Reuters have a couple of reports on the current Swedish saga…

Report 1 – The good news:

Chinese car maker Chery Automobile Co has no plan to buy U.S. auto assets, its chairman was quoted as saying by state media on Tuesday.

Chery, which secured a 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) bank loan from the China Import-Export Bank this week, will use the money to improve its product quality rather than buying auto assets in the United States, Yin Tongyao told the Shanghai Securities News on the sidelines of a company event.

When they say “US assets”, they’re including Saab and Volvo.

I have a deep and abiding fear of Saab being bought out by a Chinese company, so it’s good news to me if we can strike one off the list.

There’s lots more where they came from, however, as Vovlo are finding out at the moment.

Report 2:

Ford Motor is in talks to sell its Volvo car business to its China partner Changan Automobile Group, the National Business Daily reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source at the Chinese company.

Changan president Xu Liuping held discussions with Ford and Volvo during last month’s auto show in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, the newspaper said.

The report did not provide details of the talks, but quoted an unidentified Changan executive as saying there was a chance for a deal. Changan is one of China’s six biggest auto groups.

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The road seems so clear now that Kroymans have dropped their European importation of Cadillac, Corvette and Hummer.

1. GM Europe take a decision to stand up to the guys in Detroit and say Cadillac in Europe is a waste of money, especially in this economic climate.

2. The newly appointed Car Czar agrees.

3. The Swedish government provide their loan guarantees for Saab’s continued production planning.

4. Work commences post-haste on a replacement for the Saab 9-3. The new, smaller Saab that the company really needs.

5. We all sit in the sun by the river in Trollhattan and watch the passers-by, pass by.

What is so hard about any of this?

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Note spotted by the punch-in clock at Saab in Trollhattan (truly):

Dear collegues,

Due to the current financial situation and the general aim of cutting cost and saving energy, the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off until further notice.

Regards,

Upper management

An oldie but a goodie.

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Trollhattan Saab is now on Twitter.

I have very little idea as to what I’m actually doing with it, but I think it’ll automatically generate a ‘tweet’ when a new post goes up. I’ll probably preview some posts, too, with some witty one-liners.

If you prefer to tweet than to RSS, then it might be for you.

And please don’t get mad if I don’t follow you on Twitter. My tweeting time will be limited. It’s always best to get me via email.

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Here’s a bloody good article on Saab from Auto Savant.

The article is all about relating the gaping hole in Saab’s range right now to the hole that was left after they stopped making the Saab 96. I was a little angry when I first read it, thinking that they were talking down the Saab 99 (which is still my favourite Saab model, btw).

I got over it.

It’s a good thinker of an article and congratulations to them for coming up with it. Makes that case for the new 9-3 all that much more relevant.

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Remember Lance Cole’s article on the Saab 91 Safir?

Olav in Norway – who always takes the long road home – has sent through some screenshots of his Saab 91 Safir. He picked it up on Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.

Compare these to the photos in Lance’s article. Aside from the color scheme it’s a dead ringer!

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