Saab company Archives - Page 9 of 12

Press Release: Swedish Automobile Update On Additional Short-Term Funding

Trollhättan, Sweden: Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) announces that a Chinese company placed an order to purchase 582 Saab vehicles with a total value of EUR 13 million from Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) and the full pre-payment is expected to be received this week, providing Saab Automobile with short-term funding to pay the wages to its employees and make partial supplier payments.

Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile continue their discussions with several parties to secure additional short-term funding to restart production. There can, however, be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that additional short-term funding will be obtained. Discussions on the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab Automobile are ongoing.

Victor Muller, CEO of Saab Automobile and Swedish Automobile said: “I am pleased to announce this agreement, as it secures part of the necessary short-term funding for Saab Automobile and allows us to pay our employees’ wages before the end of this month. The management of Saab Automobile is deeply committed to the company and its employees. I respect the decision of the union members to resign from the board of Saab Automobile. We very much regret the current cash shortage which is causing undeserved hardship to all and we are working relentlessly to resolve the current situation. We hope to secure additional short-term funding, necessary to reach agreement with all of our suppliers to restart production, soon.

Mr. Vladimir Antonov’s interest in participating as an investor/financier in Swedish Automobile remains unwavering, but he is still awaiting a decision on his clearance from parties at interest following the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) recommendation to clear him over 8 weeks ago. Once clearance has been obtained, Mr. Antonov can provide much needed financing and/or capital to Swedish Automobile/Saab Automobile at this critical time. We are pushing hard to obtain this vital clearance as soon as practically possible”

Swedish Automobile will update the market of any new developments.

A personal reflection on recent news

I’m writing this from my living room in Hobart, Tasmania. I was meant to land at Gothenburg airport today on my return to Sweden, but I’m stuck here in Tasmania thanks to a cloud of ash from a volcano in Chile.

It was tough to read the latest press release from our parent company today, stating that wages would be delayed. After all that we’ve been through as a company, it feels like a real kick in the guts and I know the workforce must be doing it hard today.

It was tougher still to phone in to our team’s regular Thursday morning meeting and discuss the release, to hear the voices of my colleagues, for whom this news was still sinking in.

I’m due to head back to Sweden on my postponed ticket next week and I can’t wait to get back there. It feels horrible to be away from a workplace that I care about so much, to be away from a team that I care about so much, in such a time of distress.

It’s fair to say that working at Saab is a dream come true for me. I’ve been a huge fan of the company ever since I first drove one of their cars and I’ve been working my tail off for them for more than 6 years now (as an employee for the last few months). I’ve never come across another place with such a rich history, such a right philosophy and such genuinely smart, warm and caring people. It’s such a pleasure to be there every day and share a deeper insight of this company with its community.

The obituaries for Saab are already coming in from the various writers and tweeters, all trying to be more insightful and/or wittier than everyone else. I don’t blame them. I’d probably do the same in their position. I was urged by one person on Twitter to give it up, to let it go and admit that this is the end of things for Saab. I can (almost) understand where he’s coming from. There’s a lot of tiredness surrounding the fringes of this company right now.

My response, however – no chance. No chance at all.

There’s no covering over the darkness of the hour, but I keep telling people what a colleague told me last year: when you’ve got new, great product, there’s always a reason to keep on going. Right now, we’re in a very difficult position. But we’ve got heaps of great product on the verge of release and even better technology being worked on out in the back rooms.

For me, there’s absolutely no chance of giving up on this company. I can’t wait to get back to Sweden next week, rally with my colleagues and take up whatever fight we have to win.

Swedish Automobile Press release – 23 June 2011

Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 23 June 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) will be unable to pay the wages to employees as it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding. Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile are in discussions with various parties to obtain short-term funding, including via the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab that was announced previously, and with their financiers in connection with current financing arrangements. These discussions are ongoing. There can however be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that the necessary funding will be obtained.

Saab Automobile has ongoing negotiations with suppliers in reaching agreement on the terms of payments in order to resume an orderly inflow of parts and components.

Swedish Automobile will update the market of any new developments.

An update on Saab’s situation from the inside

I’ve had a few people in comments ask about the current situation at Saab Automobile. I’ve also read a bunch of reports that continue to cover our apparent demise in the finest detail. From a personal point of view, I store those away and look forward to the best revenge – seeing Saab live well.

