Trollhättan – As a result of GM’s strategic review of the global Saab business the Saab Board announced today that it will file for reorganization under a self-managed Swedish court process to create a fully independent business entity that would be sustainable and suitable for investment.
The reorganization is a self-managed, Swedish legal process headed by an independent administrator appointed by the court who will work closely with the Saab management team. As part of the process, Saab will formulate its proposal for reorganization, which will include the concentration of design, engineering and manufacturing in Sweden. This proposal will be presented to creditors within three weeks of the filing. Pending court approval, the reorganization will be executed over a three-month period and will require independent funding to succeed.
“We explored and will continue to explore all available options for funding and/or selling Saab and it was determined a formal reorganization would be the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment,” said Jan-Åke Jonsson, Managing Director for Saab Automobile. “With an all new 9-5, 9-3X and 9-4X all ready for launch over the next year and a half, Saab has an excellent foundation for strong growth, assuming we can get the funding to complete engineering, tooling and manage launch costs. Reorganization will give us the time and means that help get these products to market while minimizing the liquidity impact of Saab on GM.”
Funding for the restructured company will need to be secured during the reorganization process and will be sought from both public and private sources.
Saab will continue to operate as usual and in accordance with the formal reorganization process, with the Government providing some support during this period. The reorganization should have no impact on other GM operations. Details of the progress will be provided as milestones are achieved.
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They keep saying stuff about becoming “suitable for investment.” In other words, suitable for someone to buy a large stake in the company, right? So the plan is to independantly become suitable for dependance? Why not a plan to just become successfully independant?
Our man in Sweden (of them anyway) reports that 1300 creditors are standing in line. General Motors is said to have bought out all of Saab’s debt today to keep the company going.
Your tax money hard at work.
The pic should have been of a Saab being pushed over a cliff. That qualifies as “on the way to independence”, too..
That PR is written in PC burocratese and is so full of BS, that I can quickly summarize it like this:
They’re on their own. We don’t have money to give them (and provided we have it we won’t). So well, good luck.
Retarded sparks lol I was thinking of something similar. Drive along, open passenger door, push passenger out ‘Go be independent!’
Well the pic does have the only viable true four seat competitor to the Saab 9-3 convertible, the Sebring. For a long time I thought that was Saab’s best niche of a niche, and certainly a class they should win be default. My wife has a 2003 9-3 Sedan, and aside from repair bills higher than the average European (and that’s saying something) it’s been a good car.
GM’s stock performance in the wake of their “go, be free!” release of Saab says that most are not fooled, Saab has been cut loose to sink.
A Chrysler Sebring convertible for the photo?! Are you trying to curse Saab’s future ventures?
The road ahead will be hard. As the owner of a trusty 9000 Aero, I wish them the best of luck.
Judging by the picture above, it seems that Saab is hooking up with what’s left of Chrysler to produce the SAABring convertible.
…and if GM would simply “file for reorganization” they too would be on the “Road to Independence” – FROM US!
Why is there a picture of the Sebring?
It’s a Saabring. Hells yea.
… not exactly a quality improvement on the 9-3 interior, guys.
sorry but I never understood the ‘Saab Thing’ anyway.
This is(was)a small car company with a very small customer base.
Dont get me wrong,the 900’s were neat but after that the only thing different about a Saab was where you put the key.
Why in hell G.M. bought them in the first place mystifies me.
I am glad to see Saab return to its “home country”
roots.
I wish them well!
and G.M needs to shed the money transfer thing NOW!!!
I’m sure someone here can explain this to me. I thought GM owned Saab (the car division). What is being said here, that GM is returning the car division to the mother company and cutting ties so Saab is no longer a part of GM?
GM is returning the Saab car division to itself.
Saab Automobile is going to restructure under Swedish law and is going to become and independent business that can be seperated from GM.
That’s as much as I understand.
And there is a question:
Why shouldn’t a small and effective business have a chance to survive?
GM itself is proof enough for the fact that size is NOT the point.
Guess GM is telling Saab: Find your own road.
So Saab at this point is still a part of GM? Or GM has given up it’s ownership so Saab is now an independent company? I can usually follow what’s going on but this time I flat out don’t understand what is taking place here. My view is GM needed to get rid of Saab as they’ve never made a profit on it since they’ve owned it. Typical GM, Saab existed as an independent manufacturer for years, GM buys it and turns it into a loser.
Saab:
Born from Jets; died from GM.
born from jets…died from GREED!
Dont blame G.M for the swedes wanting to make a buck.
Nobody twisted their arms.
Yeah…I dont understand how a wholly-owned subsidiary files for bankruptcy either. Does that mean GMEurope or China or Korea can/will do the same? Probably anything to escape the clutches of the money-sucking vampire GMNA is. Good riddance GMNA.
@fred diesel
It’s down to a misunderstanding of how Swedish law works, and a conflation with Chapter 11 in the US.
swade at Saabsunited.com writes as follows:
I don’t want to tell a guy how to suck eggs, but I hope someone at Saab, probably at SaabUSA, is going to take the bull by the horns here and emphasise that Saab’s latest announcement is a good thing, not a bankruptcy.
I think that the US could probably help its own companies by taking the Chapter 11 proceedings out of their Bankruptcy Code and making them a set of separate corporate reconstruction laws on their own.
Examples:
Consumer Reports has virtually killed Saab with their reportage of the proceedings. A totally negative article.
Dave Thomas over at Kicking Tires took a much more responsible approach and his article gives a much better description of what’s really going on.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2009/02/saab-bankruptcy-what-it-means-to-you.html
Yes, this is a stressing time and companies don’t do what Saab’s done because they’re healthy. But there’s a right way to cover it and then there’s the way Consumer Reports (and others, I’m sure) have done it.
As an involuntary investor in GM (i.e., I’m a taxpayer), I resent the idea that GM would put any more money into Saab. As I’ve said before, if Sweden doesn’t care if Saab dies, why should America? We know our economy needs jobs and investment, but apparently Sweden doesn’t. Looks like the Swedes have made a sucker out of Uncle Sam.
RF:
GMAC just put the dagger into this whole bit about ‘independence’. They’ve started notifying dealers that there will be no more flooring of new vehicles, effective immediately. Existing inventory can be run off.
Saab will be essentially out of business by the end of the next quarter.
Saturn is next….