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Swedish newspaper, Göteborgs-Posten (you can translate that title yourself) has a summary on the current situation facing Saab.
ctm has been kind enough to provide another translation for us. This is interesting reading not just for those interested in Saab, but also for those interested in the wider implications (and the complications) of this decision.
——
Saab wants to stand on its own feet
The employees at Saab have a plan. An almost romantic, crazy, optimistic plan, in which several new models are built in Sweden, and Saab is on its own but strong.
It is difficult to feel anything but admiration and respect (and some compassion) for Jan-Åke Jonsson, Saab’s CEO, and his colleagues in the management at Saab who are currently working intensively to put together a rescue package that secures Saab’s continued existence, both as brand and as a manufacturer in Trollhättan.
The plan’s broad outlines in brief:
All production (with the exception of a possible upcoming 9-4X) moved home to Sweden, the new Saab 9-5 from Rüsselsheim and cabriolet 9-3 from Austria. With the help of loans from the government and the EU, Saab will get more employees, upgrade the factory in Trollhättan, and acquire the tools needed to start the new production.
That provides an independent Saab with control over its own destiny. It is a plan as beautiful as a photography of a landscape in the early morning before the sun burned away the morning fog that hide all the ugly, angular features. For there are quite a few details that must jibe.
The Swedish government.
It concerns the jobs in Trollhättan, and the future of the automobile industry. But is it obvious to keep a car industry, that’s in a state of complete restructuring, going with artificial means? And will it work? For us living in the southwest Sweden, the answer seems obvious, but is it really? The government’s task is, to say the least, delicate. And not only in terms of managing the Swedish tax money so they do not fall into the pockets of the American owners. Every mistake will be exploited politically.
The EU.
After all the reports on how Germany, France, Britain and so on are prepared to support its domestic car industry, one could imagine that all EU rules and regulations about competition is being eliminated. But this is clearly not the case. Sweden is the front runner and if the Swedish government handles the issue slightly wrong we can end up paying the penalties, if only as an example to the rest of the EU. And then we have not yet reached the European Investment Bank, where no one knows what priority Saab has in the queue of borrower.
General Motors.
Suddenly, at the auto show in Detroit, the GM management were very reluctant to accept loan assistance from countries with GM factories. It is obviously a tactical move – but what is the underlying intention? What does GM demand of Saab to let it achieve independence? GM still has a lot of pressure to restructure. They must satisfy the U.S. government’s requirement for providing further loans to GM. To eliminate Saab from the picture – at least in the American debate – is part of the restructuring. Jan-Åke Jonsson and his Saab has a lot of questions to answer. And they have to fight against the clock, because GM is working with its plan and will present it to the U.S. government on February 17. Saab will “likely” have place in it. That’s the words if Rick Wagoner, CEO GM, at our direct question in Detroit.
If Saab could clear all these obstacles, then it’s on to the main task: to build and sell cars at a profit. There is actually reason to be optimistic. An independent Saab could cultivate, and make an art of, the independence of minds – the special one, which have customers say, with a mixture of horror and enthusiasm, “but it is a Saab.” For these customers, it is only an advantage if the brand is not associated with GM. And they are not particularly sensitive to business cycles, either.
16 responses so far ↓
1 motasim
// Jan 24, 2009 at 10:31 pm
well, I’m optimistic for saab to stand on it’s own, that’s way I believe in it.
2 Conan/Barbarian
// Jan 25, 2009 at 2:03 am
I am all for getting Saab back to its origin. For Saab to go extinct would be a loss equal to all the extinct plants, animals, etc. that have been exploited by the greedy and killed by the destruction of its habitat. Saab’s habitat is the world of those who desire the unique, independent thinking and visionary in automotive transportation.
3 Andy Rupert
// Jan 25, 2009 at 2:51 am
I always wondered what happened to Conan the Barbarian. It’s nice to know that you are now thrashing Saabs.
4 Karen
// Jan 25, 2009 at 3:37 am
“…customers say, with a mixture of horror and enthusiasm, “but it is a Saab.” ”
horror? can we see the original Swedish, please? not that I do not trust ctm, but find it hard to believe horror is the right word to combine with enthusiasm.
Yes, the EU regulations will be an interesting set of hurdles for our independent Saab.
5 ctm
// Jan 25, 2009 at 4:00 am
Karen,
The words used are “…med en blandning av skräckblandad förtjusning…”. (That is not grammatically correct in Swedish. It should say “…med en skräckblandad förtjusning…”.) Every Swede knows what that means, but I don’t know the corresponding expression in English. It’s not something negative, just a special feeling. The kind of feeling one could have when riding a roller coaster.
6 Karen
// Jan 25, 2009 at 4:33 am
Thanks ctm. From a bilingual Swedish friend: “Your interpretation is correct. “skräckblandad förtjusning” means ‘horror and enthusiasm.’ But “skräckblandad förtjusning” is generally a positive sentence. I would say that it would imply a horror that is a challenge.”
maybe we can agree on ???
“customers say, with enthusiasm, tempered by the horrific challenge ahead, “but it is a Saab”.
lost in translation, indeed. idioms are always difficult to translate. (Idiom, noun: A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual words.)
7 Karen
// Jan 25, 2009 at 4:35 am
second note from my Swedish friend:
” “skräckblandad förtjusning” is a word of optimism in Swedish.”
8 saabista63
// Jan 25, 2009 at 5:28 am
Whatever the English translation is, we all what it means! It means that a Saab is – and hopefully will be – a type of car that you won’t necessarily like at first sight, but that’ll turn you into a fan once you’ve driven it. Some tend to call this “quirkiness”, but I have always thought there is a better word in another language. Now I know: “skräckblandad fortjusning” was the word I was looking for. It’s doesn’t look so nice in letters, but I’m sure, in spoken Swedish it must sound great!
Yours
saabista63
P.S.: And anyway, that’s Saab fans for you: Discussing how to translate a Swedish idiom into English!
9 Troll96
// Jan 25, 2009 at 7:10 am
The article was both informative and poetic. What a nice thing it is to contemplate Saab being turned loose to be itself again.
10 Per
// Jan 25, 2009 at 8:15 am
Just call it ” Release me “, like the Ad. Finally… Go Saab…
11 David Blumberg
// Jan 25, 2009 at 11:18 am
Very well written piece. Informative and poetic, as Troll96 points out. The last bit says it all, “the independence of minds”. I want my independent Saab back! A free thinker under the rule of a rock will never bloom. The last decades with GM have proven this…
12 Black Saabath
// Jan 25, 2009 at 2:11 pm
“skräckblandad förtjusning” means Thrilling and Exciting in english.
13 Rune (the other one)
// Jan 25, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Would “horrific glee” work?
14 Martin N
// Jan 26, 2009 at 2:37 am
Skräck = horror, thrill
Förtjustning = delight, excitement.
“Thrilling delight”, “delightful horror”.
Maybe the word “thrill” is actually quite close to it in some meanings of the word?
I think most people know the feeling. Driving very fast on the highway is something many people do with skräckblandad förtjusning.
There’s an excellent Swedish–English translator at “tyda dot se” by the way.
15 Dan9-1
// Jan 26, 2009 at 6:50 am
I really need to learn swedish
16 James B
// Jan 26, 2009 at 1:36 pm
With all of the optimism discussed with GM as the Paternal Lead, SAAB’s Swedish roots has always been it’s strength. A product needs complete pride all the way to the top and is most strong with those that identify with it completely. Bring it home. The SAAB’s home is Sweden.