It’s difficult to provide constant updates, but the company is doing the best it can to keep the general public informed as to what’s going on. We know that we have a lot of interested stakeholders who are hungry for information and we try to get them the information they need, but the situation is quite fluid and daily updates are not appropriate at this point in time because, as we’ve mentioned in previous releases, the situation changes from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour within the day.

Nevertheless, here’s an attempt to bring you up to speed with some of what’s going on.

Our medium-long term outlook has recently been enhanced with the deal announced last week for a joint-venture between Saab, Youngman and PangDa for future manufacturing and distribution in China. We see huge potential in the Chinese market. In the short term, we see great interest already in our newest releases, the Saab 9-5 and Saab 9-4x and we have an excellent sales partner in PangDa to enable us to grow our presence in the Chinese market. In the long term, we see great possibilities in terms of wider distribution and new JV manufacturing possibilities to add to our existing manufacturing in Trollhattan, Sweden.

The proposed joint venture manufacturing deal would see Saab-branded and child-branded vehicles being built and sold locally in the Chinese market. Whilst we value all of our markets, the Chinese market is the obvious growth corridor for Saab into the future and this deal is key to that future growth. Whilst we leave no stone unturned in making sure we’re prepared for the approval process, we have every confidence that the deal will get through regulatory approval both in Sweden and in China. Youngman, despite it’s name, is a well established company with a near 60-year history in transportation and automotive manufacturing. Whilst they may not be the biggest vehicle producer in China, they’re very well connected and respected in the industry, which is why we had been speaking with them for a significant period of time prior to this deal.

Our achilles heel at the moment is not the long-term outlook, though we do not take that for granted. Our immediate challenge is cashflow; securing sufficient funds to get suppliers on board and the factory up and running again on a consistent basis.

These are all points mentioned previously in various statements from Saab, but they’re worth repeating again.

Saab has a significant order bank in place. Those orders represent a big boost to Saab’s inward cash flows, however we can’t invoice and receive payment for those cars until they’re built. We can’t invoice a 98% complete vehicle. You can call it a Saabish chicken-and-egg puzzle if you like – we have plenty of orders to complete (meaning inwards cashflow) if we can get parts, but parts have been difficult to get because of restricted cashflow. We are working hard with suppliers to resolve this.
Some people have mentioned that the PangDa funds should have been sufficient to get things running again on a stable footing. The PangDa purchase was indeed a significant one, however we still have to build and supply those vehicles to PangDa, which is what they paid their money for.
We hope to receive another instalment of EIB funding soon, however as many of you know, this is not a short term liquidity solution. EIB funding is for longer term investment in efficient technology. Whilst Saab are fortunate to do a lot of work in this area, we understand that the EIB take a longer term outlook, which is what we’re looking to put in place with deals such as the Youngman and PangDa deals.
Work continues to secure the PropCo sale and lease-back of Saab’s real estate, which would provide a significant boost to liquidity.

Saab has a brilliant product plan for the coming years, as well as great offerings for sale in the current range.

The Saab 9-4x is completely allocated for the 2011 model year and interest in the 2012 model year is already very strong.
We have the all new Saab 9-5 sedan in place and established in the market.
The Saab 9-3 Griffin sees a significant technology boost to the 9-3 range and is the best Saab 9-3 we’ve ever built.
The 9-3 TTiD range offers the most powerful and flexible sub-120g emissions package in the market. This is a key to sales in many European markets and interest has been very strong for this model.
The Saab 9-5 SportCombi, a key for the 9-5’s success in Europe, is about to come into production.

It’s the biggest and best model range that Saab has had in its 64-year automotive history. For those of you who are frustrated that you can’t take delivery of your car just yet, let me assure you that we’re just as frustrated that we haven’t been able to get it to you.

We’d like nothing more.

We will keep you updated as best we can, but no specific date can be promised at this stage for the continuation of production. The conditions that will enable that are still being negotiated with key suppliers around the world.

Saab Engineering Services now online

This is more likely a post for industry, but it’s also an interesting thing for Saab enthusiasts who enjoy knowing some of the wider aspects of the business.

Saab has a great deal of expertise in many areas and a new operation, Saab Engineering Services, is seeking to offer that expertise to clients around the world. Saab, of course, is uniquely positioned to do this because we’re all in one fairly compact place. Clients can visit and they don’t have to travel to different countries in order to see both engineering and design, for example. This is a full-service automotive engineering and design business that’s being offered here, and the only other manufacturer with a similar level of competence all in one place is Porsche.

