AFP: Sweden to bail out Saab and Volvo

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News is just hitting the wires that Sweden will provide guarantees for Saab and Volvo.

Here’s the report, by AFP and picked up on some Aussie news networks (great work, DamoG!!)

SWEDEN will come to the rescue of its US-owned carmakers crippled by the financial crisis, Saab and Volvo, to secure the future of an automobile industry which accounts for 15 percent of exports, officials say.

“Of course the Swedish government is committed to supporting the carmakers.

“We can guarantee that we will have car manufacturing in Sweden because it is an important part of our economy,” Frank Nilsson, a spokesman for the enterprise and energy ministry, told AFP.

Volvo is owned by US company Ford, which overnight said it is considering selling Volvo because of the challenged facing the US auto industry.

US auto company General Motors, which has said it will run out of cash by the end of the year unless the US government provides financial support, owns Saab.

Sweden is committed to supporting Volvo and Saab and their hundreds of suppliers, which are “big employers” in Sweden with “lots of know-how,”said Mr Nilsson.

Seven in ten Swedes want the state to take over Volvo Cars temporarily, according to a weekend poll.

Volvo Cars has been hit hard by declining sales, as interest for its big, costly models dwindles.

In the third quarter, the company posted a net loss of $US458 million, nearly three times its full-year 2007 loss of $US164 million.

Meanwhile, Saab has tried to avoid layoffs at its plant by reducing two shifts to one.

I don’t know if this is just an extension of prior reports that Saab and Volvo had been talking to the government, or if this is a fresh story with guarantees that are iron clad. The story was only 19 minutes old when I clipped it and there was no other story with the same headline elsewhere, so it looks like a fresh one.

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The next big question to ask is what form of guarantees are they talking about here?

I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a matter of handing over a wad of cash and then leaving the room. I would guess that it’ll be some sort of commitment to R&D funding or just a general undertaking that the industry won’t go under if and when the parent companies start looking for buyers.

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Another question is whether or not this guarantee has been prompted by Ford’s admission that Volvo is now on the block to be sold?

….and of course, what now for Saab?

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Hell in a handbasket: the edit

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After an initial contact via email, I was invited to submit a copy of my editiorial To hell in a handbasket: why the Swedish government should not assume ownership of Saab to the english language newspaper in Sweden, The Local.

The original piece was around 1500 words, which was much too long for them. I thought about trying to cut the original piece in half and then figured it was easier to just rewrite it from scratch.

The article was published at The Local today. Here’s a copy for your perusal.

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Protect Saab from public sector ‘mediocrity’

If Saab is to preserve its tradition of excellence it needs to remain in the private sector, argues Steven Wade following a recent flurry of calls to nationalize the Swedish car maker.

This week, the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will present before the US congress their detailed reasonse as to why their respective companies should receive loans in the billions of dollars.

There has been much speculation as to what concessions these companies might have to offer the government in return for a financial lifeline and some of that speculation concerns an automotive brand that is very dear to my heart, and no doubt to the hearts of many Swedes as well: Saab.

There has been a lot of talk recently of the Swedish government taking ownership of Saab, or Volvo, or even both. It is my belief that such a decision would be the first sad, calculated step along the road to deliberate mediocrity.

Saab is a small player on the world stage, but has a history that all Swedes should be proud of. At their height, Saabs were a shining light as to what a car could be. Much of the talk nowadays in the motoring industry is about fuel economy and building smaller cars with the room and power of larger cars. Saab has been doing this since the 1970s.

And I believe it has the plans in place to do it again.

To succeed in the automotive industry today a company has to have cutting edge R&D, progressive design, brilliant build quality and razor sharp marketing. Whilst the latter can be outsourced, the first three require insight, intelligence and planning that a government authority simply doesn’t understand, and nor should they.

The role of government is to provide essential elements that a society needs to function and grow; infrastructure, basic medical care, law and order, education, defence and a regulatory framework to responsibly govern the conduct of the private sector.

