Press Release: Saab Automobile AB Files For Voluntary Reorganization

September 7, 2011 8:45 Line

By: Swade

Comments (34)

The following is a release from Swedish Automobile:

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7 September 2011

Saab Automobile AB Files For Voluntary Reorganization, Saab Automobile Parts AB And Overseas Subsidiaries Excluded

Trollhättan, Sweden: Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB and its subsidiaries Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB (collectively Saab Automobile) will file for voluntary reorganization today at 09:00 CET with the District Court in Vänersborg, Sweden. Swan and Saab Automobile are of the opinion that, considering Saab Automobile’s current limited financial resources, a voluntary reorganization will entail the best preconditions for using existing resources in the most efficient way. The eventual purpose of the proposed voluntary reorganization process is to secure short-term stability while simultaneously attracting additional funding, pending the inflow of the equity contributions of Pang Da and Youngman.

The proposed voluntary reorganization will be a self-managed, legal process under Swedish law headed by an independent administrator appointed by the court who will work closely with the Saab Automobile management team. As part of the process, Saab Automobile has formulated a reorganization plan, which includes a number of aspects aimed at lowering its cost-base and creating a viable, competitive and independent organization. This reorganization plan will be presented to creditors in more detail within three weeks of the filing, although this period could be extended by the court.

Following court approval, the voluntary reorganization will be executed over an initial period of three months. If required, the reorganization period can be extended by another three months, up to a maximum of twelve months. Swan and Saab Automobile are confident that they will secure additional short-term funding for the reorganization period and are currently in negotiations with several parties about obtaining such funding. Funding for Saab Automobile to exit reorganization has been secured through binding agreements with Pang Da and Youngman as announced on July 4, which agreements are, however, subject to obtaining certain approvals.

As part of the reorganization filing, the court-appointed administrator will apply for the Swedish state’s wage guarantee scheme to allow wage payments to all Saab Automobile employees to be made. August salaries are expected to be paid within a short time frame following the court approval. With regards to outstanding debts to creditors, Saab Automobile will seek the support of its creditors for the reorganization process and is confident it will obtain this support, particularly because Saab Automobile aims at full redemption of outstanding debts.

Saab Automobile has proposed that the District Court appoints Swedish lawyer Guy Lofalk as administrator, who also was the administrator in the successful 2009 Saab Automobile reorganization. Victor Muller, CEO of Swan and CEO and Chairman of Saab Automobile, and the Saab Automobile management team will cooperate closely with the administrator to execute the reorganization plan. The voluntary reorganization process will cover Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Tools AB. All other entities, including Saab Parts AB and all overseas entities such as Saab Great Britain and Saab Cars North America, are excluded from the reorganization.

The reorganization plan contains a blueprint of how Saab Automobile’s Management expects to improve Saab Automobile’s business model with an emphasis on an independent, lean and competitive organization. Many key elements of Saab Automobile’s original business plan remain, as Management believes the objectives of the overall strategy remain intact. Through the roll-out of a fully rejuvenated product portfolio, partnerships with Chinese firms Pang Da and Youngman that will ensure access to the world’s largest and fastest growing market, and a strong and global brand, Saab Automobile is well-positioned to realize its objective of becoming a viable independent premium car manufacturer.

Victor Muller, CEO of Swan and CEO and Chairman of Saab Automobile, said: “Since securing the long-term funding through conditional agreements with Pang Da and Youngman, who both support this voluntary reorganization, we have focused on securing funding to bridge the period until we receive their funds. We have concluded that a voluntary reorganization process will provide us with the necessary time, protection and stabilization of the business, allowing salary payments to be made, short-term funding to be obtained and an orderly restart of production to be prepared.”

“While the voluntary reorganization process will no doubt present us with a number of tough issues and decisions, I believe that Saab Automobile will emerge stronger from this process. The potential for Saab Automobile as a viable, independent premium car manufacturer is there, as shown by the rejuvenation of our product portfolio, approximately 11,000 orders and the conditional long-term funding already in place through the binding agreements with Pang Da and Youngman that will give us access to the Chinese market.”