In recent times under our previous owner, Saab was the global center of excellence within General Motors for structural design, electronic management systems, engine turbocharging, transmissions and electric drivelines, chassis development and safety systems. Saab are now looking to combine that expertise with a new entrepreneurial spirit in the form of Saab Engineering Services.

SES is now offering up Saab’s expertise in vehicle integration, electronics, powertrain development, sheet metal, interior design, vehicle testing, analysis, thermal solutions, special vehicle development, prototyping and production engineering (Saab’s prototyping facility was one of the largest in the GM group).

That’s a lot of experience we’ve got to share and it makes good business sense to do so.

The man behind Saab Engineering Services is Per Lindberg. He was there when the whole enterprise started in 2009. Saab were looking to seperate from GM, which they knew would lead to some seasonal surplus engineering capacity in Trollhattan from time to time. Why not perform this work for others in need of that sort of expertise when our excess capacity allows?

The focus is on long term relationships that can benefit both parties in a true win/win situation. Clients will get a full service engineering and design solution that can take them from conception to industrialisation. From Saab’s point of view, it may be possible to not just earn income through providing engineering services. They can also potentially share purchasing with some engineering customers, thereby driving down parts costs considerably.

Achievements of the Saab engineering team – just over the last few years since the decision to separate from GM – include the following:

Complete development of a working EV framework, electric motor and gearbox, control software, battery control and storage technology. The test fleet is now in production.
Development of the Phoenix platform which is scalable for different segments from C to E segment, including new fuel tank technology which will be lighter and cheaper than existing plastic tanks, eXWD system and an all-new bespoke climate control system.
Development of the IQon entertainment system.

Don’t let a 3-point list trick you into thinking it’s small. The items listed there are huge in automotive terms and generally require a great deal of time and money to develop. Saab Engineering has proven its efficiency in bringing these about in minimal time and all are destined for either testing (EV framework) or production (Phoenix and IQon) in the next few years.

The engineering business formally got underway last year (?) and already there’s a good number of clients in the books and a few more waiting in the wings. Some of them are household names in the automotive business, too, and very good potential customers and partners for Saab.

This is just another way that Saab is looking to expand its business and put its in-house knowledge base to good use.

Swedish Automobile NV website now live

Our parent company’s name change from Spyker Cars NV to Swedish Automobile NV becomes official today and they’ve launched a new corporate website to suit.

The website is now live. I know there are some people interested in the whole company and not just the cars we make. Now is your opportunity to check the new site out.

Visit: Swedish Automobile NV.

—

Press Release: Saab Automobile, Spyker, Pang Da And Youngman Enter Into MOU On Distribution/Manufacturing Partnership For China And Equity Participation

Trollhättan, Sweden: Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) announces today that Spyker, Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile), Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., Ltd (Pang Da) and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co., Ltd. (Youngman) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU includes an equity participation in the total aggregate amount of about EUR 245 million as well as a strategic alliance consisting of a three partite distribution joint venture and a tripartite manufacturing joint venture for Saab-branded and child brand vehicles in China.

On 16 May 2011 Spyker and Saab Automobile signed a memorandum of understanding (the 16 May MOU) with Pang Da, China’s largest publicly traded automobile distributor with over 1,100 dealerships nationwide. That 16 May MOU included a strategic alliance consisting of a 50/50 distribution joint venture (DJV) and a manufacturing joint venture (MJV) for Saab branded vehicles as well as for an MJV owned brand (the so-called ‘child brand’) in China. It was agreed that Saab Automobile would have up to 50 percent in the MJV, with Pang Da and a to-be-selected manufacturing partner owning the remaining shares. Pang Da and Saab Automobile have now agreed with Youngman to become the manufacturing partner in the MJV (in which Youngman will take 45% of the shares, Saab 45% and Pang Da 10%) and the DJV in which Youngman will take 33% of the shares, Pang Da 34% and Saab Automobile 33%.

Under the May 16 MOU, Pang Da would take an equity stake in Spyker for a total amount of EUR 65 million, representing 24 percent of Spyker on a fully diluted basis. With Youngman entering as a new shareholder in Spyker, the equity stake of Pang Da in Spyker will remain at 24 % raising its investment to EUR 109 million. The share price remains at EUR 4.19 per share and Pang Da will have the right to nominate up to two members of the Supervisory Board of Spyker.

