Saab Sale Was Reportedly Delayed Due to Suspected Involvement of Russian Mafia
Posted by admin on Feb 9, 2010
The U.S. Government participated in stopping General Motors from selling Saab to a Dutch automaker in December due to possible involvement in the deal by the Russian Mafia, a Swedish media outlet is reporting.
According to the Dagens Industri newspaper, the Swedish government asked its security force, the Sapo, to investigate the financial affairs of the Convers Group, a Russian investment group owned by the family of billionaire Alexander Antonov that was one of the major shareholders of Spyker when the Dutch automaker made the offer to buy Saab in December. That investigation reportedly turned up a “strong suspicion” of ties between the Antonovs and organized crime, information that was passed on to the FBI. The report goes on to say the the board of General Motors was then contacted by the U.S. Government and told to stop the sale.
Tags: saab, saab news, Saab Sale Was Reportedly Delayed Due to Suspected Involvement of Russian Mafia
Spyker’s chief plans to drive Saab
Posted by admin on Jan 27, 2010
Emblazoned on the logo of Spyker Cars is the motto, “Nulla tenaci invia est via,” or “For the tenacious, no road is impassable”.
Victor Muller, chief executive of the Dutch boutique sports car maker, lived up to those words when he clinched a $400m deal this week to buy Saab Automobile from General Motors after two months of fraught negotiations.
“At least 10 times, I thought the deal was dead,” he says, in an interview. “But I never gave up.”
The 50-year-old Dutch entrepreneur now faces the bigger challenge of turning round a carmaker that has lost money for decades in the face of scepticism over his chances of success.
Perhaps the most damning assessment came from Leif Östling, chief executive of Scania, the Swedish truck maker that was once part of Saab.
Speaking at a conference hours before the Spyker deal was announced, he said reviving Saab was an “impossible” job that he would not accept “even with the best pay in the world”.
“We need to stop believing in illusions,” he said of those who claim the brand has a future.
Mr Muller brushes aside such pessimism as the kind of self-fulfilling prophecy that brought Saab to the brink of closure.
“If you are a sceptic in this business you have a better than average chance of proving yourself right,” he says, rejecting the argument that there is no place for niche carmakers in an industry dominated by big producers.
“What about Porsche? How can a small car manufacturer that was on the edge of bankruptcy in the 1980s now make 100,000 cars a year and big profits? Where was Audi 10 to 15 years ago? Now it sells 1m cars.”
Mr Muller says he can spark a similar renaissance in a Swedish brand once renowned for its innovative design and technology. “We’re going to be completely different to how GM dealt with Saab,” he says. “It used to be a cult brand and it can be again.”
Data released this week showed that Saab sold less than 40,000 cars last year, down from 95,000 in 2008. While sceptics would cite this as evidence of the company’s hopeless plight, Mr Muller sees an opportunity.
“We don’t need to go out and find new customers – we just need to win back the ones we’ve lost,” he says. “Saab customers were the most loyal and educated in the industry. The fact they left means they must have been disappointed.”
A new version of Saab’s flagship 9-5 model is set for launch this year, but the first chance for Spyker to place its imprint on the brand will be the planned redesign of the 9-3 compact car in 2012. “It will be as Saabish as possible,” says Mr Muller, in a nod to criticism that the brand lost its distinctiveness under US ownership.
Spyker’s takeover was met with jubilation in the town of Trollhättan, south-west Sweden, where 3,400 people work at Saab’s main production facility.
Mr Muller has given no guarantee on jobs but says: “I think the chances of hiring are much higher than firing. This company made less than 30,000 cars last year and we need to get it back up to 100,000.”
Such confidence is characteristic of a man who made his fortune turning around McGregor, the Dutch fashion brand, before founding Spyker in 1999.
Spyker’s heritage dates back to the 19th century, when it built coaches for the Dutch royal family, and the company went on to make cars and aircraft before going bankrupt in 1929. Mr Muller acquired the rights to the brand for his sports car start-up, which sells a few dozen hand-made luxury cars each year. Investors include John de Mol, the media mogul who created the Big Brother reality television format, and Mubadala Development Company, owned by the Abu Dhabi government, which controls 17 per cent.