The private sector has a role to play in all of these areas as well, but their role is at the pointy end; the space where excellence and innovation are encouraged and rewarded. The space where people are also allowed to fail in their pursuit of excellence, innovation and reward.

Who would decide the strategic direction of a government-owned Saab?

How many people would have to be involved in determining and then approving the right level of steering feedback in a government-owned Saab?

How many of the best designers and engineers would stay at a state-owned Saab?
How many would accept more lucrative offers from private carmakers and other technology companies elsewhere in Europe?

The history books, and many cities of the world, are littered with tributes to the mediocrity of state-ownership. If we want to talk specifically in terms of motor vehicles, I defy you to name one state-sponsored motoring project that has truly pursued excellence.

There have been many that pursue the basic necessity of travel from A to B, most often with teeth-rattling suspension and driving characteristics that are about as engaging as a can of grey paint.

The Saab that I know and love should never be allowed to sink to such a level, but there’s a high likelihood it would under long-term state ownership.

If they survive this current mess, General Motors should invest in Saab with the same enthusiasm with which they’ve got workers in Trollhättan building Cadillacs. Saab’s design ethos is the way of the future – smaller, lighter and smarter. GM should recognize this and develop it.

Should it not survive intact, then I sincerely hope that GM sells Saab to someone who is able to make Saab what it truly can be: a company building innovative, stylish, safe, engaging and practical automobiles.

The Swedish government can’t do that. An automotive company has to have long term plans and those plans have to be determined by people who know the industry. More importantly, those plans and the investments needed to fulfill them cannot be subject to the changing will of a political party that may or may not be around in three or four years.

Unless it’s a very short term arrangement to transfer ownership to a proper owner in the private sector, the Swedish government should not take ownership of Saab, but they should provide support by helping to create conditions where the company can grow.

That’s one of the true roles of government, after all.

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Steven Wade is a rabid Saab enthusiast and has been the publisher of the Saab enthusiast site, www.trollhattansaab.net since February 2005. He lives in Australia with two Saabs, his wife PJ and dog, Charli.

Tuesday bailout snippets

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Is this the first crack in the glass?

Ford have announced, after denying that they were interested in it for a good 18 months now, that they’re going to do a review of the future of Volvo Cars.

Read that as: Volvo is on the block and Ford are open to offers.

Ford are widely considered to be the best positioned of the Detroit Three and their CEO, Alan Mullaly has played things very cool in the last month or so.

They don’t need a bailout, per se, but they’ll sit in and plead their case just like the others. They have good products that are new to market. They have the bigger of the two Swedish automakers and they’re going to hit the market first to get the best buyer.

All smart moves and timed just right to present to the US congress.

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As reported the other day, Volvo Trucks aren’t interested in buying out Volvo Cars. They will stick their hand up for some joint research, etc, in order to ease the burden, but they don’t want to take it over.

Volvo, for their part, aren’t surprised by all this sale talk.

Beleaguered Swedish carmaker Volvo, a unit of struggling Ford, says it is not surprised at news that the US auto giant is mulling selling it in the face of an industry-wide crisis.

“We understand they have to evaluate a number of different options. What will happen exactly, we don’t know,” Volvo Cars spokeswoman Maria Bohlin told AFP, adding that Ford had not informed the unit that it could soon be up for sale.

“There has been speculation about this for a long time but we don’t know. We have to wait and see what happens,” Bohlin said.

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If you’re interested in theorising as to who might buy Saab, you can cross Scania off your list. Ryan at Saab History did some good legwork last week and got the word from Scania that they have no interest in letting Saab back into bed.

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Right now, I’m feeling pretty relaxed about Saab’s future.

Why?

Because Robert Farago has placed them on an “official death watch”. Seeing his death-watches seem to take around 3 or 4 years to get even close to fruition, and only then in exceptional market circumstances, I’d say we’ll see Saab with a full fleet within no time :-)

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Trying to read the bailout tea leaves

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A number of news agencies are reporting that GM are ready to cut Saab loose. Bloomberg started the trend and it’s continued today.