Youngman will take a 29.9 % interest in Spyker on a fully diluted basis investing EUR 136 million at EUR 4.19 per share. Youngman will have the right to nominate up to two members of the Supervisory Board of Spyker.

Spyker, Saab Automobile, Pang Da and Youngman will set up joint ventures with respect to the manufacturing of Saab branded and child branded vehicles and the distribution of Saab branded and child branded vehicles for the China market. Saab Automobile and Youngman will each have a 45% interest in the manufacturing JV and Pang Da will hold the remaining 10%. Saab Automobile and Youngman will each have a 33% interest in the distribution JV and Pang Da will hold 34%.

The MOU is non-binding and the transactions following the MOU are subject to agreement on definitive transaction documents and certain conditions, which include consents from certain governmental agencies and third parties.

Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker and Saab Automobile said: “Having entered the MOU on May 16 with Pang Da, we collectively immediately set out to identify the most suitable (manufacturing) partner to join Saab and our joint ventures. We are convinced that Youngman represents all the qualities required to make Saab and the joint ventures a success. This MOU not only shows the belief of Pang Da and Youngman in our products for the Chinese market, it also is a step that significantly strengthens Saab’s financial position and would secure the mid and long term financing of Saab Automobile. Both Pang Da and Youngman have demonstrated a similar entrepreneurial mindset as we have which we feel will be instrumental to establish Saab’s presence in China. I am very confident that based on their experience, proven skills, their ability to move quickly and their financial strength, we found the partners that are best suited to fully explore Saab’s potential in China.”

Mr. PANG Qinghua, CEO of Pang Da, said: “Since our visit to Saab Automobile in Sweden we are even more convinced of the potential of Saab in the global market and the Chinese market, the number one market in the world, in particular and we intend to fully explore it. Not only are we impressed with the current and future product line up that is very well suited to the needs of the Chinese market but we are particularly impressed by their design, engineering and manufacturing skills.”

Mr PANG Qingnian, CEO of Youngman said: “We have been in contact with Saab Automobile for quite some time and we are very pleased to have reached an agreement with both Pang Da and Saab. We feel that Saab as a premium European brand appeals strongly to the taste and preferences of the Chinese customer who is looking for top quality vehicles with the highest levels of safety, driving pleasure and comfort and an unmistakable design language. Youngman is an automobile industrial group that produces and sells Youngman branded motor cars, MAN brand heavy type trucks and automobile spare parts. Our Manufacturing facilities are state of the art and are exactly tailored to build Saab vehicles at the highest quality standards. We look forward to a long lasting and successful relationship with Saab Automobile and Pang Da both in China as well globally through our investment in Saab.”

Communique: Production suspension to continue during next week

An internal communique from Saab updating the situation with regards to recent disruptions at the plant since resumption of production.

——-

The halt in production in April and May did not just affect Saab, but also our suppliers. We expected the risk of disruptions while restarting production, and have indeed experienced such disruptions this week. Therefore, the company decided yesterday to temporarily suspend production until we can secure a more stable flow of material.

Yesterday, Management reviewed the forecasted conditions for next week. This is part of the routine enabling us to inform suppliers about the production plan. The review revealed that suspended production will be necessary during next week as well.

The dialogue with our suppliers continues with high priority. Meanwhile, representatives from Saab and Spyker are working on a variety of initiatives to further strengthen our financial position in the short and long term and to stabilize operations. We expect to be able to make an announcement soon.

The Production staff will be at home today, Friday. Thereafter, Production management will make continual operating decisions about required attendance at work. The staff will be kept informed by their supervisors.

——

End of the internal communique. Time for a little bit of context……

We have two primary ways of getting cashflow into our business.

The first is via commercial financial arrangements, which we continue to work hard at in order to secure our financial base for the future.

The second is to produce, sell and invoice cars, which is what we are working to secure with our suppliers. We now have an order bank of some 10,000 vehicles between our plant in Trollhattan and our 9-4x manufacturing arrangements with GM at Ramos Arizpe. This order bank represents a substantial and prolonged cash inflow.

