Saab News

[nordwulf]

Rick Kranz
[FONT=Verdana]Automotive News -- [/FONT] November 19, 2010 - 11:29 am ET

LOS ANGELES -- Saab Automobile AB plans to begin distribution to China some time in 2011. A deal is expected to be signed by year end, CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said this week. “Until we launch the new 9-3 at the end of 2012, it will be just a couple of thousand units (annually), all based on imports. As we lead up to this, we have to make a decision if and when we are going to introduce local manufacturing in China,” Jonsson said on the sidelines of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Among the issues to be resolved by the end of this year is “defining the dealer network” in China, he said. Saab needs to be present in five or six cities, with a total of 10 to 15 dealers, he said. A distribution deal for Russia also is expected to be announced by the end of the year. Details were not revealed. If a decision is made to assemble vehicles in China, production would begin with the next-generation 9-3. The 9-5 and the upcoming 9-4X crossover would be imported.

Victor Muller, Saab’s chairman, said, “You need to get to a volume of 10,000 cars (in China) before you can start manufacturing locally.” While the U.S version of the 9-4X model goes into production in April, 9-4X models for markets outside of North America will be built starting in August. Jonsson said it is unlikely that a diesel engine will be offered in the 9-4X. Diesel engines are offered in Saab’s other vehicles sold outside the United States.

“If you then look at the life cycle of the vehicle, typically five or six years, before we actually have a diesel engine, we have to find one, we have to test it, we have to install it, validate it, and you are two years into the life cycle. “And then you have a very short payoff period,” Jonsson said. “So I think it is unlikely.”

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz15lJt2h6X

[Shazam]

Made in China? Hopefully only for those sold in China.

[nordwulf]

Layoffs follow reduction in 2010 sales target

Automotive News Europe
November 19, 2010 15:16 CET

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Saab plans to cut its work force by about 200 employees, which represents about one-eighth of its staff, a union official said on Friday. Hakan Skott, a union representative at Saab, which is based in the western Sweden town of Trollhattan, told Reuters the company, which is owned by Dutch supercar maker Spyker Cars NV, had told staff it would lay off 200 workers, out of 1,600 employed.

No one at the company was immediately available to comment. "I'm not exactly surprised (about the layoffs). We reduced our sales forecast just a couple of weeks ago and there is a decline in sales every year around Christmas and at the end of the year," Skott said. "I'm sure that by February-March we will see an upward trend and people will buy cars again."

The Swedish company was in the process of being wound down by General Motors Co. earlier this year, but Spyker stepped in at the 11th hour to take over the automaker, which continues to have strong ties to GM. The future of Saab rests on finding more manufacturing partners and cutting unit production costs, its top executives told Reuters on Tuesday. CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said on Tuesday that Saab's target is to break even at sales of 85,000 cars annually, whereas it currently needs "north of 100,000" sales to break even.

On Oct. 29, Spyker cut Saab's sales target to 30,000 to 35,000 cars in 2010 from a previous target of 45,000. This was down from a forecast of 60,000 made in February. "There is absolutely no reason to worry. Our plans for the future still stand. Next year, we will build 80,000 cars", business daily Dagens Industri on Friday quoted Spyker's CEO Victor Muller as saying. He also said the staff being laid off were temporary employees. "You take them aboard when you need them and when they are not needed, they are not on board," the paper quoted Muller as saying.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz15lLeQlmk

[nordwulf]

jlrdrony, your last 2 posts are basically repeats of the news item from Automotive News I posted earlier. The idea of this thread is report on the latest news and not find every other source reporting on the same topic. Google translations are usually not that easy to read either without some editing.

[nordwulf]

This weekend (Friday 26 November – Monday 29 November) marks the beginning of the Roger Albert Clark Rally and is a perfect opportunity to catch a glimpse of some truly iconic Saabs as well as rally legend Erik Carlsson.

It’s now been half a century since the legendary Erick Carlsson won the British RAC Rally for the first time in a Saab 96. In celebration of this milestone and the huge effect that rallying successes have had on Saab’s history, Erik will be joining members of the Saab Historic Rally Team as they take part in this year’s rally.

Five members from the Saab Historic Rally Team from Southampton to Sheffield will take the trip up to the small village of Pickering in North Yorkshire, for the start of the rally on the Friday (26 November) evening.

Erik will wave the competitors off as they begin the 170-mile route off-road through daunting forests and mixed terrain before ending up in Carlisle city centre on the Monday (29 November) afternoon.

The Saab squad will be made up of a classic Saab 900 plus four iconic Saab 96 vehicles. Erik Carlsson’s Saab 96, a replica of the model he celebrated his RAC victories in, will also be on show at the start of the race alongside a brand new limited edition Saab 9-3 Aero Carlsson. The car has been designed in Erik’s name as part of Saab’s 50th anniversary, with just 96 models being produced in the UK.

Before officially waving competitors off, Erik will also be joined by Stuart Turner, his co-driver in 1960, to host a special rally forum at Eden Camp Museum in Pickering on Friday (26 November) afternoon. For more information visit www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org

Media Online - Press Release