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I covered this report in brief a few days ago. At that stage it was most notable for the cat sitting on the convertible.

Here’s a full translation of the article, which originally appeared in Dagens Insustri. This is probably the best summary I’ve seen so far in the media as to what’s going on right now.

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Saab and Trollhattan could be the winners in negotiations between the Swedish government and Saab’s corporate owner, General Motors. Manufacturing and R&D will be moved home to Trollhattan, according to a secret plan debunked by DN (Dagens Nyheter).

The package currently under discussion includes the following: manufacturing of the new 9-5 will be moved home to Trollhattan from Ruesselsheim in Germany. Also, production of the 9-3 convertible will be moved [to Trollhattan]. They are currently built by Magna Steyr in Austria. Resources for research and development will be moved back to Trollhattan, which will create hundreds of new engineering positions. At the same time Saab will have a more independent position.

That is broadly what the business plan for Saab looks like and it is this that the parties now are intensively discussing, DN learnt. The community in Trollhattan as well as the unions are both informed.

The negotiations are complicated but are, according to sources, conducted in a constructive spirit, far from the categorical way of acting in the Detroit motor show recently. Some media outlets reported statements by GM’s Product Director Bob Lutz on that GM are giving up hope on Saab and that a shut-down is imminent.

Grossly over-interpreted, according to our sources.

- A shut-down is definitely the last alternative, which we want to keep away from at any price, says an informant.

The negotiations regarding governmental support to GM are being conducted in three places: USA, Germany and Sweden. They are complicated by demands for the money to be secured in the respective country. The Swedish government does not want money provided to support Saab to end up in a German or American factory. But that is easier said than done in a global company like GM.

The Government can see an opening in Saab being guaranteed manufacturing of the new 9-5 in Trollhattan. But also support to Saab activities outside Sweden could increase the company’s chances for long term profitability. That applies to the new SUV 9-4X which will be built by GM in Mexico next year. This would give Saab a strategically important footprint in the”dollar zone”. The company would then be less vulnerable for fluctuations in exchange rates.

The factory in Trollhattan has capacity for approximately 170 000 cars per year but is currently only half used.

By taking home both the new 9-5 and the convertible, Saab will raise the capacity considerably. Saab is nowadays so effective that 100,000 cars will be enough for achieving profitability, according to Saab. Only a couple of years ago Saab sold over 130,000 cars. With new models coming, Saab says they can easily achieve 150,000 cars and thereby show profitability.

The positive approach from the government should be seen in this light. It is all about loan guarantees and relief loans during a transition period, given with market adjusted conditions.

In a normal situation we would cope this by ourselves, but this is not a normal situation. Extra ordinary circumstances demands extra ordinary efforts, GM Europe’s Director Carl-Peter Forster and highest GM Director Rick Wagoner said to DN in Detroit recently.