As was mentioned when production resumed, we expected that there would be disruptions along the way. There are hundreds of suppliers involved with the production side of our business, and hundreds more involved in other aspects of the business. Our recent prolonged stoppage affected them in numerous ways, and this has had consequences for the re-start of production here at Saab.

As we’ve mentioned in prior communications, we are working hard on both sides of this cashflow issue and will continue to do so until the situation is resolved.

Press Release: SAAB AUTOMOBILE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS PRODUCTION PENDING MORE STABLE INFLOW OF COMPONENTS

Following on from the production communication from yesterday……

——

Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 9 June 2011 – Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) today decided to temporarily suspend production at its production facility in Trollhättan. The seven-week production stop in April and May has not just affected Saab Automobile, but particularly also its supplier base. While Saab Automobile booked lots of progress and reached agreements with the vast majority of its supplier base, negotiations with a number of suppliers on payment and delivery terms are still ongoing. These negotiations are expected to be finalized shortly.

Saab Automobile is working on a number of initiatives to secure further short and medium-term funding.

As communicated in the press release of May 27th, Saab Automobile anticipated production hiccups in the start-up phase which Saab Automobile has in fact experienced in the last few days. In order to avoid disruptions as a result of irregular inflows of certain components and parts, Saab Automobile has decided to temporary suspend production and will resume production as soon as possible once it has secured a more stable inflow of components and parts together with its supplier base.

Victor Muller, Chairman and CEO of Saab Automobile, said: “We anticipated that we would not see a smooth inflow of supplies as from the day we restarted production, May 27th, and communicated that in our press release of that day. We have a few thousand suppliers worldwide with each of whom we have to reach acceptable terms and conditions to resume production of parts and subsequent deliveries. Many suppliers are located outside Europe and re-stocking inevitably takes time.

“Thus far we have reached agreements with the vast majority of our suppliers and we are confident that we will reach agreement with all remaining suppliers in the coming days, thereby stabilizing our operations and our production in particular. However, it is not to be excluded that we will see production hiccups in the near future until the supply chain is fully back to normal. I reiterate our appreciation for our suppliers who are working with us constructively to come to terms and put our production back on track. At this moment, we have almost 10,000 orders on hand, including those for the Saab 9-4X which is currently being built in Mexico.”

Connect with Saab online

You’re currently at Inside Saab – the inside perspective on what’s going on from day to day here at Saab HQ in Trollhattan. I’m very humbled that you’ve taken the time to visit and I hope you enjoy your stay, tell all your friends and come back again.

But did you know that there are other official Saab channels out there and we’ve got various ways for you to keep in touch?

Saab.com

….because we’re a car company after all. Saab.com features the reason we’re in business, our outstanding cars. You can customise your own vehicles, spin them around for a 360-degree view and check out what else is happening around the company.

Saab Newsroom RSS feed

All of our corporate news in one place. If you want the official releases and none of the human interest stuff, the Saab Newsroom is the place to go. If you use an RSS reader, simply load the Newsroom RSS feed into your reader, hit ‘subscribe’ and you’ll have access to full posts that you can read when it suits you.

Saab Newsroom on Twitter

The Newsroom’s twitter feed is a way to keep up to date on all Newsroom postings if Twitter’s your thing.

Inside Saab RSS feed

Again, if you use an RSS reader (and it doesn’t have auto-discovery), simply load the Inside Saab RSS feed into your reader, hit ‘subscribe’ and you’ll have access to full posts that you can read when it suits you.

Inside Saab on Twitter

I tweet throughout the day, sometimes a lot and sometimes not. You can use the Inside Saab twitter feed to stay informed about when new posts are made on the Inside Saab website. I also post links to recommended reading elsewhere and the odd occasional tidbit about what’s going on inside Saab in real time.

Saab on Facebook

Saab’s Facebook page has nearly 90,000 fans and there is always something going on there. You can send us images of your car, participate in competitions and get local and global Saab news posted to your wall, receiving it whenever you log in. There are also links to events, galleries, downloadable wallpapers and much, much more.

Saab on Youtube

The Saab Cars Official Youtube page has a large selection of video content for you to enjoy. We use this content here on Inside Saab as well as on Facebook, but you can also browse the channel yourself and enjoy a rich media insight into our vehicles and our company. We have separate playlists on Youtube, too, so you can pick the subject that interests you most and head there first.

——

We’re constantly developing our online presence and you can expect to see more ways to interact with Saab soon.

—