Some reports are saying that GM’s alleged plan to jettison brands is part of a cash-saving measure. Others are saying that any plan to sell or shutter Saab would be a token gesture to assure the US government that funds loaned would stay within the US.

The Swedish government have confirmed that they have had talks with Saab and Volvo, but won’t go any further than that:

Financial Times reported on Monday that U.S. carmakers GM, which owns Saab Automobile AB, and Ford, owner of Volvo Car Corporation, had approached the Nordic country’s government about financial aid to the Sweden-based subsidiaries “in anticipation of selling them.”

The heads of both companies had spoken to Swedish Industry Minister Maud Olofsson about securing funds, the FT said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Sweden denied it had outlined any details concerning loan guarantees. FT said the Swedish government has considered devoting about 2 billion Swedish crowns ($252 million) to Saab and Volvo in direct aid or loan guarantees.

“We are discussing all possibilities. But what they write, that specific amount of money in loan guarantees, that is haphazard information taken out of context and I don’t understand where they’ve gotten it from,” said Frank Nilsson, spokesman for the industry minister.

One report claims that the promise of Swedish government money will be used as a carrot around Saab’s neck to woo potential suitors:

According to reports, GM wants to improve Saab’s market potential and sell the Swedish subsidiary as soon as possible. The ailing carmaker hopes that governmental funding will help the company raise awareness of the brand’s potential.

Further reports are saying that the Swedish government are waiting on the decisions of other governments before they make any sort of decision:

Reached on Monday by the TT news agency, Jöran Hägglund, a state secretary in Sweden’s enterprise ministry, said he was unaware of plans for Volvo and Saab to be sold, but confirmed that the government is holding ongoing discussions with both Ford and GM.

According to Hägglund, no decision will be taken regarding possible state aid for Saab and Volvo before the details of the European Commission’s €200 billion ($253 billion) stimulus package have been finalized.

Part of the package, roughly €5 billion, is expected to go support the European auto industry.

Moreover, Hägglund believes that the futures of Ford and GM depend largely on a decision expected later this week by the US Congress regarding a request for $25 billion to help bailout the US auto industry.

“We have no reason to race ahead of the pack,” said Hägglund.

So…..

Which of the two alternatives is GM up to? Fattening the calf for slaughter or seeking some padding to assuage their own bankers?

I’m hoping it’s the latter but preparing myself for it being the former. Just in case.

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Site stats – November 2008

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It’s reporting time again!

November 2008 was a good month for Trollhattan Saab. I’d have to back through the archives and check, but it may well have been the best month ever in terms of traffic to this site.

Trollhattan Saab served 266,851 pages during November 2008. The average number of pageviews served per day was 8,895.

Click to enlarge….

That spike at the end of the month was, of course, due to the 9-3x images that were presented here. But it was a good month all round with lots of discussion as you’ll see below.

These pages were served to 45,250 unique persons for the month.

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There were 135 new articles published at Trollhattan Saab during November.

If you enjoyed them, then please consider making a donation. There’s absolutely no obligation and the suggestion donation amount is $5, which equates to 3.7 cents per entry.

You don’t need a Paypal account to donate, just a valid credit card will do. No details are passed on to me, only the $5.


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The most popular discussion points this month were as follows:

Saab rumours abound – 25 comments

Pollhattan Saab – Old vs New – 35 comments

Thursday Snippets (Obama, GM crisis) – 25 Comments

Old Saab 9-5 vs New 9-5 – 25 comments

9-4x delayed…other news from GM – 28 comments

Bring the Saab 9-3x – stat! – 38 comments

Saturday Night Snippets (PT’s choice, Lance Cole) – 22 comments

Could GM sell Saab, even if they wanted to? – 70 comments

Saab 9-5 and 9-4x delays: a dealer speaks – 24 comments

No Saab 9-5 in Geneva 2009 – 26 comments

New ALU81 wheels now available – 26 comments

SaabUSA BYO website – what have they done??? – 25 comments

Sweden: ban gasoline fossil fuel-driven vehicles by 2025 – 27 comments

New vehicle patent, old vehicle – Saab 9-6x – 24 comments

Talking Saab with Eric Geers of Saab Sweden – 21 comments

Chatting with Eric Geers from Sab – part 2 – 22 comments

What’s so wrong with bankruptcy for the big three? – 42 comments

Porsche Panamera design – hot or not? – 38 comments

Don’t call me, Dude – 42 comments

Spyshots: the Saab 9-3x appears – 43 comments

Saab = ? – 63 comments

Bloomberg: GM mulling Saab sale – 23 comments

Have you bought a Saab in 2008? – 67 comments

What side is my gas tank on? – 32 comments

To hell in a handbasket: why the Swedish government should not assume ownership of Saab – 38 comments

Metallic paint or metallic pain in the wallet? – 27 comments

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Greetings to the folks from the RenCen who are tuning in…

….and howdy to all the BMW boys tring to learn some secrets…..

….and to our Saab friends in Tehran, you’ll be pleased to know that you can look at this site without preconditions….

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Q and A: Taras Czornyj

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It’s a fait accompli that many Saab executives drive Saabs. A lot of the time they get them as company cars and whilst they might be nice versions of the Saabs currently on the market (earlier this year, Jan-Ake Jonsson assured me he was going to nab a Turbo X for a little while), I’m more interested in what they have in their personal garage, what they’ve spent their own hard earned money on.

I was pleased as punch when I learned that one of Jan-Ake Jonsson’s first cars was a Saab 600, for example. And whilst SaabUSA’s Jan-Willem Vester has a Porsche 911 for fun in the US, he’s also got a imaaculate classic Saab 900 back at home in the Netherlands. Saab 9-4x designer Andrew Dyson probably has some non-descript runabout at work in Germany, but he’s also got a C900 in his garage back in England.

These guys love Saab. And so does the guy I’ve been in touch with recently.

The name may or may not be familiar to you, but Taras Czornyj’s work will be very familiar to you. And his personal car is an absolute cracker!!!

Taras doesn’t work for Saab right now, as you’ll read about shortly, but he’s got good reasons for choosing the Saab that’s currently in his driveway, and good reasons for the way it’s been enhanced, too.

Here’s a little Q&A we did via email in the last week:

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When were you with Saab?

I was at Saab from 2000 to 2006. I started in Trollhättan and moved to the new GME Advanced Design Center in Göteborg in 2003. Its a company I wanted to work for because of its design heritage and potential.

What did you work on?

My first project when I joined Saab was the 443 (9-3X) exterior design. There was no wagon at the time only a 9-3 based crossover. The project had been underway for a least a year. Michael Mauer restarted the project with a new phase of design development and it was then that my design was chosen to be developed. At this point the Sportcombi came into the picture. From a design point of view the crossover was the lead vehicle. Unfortunately this car was canned by GM, one of the reasons being that it was too small for the US. Interestingly the X3 and the Outback felt right at home with little or no competition in the US.

93-X Concept exterior design…..

This project ran parallel with the wagons. This concept was the preview to the 443. It was the same platform but in coupe/ hatch body style. Shows the rear design theme you see on today’s sportcombi.

I worked on the two last years of exterior production development of the 9-3 convertible. Following a design direction set by Michael Mauer and Tony Catignani.

9-3 Sporthatch Concept exterior design…..

A preview to the sportcombi. This project was close to me for a couple of reasons. This was the first show car to be built in house at Saabs prototype modelling dept KMX. There were a few all nighters spent on the car putting it together but the final result was world class. Secondly the exterior design was basically the canned 443, that the cladding splits were filled and the car was lowered giving a more rally on road look.

9-3 Sportcombi exterior design…..

