vanersborg at 2pm, however the decision has been delayed and is now expected at 2pm Thursday. A press conference scheduled for 2:30pm still went ahead and was well attended. You can see a recording of the press conference, recorded by Saabs United here.
Victor Muller spoke to the gathered press as a group before taking questions, and then stopping for individual interviews.
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As mentioned earlier, I’ll have a few more thoughts to share on the reorganisation meaning and implications but that will have to wait until we have received a decision from the court, due around 2pm tomorrow, Swedish time.
We have a little database here and I was able to get a few numbers out of it (OK, not me, but someone who was very kind and helpful). I thought those numbers might be interesting for a few people to look at.
These are production numbers from 1950 up until the end of 2010. They include Saabs built outside of Trollhattan, as well as vehicles built in Trollhattan that didn’t wear a Saab badge (hello, Cadillac BLS). There are some test vehicles included here as well, which are earlier than some might expect.
CAR
MOTOR OUTPUT (kW)
TORQUE (lb ft)
BATTERY
CHARGE TIME (hrs)
RANGE (miles)
SEATS
PRICE
Honda Fit EV
92
189
Li-Ion (20kWh)
3
82
5
$37,415
Commuter Cars Tango T600
600
3000
LiFe PO4
??
120
2
$200,000
CODA
100
221
LiFe PO4 (31kWh)
6
125
5
$37,250
Ford Focus Electric
107
181
Li-Ion (23kWh)
4
76
5
$39,200
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
49
145
Li-Ion
7
62
4
$31,125
Nissan Leaf
80
207
Li-Ion (24kWh)
7
73
5
$37,250
Smart ED (1)
55
??
Li-Ion (17.6kWh)
7
80
2
$25,000
Tesla Model S (performance) (2)
310
443
Li-Ion (85kWh)
6
300
5
$92,500
Toyota Rav4 EV
129
273
Li-Ion
5
103
5
$49,800
Wheego LiFe (3)
45
95
LiFe PO4
5
100
2
$32,995
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For those of you who like this sort of thing, I’ll try and dig into some of these numbers in a little more detail for the future. The amount of granularity is not quite what you might expect as a consumer because it’s written from a factory point of view (i.e. looking for Viggen numbers isn’t as simple as looking for something that says ‘Viggen’, it means a 9-3 between certain years with a 2.3T engine).
A month or so ago we were running a few test rides in our Saab 9-3 ePower vehicle at a Swedish event called Almedalen.
Once the Saab 9-3 ePower returned to Trollhattan, I jumped in for a quick ride and we decided to shoot this short video of the car in action. The video was shot just outside our technical department here at Saab. I’ll have more to share about the 9-3 ePower and my ride in it soon.
We hope to have a test fleet of these electric vehicles out on Swedish roads in the near future.
A lot of vehicle testing takes place where the car is driven around a circuit by real people. There are times when this is absolutely necessary. People with experience in such things need to ‘feel’ the car as it develops. In some instances, however, the testing process can be hampered by human error because humans are ‘variable’. That is, they won’t necessarily repeat the exact same action time after time after time.
If we can develop a machine to do some of these tests, you get the same circuit driven the same way every time and the vehicle data retrieved from such a test should be based on consistent inputs in every respect. More than that, steering robots are actually able to give more precise and more dramatic (i.e. faster) steering inputs that humans can, and they don’t get tired either.
The simple version of “How” involves a track modelled on GPS data and some sophisticated hardware being installed into the car to steer it according to this pre-programmed course. The hardware used to control the steering is a steering robot from Vehico and the work is done in cooperation with them. The steering robot is currently only able to perform so-called ‘open loop’ tests (steering as function of time) such as step-steer, sine-sweep steer, and sine-with-dwell steering, which are used for vehicle dynamics characterisation. The task for Klas and Carl, which even the experts say is very challenging one, was to create the control software necessary to control the steering such that the vehicle follows a pre-defined path using advanced GPS and motion sensors as input data.
The guys responsible for this job were Klas and Carl, two students from Chalmers University who completed this project in conjunction with Saab as their Masters thesis.
Their thesis presentation was made back in June and I’ve just been forwarded a copy of the video they made as part of that presentation. In the video, you can see the robotic steering system in action, a vehicle’s eye view of the road they’re driving as well as speed and tracking information.