“I would also like to express my deep gratitude to our employees, dealers, suppliers and all other stakeholders who have been so patient and understanding in the past trying months. I realize that we have severely tested their patience, but it has been heartening to see that in general, our employees, dealers, suppliers and other stakeholders have stood by us through this tough period. I look forward to continuing these relationships and collectively start building a brighter future for Saab Automobile.”

Category: News Post a Comment (34)

Some Saab production numbers

September 6, 2011 14:36 Line

By: Swade

Comments (34)

We have a little database here and I was able to get a few numbers out of it (OK, not me, but someone who was very kind and helpful). I thought those numbers might be interesting for a few people to look at.

These are production numbers from 1950 up until the end of 2010. They include Saabs built outside of Trollhattan, as well as vehicles built in Trollhattan that didn’t wear a Saab badge (hello, Cadillac BLS). There are some test vehicles included here as well, which are earlier than some might expect.

ModelYearNumber
Saab 921950-5620,128
Saab 931955-6052,731
Saab 951959-78110,527
Saab 961959-80547,221
Saab Sonett1965-7410,219
Saab 991967-84588,643
Saab 901984-8725,378
Saab 900 (gen 1)1978-93908,810
Saab 900 (gen 2)1993-97273,568
Saab 90001984-98503,087
Saab 9-3 (gen 1)1997-2003433,445
Saab 9-5 (gen 1)1997-2009483,225
Saab 9-3 (gen 2)2001-10577,667
Saab 9-2x2004-0610,324
Saab 9-7x2005-0820,417
Cadillac BLS2005-087,356
Saab 9-5 (gen 2)2009-108,883

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For those of you who like this sort of thing, I’ll try and dig into some of these numbers in a little more detail for the future. The amount of granularity is not quite what you might expect as a consumer because it’s written from a factory point of view (i.e. looking for Viggen numbers isn’t as simple as looking for something that says ‘Viggen’, it means a 9-3 between certain years with a 2.3T engine).

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Category: Inside Saab Automobile Post a Comment (34)

Images from Swedish Car Day 2011 (Boston, MA)

September 5, 2011 20:17 Line

By: Swade

Comments (8)

These are the first images that have come through to me from Swedish Car Day 2011, hosted by Charles River Saab in Boston, MA.

I was so sad to miss this event and I’m really pleased to see that it went ahead after Hurricane Irene stopped the event being held on it’s intended date a week earlier.

My thanks to Mark S for sending these in. It looks like another fantastic collection of vehicles right from the 96s and Sonetts of yesteryear through to today’s Saab 9-4x.

Click to enlarge.

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Category: Events Post a Comment (8)

Saab Sonett sets Bonneville land speed record

September 5, 2011 11:35 Line

By: Swade

Comments (14)

I wrote about Bertil’s experience at Bonneville Speed Week last week. Bertil set a new record in the J-PRO class in his two-stroke Saab 96. Bertil wasn’t the only person running a Saab at Bonneville this year. He wasn’t the only guy to set a new land speed record in a Saab, either.

Tom Donney was there, too, with his two-stroke Saab Sonett II. Tom’s name will be familiar to many. He’s collected classic Saabs for years and runs a specialist transmission workshop and vehicle sales operation from his base in Fort Dodge, Iowa. And if you’re good with names, you might remember that Jay Leno bought the Saab 92 in his famed car collection from a guy named Tom Donney. Yeah, same guy.

Tom caught the Bonneville Bug last year, when he went to speed week as an observer and saw a number of Saabs on the salt. Tired of some frustrating outcomes in dirt racing, Tom and his team figured it was time to get their name in the record books. I can highly recommend you read Tom’s 2010 Bonneville background piece, before proceeding on to this year’s run, below.

Tom’s Sonett was running in the J-GT class. Here’s his story, in his own words and pictures.