A very satisfying project. A hard slog with engineers at times but well worth it! I learned a lot and worked with some fantastic people like Ziggy Bis the 9-3 studio engineer and Erik Sörum from design quality to name just a couple. I am particularly pleased about the rear lamps. One thing to point out was how streamlined and efficient the staff at Saab were, something I realised later, working at Volvo. There was myself on exterior design, Lars Falk on interior and we basically discussed the design directly with Michael Mauer. There was not the overblown set up as in other companies with a designer, senior designer, assistant chief designer, chief designer, exterior chief, and the design director.

Next generation convertible concept…..

A study into what could the next cab could be. A skunk works type of group was formed to look into this. Somebody from marketing, engineering, myself from design, and a few others. We test drove and benchmarked competitors, brainstormed and came up with a roof concept which was presented as a full size model to GME managment and culminated in a patent that I am 75% credited with. The basic idea was to be shown a couple of years later on the 9-X Air concept. These types of project are gold dust for a designer, where you are given the opportunity to start with a blank sheet and really do something new.

2008 9-3 facelift…..

I developed the design theme and carried out the early design development for the face lift which Ola Granlund later followed through to production.

I also worked on a variety of advanced design projects for various brands in the GM family. These will not see the light of day but might influence future products.

What have you been doing since you left?

When GM decided to move Saabs main design operations to Germany I made the decision not to follow. After six and a half years I felt I needed a change of scene and to experience the design process at another company. So in late 2006 I took up a position at Daihatsu in Ikeda, Japan leading a small group of non Japanese designers in a strategic and advanced design group. We developed ideas which ultimately became the Mud Master C, I love that name, OFC-1 and the HSC show cars.

In 2007 I started a design company Mutations AB together with my wife Ingrid who is also a designer. This was a real opportunity for a bit of freedom and to choose exactly the projects I wanted to work with. We work with a variety of partners primarily within transportation.

I spent most of 2007 at Volvo cars. I worked on a proposal for an all new model. Very interesting to see things from the ‘other side’.

Since late 2007 I have been working with Hirsch Performance developing initially the 2008 9-3 range exterior products. Wheels, aerodynamic kit, spoilers etc. Looking forward to working on future Saab cars.

I am presently leading the exterior design on a project at Scania Trucks. An exciting and new challenge in an industry where design is gaining more importance.

I am also tutoring at Umeå Institute of Design.

Cars that you drive?

As a daily driver a 2008 9-3 Sportcombi 2.0 Biopower Aero. Hirsch have recently fully upgraded it and I must say in my honest humble opinion the car moves like a rocket and looks s?#t hot!

I also own a 1995 Ovlov 480 Turbo, one of the last ones built. It’s the only ovlov I would drive and a car I loved when I was younger.

It’s actually quite Saabesque in concept, a practical sports car. A shooting brake bodystyle, one that I admire, think 2001 9X, P1800 ES, Z3 coupe. A body style gaining favour again with cars like the 2007 9X, Renault Altica concept, VW Scirroco, Mini Clubman and the C30. Now and then I take a spin in my wife’s 2002 9-3 Aero.

And a final question….how the heck do you pronounce Czornyj??

It’s pronouced chorneey. If you can, you roll the R.

Its Ukrainian and means black. Very designer! :-)

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My thanks to Taras for taking the time to fill us all in and sharing a few pics of his cars with us.

He is a deadset legend, as we like to say here in Oz.

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Swedish Saab sales – November 2008

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We’ve had Black September, which was quickly followed by Red October. This month, it’s Noooooooooo!vember as Swedish car sales lead us off into what is sure to be another trek into a sea of deep red ink.

The Swedish car sales market was, as a whole, down by 36% compared to last year. For the year to date, the market is down by 14%. So if you were expecting a better month for Saab sales, please think again.

Just remember, things are tough all over.

Saab sales

Saab Sweden sold 908 units of the Saab 9-3 during November, which was down 42% for the month, from 1,557 in the same month last year. So far in 2008, there have been 11,946 units of the Saab 9-3 sold. This is down 4.25% on the 12,477 sold to this point last year (but falling fast)

They also sold 427 units of the Saab 9-5 during the month, down by 51% from the 877 sold in the sme month last year. So far in 2008, there have been 6,764 units of the Saab 9-5 sold in Sweden, which is down by 31.65% from the 9,897 sold to this point last year.