It’s all fascinating stuff and indicative of just some of the technical work that goes on behind the scenes here at Saab.
My obsession with the Saab 9-4x continues with a rare top view of the vehicle….. I was walking upstairs to talk to PR about a few things and this angle caught my eye. Two minutes later I was back with my camera.
Like most Saab fans, I was a little skeptical when I first saw the 9-4x concept back in 2008. With a little time and personal exposure, however, I have to say …….. I could definitely have one of these. It’s the first time I’ve seen the color and this interior configuration up close and it’s absolutely magnificent.
Saab have made several announcements in regard to deals made with Chinese companies Pang Da and Youngman since mid-May. These deals have changed slightly in nature as each new announcement has been made and I thought it might be useful for those interested in Saab business to track the dynamic nature of the deals.
Please note that these are just dot-point summaries and not detailed examinations of the conditions associated with each deal. They are treated this way to quickly and easily present significant changes to the deals where these have occurred.
Memorandum of Understanding signed with Pang Da (non-binding)
Includes a strategic alliance consisting of a 50/50 distribution joint venture (DJV)
includes provision for a manufacturing joint venture (MJV) for Saab branded vehicles as well as for an MJV-owned brand (the so-called ‘child brand’) in China.
Saab Automobile will have up to 50 percent in the MJV, with Pang Da and a to-be-selected manufacturing partner owning the remaining shares.
Pang Da purchase 30million Euros worth of vehicles with an option to purchase 15mil Euro more within 30 days.
Pang Da to take 24% stake in Spyker (subsequently renamed Swedish Automobile) valued at 65mil Euros
Youngman to take 29.9% ownership interest in Swedish Automobile, valued at 136mil Euros
Pang Da retain their right to a 24% ownership interest, however the cost of this 24% investment by Pang Da is raised from 65mil Euros to 109mil Euros because of additional equity to be contributed by Youngman.
Distribution joint venture moves from 50/50 between Saab and Pang Da under the initial agreement to a tripartite DJV – Saab 33%, Youngman 33% and Pang Da 34%
Manufacturing joint venture conditions change to see Saab Automobile and Youngman each have a 45% interest (Saab was to have a 50% interest under the initial agreement) and Pang Da hold the remaining 10%.
MoU is subject to conditions before being confirmed as a binding agreement. Agreement will be subject to regulatory approvals in Sweden and China.
Equity components of previous MoU now converted to binding agreements. These are still subject to regulatory approval, which all parties are working on and expect to receive in coming months.
Parties continue working towards execution of binding agreements for a strategic alliance consisting of a tripartite distribution joint venture and a tripartite manufacturing joint venture for Saab-branded and child brand vehicles in China.
Saab and Youngman make conditional agreement on a 50/50 new product joint venture (NPJV) that will see three new models developed – identified as Saab 9-1, Saab 9-6 and Saab 9-7. Saab will contribute design, development and testing expertise and Youngman will contribute finance.
Agreement on NPJV is also dependent on regulatory approvals, which is expected in a timely manner.
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I hope that helps to clear up the nature and current status of the deals, which have steadily increased Saab’s partnership with Pang Da and Youngman. As noted in the most recent release on July 4, this broad base and increased co-operation is expected to provide better conditions for the entry of Vladimir Antonov into the ownership group, which will only further increase Saab’s stability into the future.
Welcome to the third film in a series of “Inside Saab” videos – a 10-part mini-series on what goes on in various departments here at Saab Automobile.
When people think “wind tunnel” then generally think of aerodynamics. That’s not the case here. Saab’s wind tunnel isn’t an aero chamber, but a climate chamber which serves a very different function.
This video takes you inside Saab’s climate wind tunnel, where they can recreate a wide variety of climatic conditions for vehicle testing. There are solar lamps and heat exchangers in the tunnel that can vary the temperature from a hot desert sun to far northern winter conditions.
Saab do testing in these natural environments, of course, but having the climate wind tunnel allows you a lot of flexibility in doing repeatable testing on different parts. Many of you live in places where the weather can be quite variable from day to day. The climate wind tunnel eliminates this variation and vehicle testing engineers can be sure that the climate conditions are the same over and over again, for each test they perform.
Enjoy this peek into Saab’s climate wind tunnel.