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Bonneville 2011

Our team – myself, Steve Davis and Verlyn Gregerson – set out to break a old records set by Dick Cartron and his team in 1963 & 1964…..and to establish a new Land Speed Record in a two stroke Saab….. Dick set a personal best time of 103.560mph in 1963, and a Land Speed Record 105.453mph in 1964.

We arrived Friday am and began the long task of getting our car, a part 1967/1968 Saab Sonett II, loaded with a 750cc two stroke motor, (our car must run as a 1968 to met the required 500 car production) through the safety inspections so we could run on the Salt Flats. We worked on the car till Sunday afternoon and finally had all in order and made a required “Rookie” run to be sure me and the car was safe for the Salt.

We made two runs Sunday late afternoon that were about 95+ MPH and from there we started to dial in our Saab two stroke.

The current, 2011 Land Speed Record we were chasing was 96.683mph and was bumped to 96.877 on Sunday by a 1959 Deutsch Bonnet named Bone Evil! with a 2 cylinder 750cc motor

We met the owner, Mark Brinker and his crew and we all decided….NOW WE HAVE A RACE! They were a good team from Houston Texas.

On our first run Monday morning we ran a blistering 100.458mph which surpassed the old record of 96.683mph, which landed us with a date with History the next morning for our second “backup” run. At Bonneville you must run “down and back”, on two separate days, then if your average of the two runs exceeds the existing record, you now own a new record.

On Tuesday AM we ran a conservative run of 97.479 to give us the new land speed record of 98.968MPH.

Right: Tom with the new 98mph record…..

But success never sleeps. We quickly swapped out the cylinder head to an experimental one we made with a much higher compression ratio and pealed off a run of 101.653mph later that morning! Back to impound and a new attempt to “bump” our record on Wednesday am.

Wednesday AM we made so more mods and smoked all the old records by going 109.574,mph for a new land speed record of 105.613mph!

More mods and back on the track…..next run that afternoon gave us a run of 108.671mph! Another recorded beater was in order for Thursday am for our “backup” run.

Thursday AM we ran 106.215mph and said good enough……we now had set the land speed record THREE times! And our last one was 107.443mph.

Right: 109 mph in a two-stroke Sonett…..

We spent the rest of Thursday swapping out playing with a larger “prototype motor” and got up to 112.538mph for a max speed. With that we packed and headed home with our green little Saab and with all the goals we had set out to accomplish.

On a final note, Lots of people came up to me to say they loved the Saab that we had, and Saab as a company, and that they wished Saab well. People always ask me which is the “Best Saab Ever Made”? My answer is always the same…..”the last one off the assembly line!”

Today, as back in 1963 and 1967, Saab makes a great car…..go out and buy one and do what they are meant to do…..BE DRIVEN!”

Thanks for reading…Safe Saab’in,

Tom Donney

Category: Miscellaneous Post a Comment (14)

Events (GB) – Nomad roaming cinema, driven by Saab

September 2, 2011 16:27 Line

By: Swade

Comments (6)

How do you make a cinema pop up in the middle of…… anywhere?

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This is the Nomad. A roaming cinema, the first of its type in Great Britain and it’s playing at locations around London and the South East. Thanks to Saab Great Britain, you can enjoy a 2-for-1 ticket offer for selected screenings.

The Nomad driven by Saab is screening a host of guilty pleasure films and cinema classics, all of which can be enjoyed at some unique and unexpected open air settings.

Watch films picked from an eclectic selection, against a backdrop of some of the UK’s well loved landmarks and buildings- from beautiful Royal Parks to dramatic castles.

Saab Great Britain partnered with the Nomad some time ago and some Saab owners and fans have already had the chance to enjoy a movie under the stars. We thought the whole concept of seeing a classic film in a unique environment suited the Saab ‘independent thinking’ ethos perfectly and it seems many who’ve had the Nomad experience feel the same:

Watching a film about King George VI at the beautiful Hampton Court Palace, couldn’t think of a more appropriate location to view the film – Tim D.

