http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/23/news....htm?iid=HP_LN


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Swedish automaker Saab said on Thursday that it doesn't have the money to pay its hourly factory workers.

Swedish Automobile N.V., the parent company, said the automaker "will be unable to pay the wages to employees as it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding."

242Print The company said it is "in discussions with various parties" to get short-term funding.

The discussions are ongoing, it said, but there is "no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that the necessary funding will be obtained."

The announcement comes just days after Saab Automobile, on June 9, said it was suspending production at its factory in Trollhattan "pending more stable inflow" of auto parts.

On June 13, Saab announced tentative deals with two Chinese companies, distributor Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., Ltd. and auto manufacturer Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co., Ltd., that could provide longer-term financing for Saab.

Those arrangements still must be approved by the Chinese government and they would not help with Saab's immediate cash problems, a Saab spokeswoman said.

I hope they turn things around.

 

Like I said in another thread, Saab is a looser and has been for awhile.

 

Interesting, quirky cars- used to be a niche player. They were the first really big uses of turbos, made quite a reputation with them, and famous in the rallying and ice racing worlds. GM tried to stuff them into the same mold as the rest of the GM fold, but not really something that worked. I can appreciate their cars, but never cared enough to buy one.

 

 

I'm guessing that about now, Saab's workers would love it if their company was still in GM's portfolio.

 

What a Saab story.

 

 

Nice.

 

Just sarcasm.

 

GM was lucky to sell them when they did. I never thought the Spyker ownership would work though.

My wife's 04 9-3 was a pretty neat car. Electronics were a nightmare though. Seems like with turbo 4's and AWD becoming more and more mainstream that they'd have found a niche to exploit, but alas...

 

I never understood how Spyker thought they would own a company the size of Saab. It is too small with way to small of cash flow to support a LOSING MONEY, significantly-larger company. The whole idea was idiocracy.

With that said, I'm glad someone stepped up and tried to save Saab, and I hope it can be saved again. Personally, I've always loved Saabs...enough to even own one. 2 of my more memorable demos have been an '07 9-5 Aero 5 speed, and currently I'm tooling around in an '05 9-3 Linear 5 speed convertible. Both are/were fast, fun, had great driving positions, and get 30 MPG even with me driving them like I stole them

I've always loved how Saabs feel light, and lively when you're behind the wheel. Styling always seemed sporty enough to satisfy. I hope they make it...Saab is one of the few imports I'd love to own.

 

Judging how Saab ended up, I think most people took my view from 2 1/2 years ago (before all this happened):

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...highlight=saab

I think the title said it all.

What's also absolutely stunning is that some people were so wrapped up in some "ideal" that some posts were pretty delusional given the facts at hand:

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...highlight=saab

The real facts are hat Saab might have once been a good car company decades ago. But the people who USED to buy Saabs started buying BMWs, Infinitis, and even Subarus.

Even though GM sought to give Saab life by putting them on GM platforms, there was a reason why Saab needed GM in the 1st place. Saab simply could not compete in the marketplace. They had old cars and had no money to modernize their lineup.

When I checked out Saab and posted that top thread, I was simply flabberghasted that Saab was even in production. It made no sense outside of emotional attachment. The cars weren't selling (just like they weren't when GM bought them), GM was losing money on them, and outside of Sweden pride, GM had no reason to keep putting money into them.

Many of us need to get past the notion that car companies job is to lose money to keep a minute of fans happy.

Saab's day was fading well before GM bought them.

Everyone in late 2008 saw that Saab was going to be the 1st to go when GM started cutting divisions (even GM itself hinted as much).

GM kept Saab on life support well beyond it's time.

Spiker is finding out this now.