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In case you missed the first two instalments, they are available at the following links:
I know what you’re thinking when you read that title….
You’re thinking this might be some sort of apocalyptic horror story where we aren’t allowed to drive anymore and robots from Sweden take over the driving, plugged into some evil worldwide network that monitors traffic, your speed, where you’ve been and so on and so forth. It sounds like Big Brother moving right into your garage.
Not so.
The story does involve robotics and driving, though, and it’s both fun to watch and incredible to experience first hand.
Klas Olsson and Carl Sandberg are engineering students from Chalmers University and what they’ve developed is a system whereby a car can be driven by a robotic steering unit according to pre-programmed parameters (circuit, speeds, etc). They were offered a chance to develop this closed-loop circuit system as part of their Masters Thesis project and in partnership with Saab. They did their work at the Chassis department, headed by Martin Öman, and were supervised by Dr. Matthijs Klomp, who is a development engineer in the vehicle dynamics simulation group at Saab.
Why and how?
This is the simple version. The details are something I can’t go into (even if I understood them fully) as they involve software and technical IP that belong to Klas, Carl and Saab. But here goes….
A lot of vehicle testing takes place where the car is driven around a circuit by real people. There are times when this is absolutely necessary. People with experience in such things need to ‘feel’ the car as it develops. In some instances, however, the testing process can be hampered by human error because humans are ‘variable’. That is, they won’t necessarily repeat the exact same action time after time after time.
If we can develop a machine to do some of these tests, you get the same circuit driven the same way every time and the vehicle data retrieved from such a test should be based on consistent inputs in every respect. More than that, steering robots are actually able to give more precise and more dramatic (i.e. faster) steering inputs that humans can, and they don’t get tired either.
The simple version of “How” involves a track modelled on GPS data and some sophisticated hardware being installed into the car to steer it according to this pre-programmed course. The hardware used to control the steering is a steering robot from Vehico and the work is done in cooperation with them. The steering robot is currently only able to perform so-called ‘open loop’ tests (steering as function of time) such as step-steer, sine-sweep steer, and sine-with-dwell steering, which are used for vehicle dynamics characterisation. The task for Klas and Carl, which even the experts say is very challenging one, was to create the control software necessary to control the steering such that the vehicle follows a pre-defined path using advanced GPS and motion sensors as input data.
I’ll let Klas and Carl explain more….. with a demonstration as well.
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So, aside from the challenge and the associated fun of building a robotic vehicle, why are Klas and Carl doing this and why are Saab happy to provide the tools?
There are four main benefits with this thesis work from Saab’s point of view:
Evaluation of the Vehico steering robot
‘Closed-loop’ path control (autonomous driving) enables Saab to perform more vehicle dynamics testing in Sweden, saving travel and transportation costs and test-track rental.
Since the closed-loop control is co-developed with Saab we will have full access to the work and will be able to use the developed algorithms for future research into autonomous driving for lane-keeping tasks, platooning an other future functions.
This is a very advanced vehicle dynamics control task attracting top students, which will enhance our mutual relationship with Chalmers.
The immediate benefit of autonomous driving is to enable vehicle dynamics characterisation testing as well as legal compliance testing that is not normally possible on relatively narrow surfaces such those that Saab have access to locally in Sweden.
One example of a vehicle dynamics surface normally used by Saab is the one at IDIADA in Spain, a facility that costs significant money to use and is in constant demand. If Saab can do the same work at lower cost and in their own time, all the better.
Dr. Matthijs Klomp summarizes:
“As mentioned, the problem of closed-loop path control is a very challenging one. This in particular since the control must be accurate and robust in a wide range of conditions, including and up to the handling limits of the vehicle. Additionally the controller must be easy to adapt to changes in the vehicle and the road surface (i.e. snow, gravel, asphalt).
Klas and Carl started to implement their control strategy in our simulation environment using IPG CarMaker, who also sponsored this project. Subsequently they moved to implement their controller in the real-time computer of the steering robot and to get it all working in the real-world.
The end-result is truly amazing, the vehicle both follows the path very well in both the linear and non-linear handling range without the steering becoming nervous or erratic, a common problem otherwise, yet is very simple to operate for the test driver. I congratulate Klas and Carl to a job well done!”