My boyfriend and I had a fantastic time, it’s the first time I’ve been to an outdoor cinema and the weather and hospitality element made it all the more special. Hope it was a big success for you guys! Thanks, Georgina

If you haven’t enjoyed the Nomad for yourself yet, there’s no need to feel left out. There are still plenty of opportunities left to have the Nomad cinema experience.

The Nomad schedule for September is packed with screenings in beautiful locations around London and Kent. A different film will be shown at each screening.

Films include Amelie, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, Back To The Future, Mamma Mia, Gosford Park, The Shawshank Redemption and many, many more. The locations include London’s Bushy Park, Queens Park and Fulham Palace and Scotney Castle in Kent. There’s even a screening of Pan’s Labyrinth at Brompton Cemetery – a truly novel place to enjoy a movie with your friends.

You can access all the venue/movie information for the 2-for-1 ticket offers here.

Other related links:

Click the images to enlarge.

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Category: Events Post a Comment (6)

Saabosphere – things we liked this week

September 2, 2011 11:59 Line

By: Swade

Comments (20)

Greetings all. Sorry for the lack of posting in the last few days but I had one or two things outside of Inside Saab that needed finishing in quick time. Back on deck now.

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The hardest working man I’ve ever seen in my 40 or so years on this earth. Unbelievable.

…… from yesterday.

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Your must read for this week is an article that’s actually a few weeks old.

John Simister is a writer with Octane, a classic and performance car magazine, and he owns a two-stroke Saab 96.

He recently had the good fortune of visiting with Mr Saab, Erik Carlsson, and took his 96 along for the trip. What ensued was the sort of thing that automotive enthusiast’s dreams are made of.

He got to see his own classic car in the hands of the master, and then got to drive the master’s Saab 96 for himself.

It really is fantastic reading for any Saab fan.

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Yes you do. Nice 9-5, that one.

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Car Design Community is an online hangout for people interested in the topic. They seem to have a regular competition called SketchFighters where they ask community members to provide designs using various criteria.

One tricky condition of the competition is that members only have one hour to design and then post their designs on the website.

Earlier this week they tackled Saab and it’s always fun to see what others come up with in terms of future Saab designs.

Here are a couple of my favourites, but there are plenty more at SketchFighters.

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Ever driven across the United States?

Phil L recently picked up a MY2000 Saab 9-5 in New Jersey and decided to bring the car home to Seattle…. with a camera.

What he’s put together from that trip is a 3,000+ mile timelapse – one photo every 10 seconds – that will take you from Boston, though New York, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin (wet!), Iowa (home of next year’s Saab Owners Convention), Minnesota (is that dead bug on the windscreen giving him the finger?), South Dakota, Wyoming (Cowboy Up!) and Montana before he crosses into Washington and gets home to Seattle.

It’s 24 minutes, so you’ll need some time, but it’s very watchable. It’s interesting to see the changes in landscape, the clouds and even the vehicles on the roads. Great drums on the soundtrack, too. Enjoy.

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Category: Saabosphere Post a Comment (20)

Press Release: SWEDISH AUTOMOBILE N.V. including SAAB AUTOMOBILE AB REPORTS ITS SEMI-ANNUAL RESULTS 2011

August 31, 2011 19:38 Line

By: Swade

Comments (9)

Management working on different scenarios to secure funding and ensure longer term continuity of Saab and Group

Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 31 August 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan), a holding company that owns subsidiaries which produce and sell premium automobiles under the Saab and Spyker brands (together referred to as the “Group”), today announces its interim results for the first half year 2011 ended 30 June 2011. The Group is listed on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam (ticker symbol SWAN).

FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTS H1 2011

  • H1 2011 sales of € 359.0 million, Q2 sales of € 101.9 million
  • H1 EBIT of € (201.5) million, Q2 EBIT of € (122.2) million
  • Cash generated from operations in H1 amounts to € (44.9) million
  • Securing additional funding, restarting production and stabilizing operations top priority for management
  • Longer term financing of EUR 245 million conditionally secured through agreements with Pang Da Automobile Trade Company Ltd (“Pang Da”) and Youngman Automotive Group Company Ltd (“Youngman”)

OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS H1 2011
Sales performance seriously affected by production stoppages and tight liquidity situation during second quarter

  • 12,871 cars sold (wholesale) in H1 2011 compared to 10,240 in H1 2010, an increase of 26%
  • 15,194 cars sold (retail) in H1 2011, up 44% compared to 10,535 in H1 2010
  • 12,877 cars produced in H1 2011, compared to 11,851 in H1 2010, an increase of 9%
  • 3,197 cars sold (wholesale) in Q2 2011 compared to 7,984 in Q2 2010, a decrease of 60%
  • 5,801 cars sold (retail) in Q2 2011, up 5% compared to 5,539 in Q2 2010
  • 1,989 cars produced in Q2 2011, compared to 9,497 in Q2 2010, a decrease of 79%
  • Roll-out of Saab 9-4X into markets underway, first cars sold in US

Victor R. Muller, CEO of the Group and CEO and Chairman of Saab Automobile, said: “It will come as no surprise that this has been an unbelievably tough quarter for this company. Nothing is worse than having to delay salary payments to your loyal employees and they deserve nothing less than my sincere apologies. Moreover, our ever tighter financial situation resulted in sustained production stoppages, lost revenues and a significantly increased operating loss. Our business plan is under review pending completion of funding negotiations and to reflect ventures with our future partners Pang Da and Youngman.”

“There are rays of light on the horizon as well. We have booked good progress in negotiations with our suppliers on payment and delivery terms, and we continue our effort to secure additional near-term funding to enable a sustainable restart of production. Investor interest exists in Saab Automobile based on a continued belief in the long-term prospects for the brand and the company. Despite the company’s current predicament, they recognise the potential of the Saab business: several new vehicles waiting to be launched in global markets, loyal customers who continue to order cars to this very day, a strong premium brand, committed and well-funded new Chinese partners and a highly-skilled workforce responsible for many innovations in the automotive business.”

“However, we know that we can’t look too far into the future just yet. Right now, the focus of Saab management is on working as hard as possible to bring the company back into calmer waters by significantly strengthening our financial position, reaching agreement with all our suppliers on payment and delivery terms and restart production as soon as possible. We are evaluating all available options in order to secure continuity of Saab Automobile.”

The half-year report and financials are available for download here (PDF)

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Category: News Post a Comment (9)

Comment: Life at Saab this week

August 31, 2011 15:37 Line

By: Swade

Comments (49)

One thing’s for sure around here: Life next week is not going to be the same as life this week.

Over the last four months, and especially in the last few weeks, I have come to develop an even deeper respect for the people I now have the privilege of calling colleagues – my fellow Saab employees.

It’s been a tough time here and I’ve faced my own personal challenges as part of that, but I’ve come to realise that I’m surrounded by veterans who have endured plenty of challenges in the past. Some of those challenges have lasted months, some years (heck, if they survived two decades inside GM’s decision matrix, they can survive anything).

More tests are to come this week.

As I write this, we are awaiting the release of our parent company’s mid-year financial reports, which will be published this afternoon. I have no doubt that there will be another outpouring of damaging headlines for Saab as a result of those reports. What else could one expect after spending almost half of that six-month period without making any cars? Whatever rare nuggets of optimistic news might be in those reports, the factory stoppage will most likely dominate the bottom line and the consequences will dominate the headlines here.

As with previous media outrages over management fees, executive pay and dealership loyalty, these headlines will prove to be a current-day outrage based on historical data. I don’t mean to downplay the severity of the results, but we’re already living with the effects of our first six months activity, right now.

No. Financial reports are not what’s foremost in my mind this week. In fact, the financial reports are not even on my personal radar. What’s important right now is the next 36 hours or so.