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Green report

There were 698 Saab 9-3 Biopower models sold during the month compared with 1,285 in November last year. The 9-3 BioPower is still the second best selling ‘green’ car in Sweden.

There were 375 Saab 9-5 BioPower models sold during the month, which was down from 728 sold in the same month last year.

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The Caddilac report

That bastion of strength and banner of wisdom, the Cadillac BLS, didn’t even rate on the report that I saw, but ctm tells me that there were 4 units sold, which was down from the 6 sold last year.

Money well spent.

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Hey Lapham!

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You don’t have to look too far and wide to find cheerleaders for the idea that GM should cut Saab loose, either within Saab circles or outside.

Those on the inside say it for the right reasons, because they want a Saab that’s free of the molasses-like progress that Saab has made under GM’s watch. Those on the outside tend to say it because they think GM’s continued ownership of an entity like Saab is pointless and just a drain on the General’s limited finances.

I’m on the record here as hoping for a GM recovery AND hoping that they’ll invest in Saab and allow it to become the company it has the potential to be. Saab’s design ethos is a big pointer to the way of the future for motoring and GM could definitely benefit from promoting them in the pecking order.

Edward Lapham is an executive editor with Automotive News and has just penned a short editorial that places him well and truly as one of those “outsiders” calling for Saab to be culled from the GM lineup.

It starts off smug…..

In these unsettling times, when giant automakers face bankruptcy and the automotive world seems to be turned inside out, it’s nice to have at least one benchmark that doesn’t move.

That’s why it’s reassuring when Saab Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson proclaims that the Swedish automaker is on the verge of profitability. Heck, it seems as if at least the last half-dozen Saab managing directors have made the same prediction.

…..and gets worse from there, to the point where he’s just plain incorrect.

The road to sustainable profitability has been long, winding and tricky to negotiate.

At first it was thought that all Saab needed to do was lower its costs by leveraging GM’s European vehicle architectures. That led to the 9-5 and a new 9-3. Saab tried to keep the brand’s innate quirkiness with unique design cues and features such as a floor-mounted ignition key, but everyone knew the cars were Opels — even if they were assembled by trolls somewhere near the Arctic Circle.

Lapham’s comments describing the 9-5 and 9-3 as ‘just Opels’ are typical of the same lazy journalism that permeates the industry when it comes to Saab. This typically plays out as follows: the writer quite likely just doesn’t really know the facts, so they resort to some glib comment denigrating their target.

Note that Lapham conveniently neglects to mention the contributions that Saab have made to GM’s repertoire by way of safety, flexfuel, turbocharging and soon, XWD expertise. I guess if it doesn’t fit your argument, it doesn’t matter.

The next thing Saab needed was an SUV. So GM gave Saab a version of the GMC Envoy and called it the 9-7x.

Ta-da!

But somehow Saab still couldn’t get enough traction.

Then came what was sure to be the game-changer: Since GM had an alliance with Subaru, Saab ought to have a version of the Subaru Impreza WRX. And sure enough, the 9-2x was created.

Time for a fact-check, Edward.

The 9-2x was actually added to Saab’s North American range before the 9-7x. The 9-7x joined Saab’s range in June 2005. The 9-2x had been on sale for over a year by that time.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good story?

Lapham’s a Detroit fan-boy and with one of his meal tickets at risk of extinction, he’s happy and more than willing to choose his side and be done with it all, accuracy be damned.

Let’s not criticise GM for the lack of investment in Saab. Let’s not criticise GM for the lack of vision when it comes to Saab prior to 2005. Let’s not bother looking at the fact that Saab have slashed their costs and earned the decision for continued operation of the Trollhattan plant into the future.

Just kill ‘em off and make more sugar-daddy Caddys, eh?

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