Vladimir Antonov, the Russian banking tycoon, agreed to sell his large stake as part of the Saab deal after GM raised concern about leakage of intellectual property to Russia, according to people involved in negotiations.
Sceptics question Mr Muller’s expertise to run a mainstream car brand and point out that, much like Saab, Spyker has failed to make a profit over the past 10 years. Such criticism is unfair, he says, arguing it takes years to build a successful car brand. Reviving Saab will be easier, he insists, because the foundations are already in place.
Tags: saab, Spyker’s chief plans to drive Saab revival
GM Extends Deadline for Saab Bidders, 2010 9-5 Sedan Production to Restart
Posted by admin on Dec 30, 2009
General Motors has dropped a December 31 deadline for Saab bids and will soon restart production of certain models to the pleasure of the Swedish brand’s employees, dealers, interested buyers and of course, the automaker’s fans. However, this doesn’t mean that GM will not be closing down the brand if it doesn’t find a suitable buyer.
“We are preparing the wind-down process. At the same time we are open to options, to bids that come in. Therefore the deadline has also been dropped,” said Saab spokesman Eric Geers.
Reuters reported that Spyker CEO Victor Muller said in a text message that GM had extended the deadline for a final offer from the small Dutch supercar maker until January 7 adding that he believes there are other bidders also interested in Saab.
In addition, Saab announced today that, following a holiday shutdown, it will restart production in January for its all-new 2010 9-5 sedan and 9-3 Convertible models.
“We have the orders and we have to deliver them as usual. We also have the orders for the 9-3 and others. The factory has to continue again,” Geers said.
Tags: 2010 9-5 Sedan Production to Restart, 2010 saab 9-5, 2010 saab95, GM Extends Deadline for Saab Bidders, saab
G.M. Plans to Close Saab
Posted by admin on Dec 18, 2009
Unable to find a buyer for Saab after a year-long search, General Motors said Friday that it would begin shutting down operations at the Swedish carmaker.
G.M. had been in final sales negotiations with a Dutch maker of high-end sports cars, Spyker Cars, but issues arose during the due diligence process that made the sale impossible before G.M.’s Jan. 1 deadline, the company said in a statement.
“Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time,” the president of G.M. Europe, Nick Reilly, said.
“We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars,” Mr. Reilly said. “We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner.”
Saab will continue to honor warranties, while providing service and spare parts to current Saab owners around the world, G.M. said. Mr. Reilly said that the move was not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation, so he expected Saab to pay its debts, including those of suppliers.
But with a narrow, though loyal, customer base focused on Sweden, Britain and the American Northeast, Saab has proved too small to lure the world’s big automakers, many of which are seeking tie-ups to increase economies of scale.
Earlier this month, the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, struck a deal for the right to produce versions of the older 9-5 and 9-3 models in China.
In late November, the Swedish sports carmaker, Koenigsegg, backed out of the deal to buy the unit. It was the third time in less than two months that a sale of a G.M. brand has been called off, reflecting the difficulty of selling underperforming divisions in the midst of a global sales slump.
In early November, G.M. also backed out of a deal to sell its European operations, Adam Opel, to a Canadian parts supplier and Russian bank. And in September, G.M. announced that Saturn brand and dealerships would close after Penske Automotive terminated its deal to buy the carmaker.
G.M. still has a tentative deal to sell Hummer to a Chinese industrial machinery manufacturer.
Saab, which filed for bankruptcy protection in Sweden in February, has been a perennial money-loser and is among G.M.’s smallest brands, with sales of 93,000 vehicles worldwide last year.
It is on pace to sell fewer than 10,000 vehicles in the United States this year.
G.M. paid $600 million for half of Saab in 1990 and $125 million for the rest in 2000. Terms of the deal with Koenigsegg have not been revealed, but it was contingent on $600 million of financing from the European Investment Bank and Swedish government guarantees.
Saab, which originally made fighter planes, began to make cars after World War II in an effort to branch out.
Tags: G.M. Plans to Close Saab, saab