This week we have a hard, tight deadline from our employees’ unions. Our management team must find money for wages and salaries or the unions are likely to commence actions in the Swedish courts. This is a fast-closing situation and one that has real and immediate consequences.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the fact that our leadership have been working tirelessly on deals to get this company through the short term liquidity crisis that we face. We have long-term deals in place that we’re very confident about, but we need a short-term bridge to get us to those deals. That’s what they’ve been working on and that’s what will continue to be prominent in most Saab employees’ minds in the coming days.

I’ve still been at my desk every day because there have still been things to write about every day. The people I see here are concerned about the future, for sure, but there’s still a sense of camaraderie here – a shared sense of purpose and determination. Despite the troubles of recent times, people still believe in this company, our raison d’être and our growing product program. Some are taking steps to investigate options for the future. Such measures make sense at times like these. But the vast majority are hanging in there because they want to be part of Saab’s success.

So. Tonight we’ll all hunker down. I know the news will be poor and I know that much will be made of this in the media. I also know that in the overall scheme of things, it’s nowhere near as important as what has to come in the next few days.

As I said at the beginning. Either way, life next week will not be the same as life this week.

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Category: Editorial Post a Comment (49)

Saab Monte Carlo takes record at Bonneville Speed Week

August 30, 2011 16:23 Line

By: Swade

Comments (6)

This is pretty exciting stuff for a Saab nut. I’m always keen to see how people run their older Saabs and it always puts a smile on my face when I see something like this.

My first correspondence with Bertil Sollenskog was last year (2010), when he had a failed first attempt at Bonneville. He had some mechanical issues last year that couldn’t be sorted out at the flats themselves, so he brought the car home to fight another day. He wasn’t discouraged, however. Having been told that it usually takes at least two failed attempts before people can get close to a record, Bertil vowed to himself that the second time would be charm.

And so it was.

Bertil is an expat Swede living in the US and he runs his own engine-building company, preparing competition engines for various VW and Toyota racing formulas.

He saw a Saab Monte Carlo for sale 4 or 5 years ago, bought it, and has been playing with it ever since. After helping out a friend at Bonneville Speed Week in 2007, Bertil got the speed bug and decided it was time to make the Monte Carlo sing for its supper.

Last year’s run might have failed to produce a record, but it did a lot to teach Bertil about the harsh conditions on the flats and how well prepared you need to be in order to have a realistic chance of setting a record there. Consequently, Bertil took a team of five along to the flats this year, as well as two engines.

I’ll let him take up the story:

About 400 cars and 100 motorcycles come to Speedweek every year, representing many different classes. My 1966 Saab Monte Carlo is entered in class JPRO, which means it has to be stock on the outside and modified for safety on the inside. Engine tuning is “free”, but all basic engine parts must be from the Saab family.

The engine is 750 cc, water-cooled, 3 cylinder and 2 stroke. It is now tuned to 97 hp at 6500 rpm. (The standard is 52 hp at 4500rpm.)

The salt flats are unique, with temperatures up to 110 F, humidity down to 11% and altitude of 4500 ft. This makes it difficult to adjust the fuel mixture properly ahead of the time trials! Luckily there is up to 2 hours wait between runs, which allows for adjusting.

After many runs, never breaking 100 mph, the first engine melted a piston. The second engine was installed and modifications were made on the car (i.e. lowering the ride height).

After several more runs and tweaking, the Saab averaged 107.5mph on two runs with a flying start. The previous record of 103.9 mph was broken! I thought the engine could produce more, so we kept on trying. Ultimately, we reached 110 mph, our final record for 2011 Speedweek.

Bertil already has plans for a return with a faster car next year. The engine is strong enough, but gearbox and suspension modifications are in the works.

Note – the salt flat photos below are from this year, but the engine and interior photos are from 2010 and the engine is his ‘street’ engine with three downdraft carbs. The engine used at the flats has three side-draft carbs and delivers 20hp more than the street engine.

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Category: Miscellaneous Post a Comment (6)

Saab Family Gathering – Suzhou, China

August 30, 2011 9:35 Line

By: Swade

Comments (4)

Here in Trollhattan (and in San Francisco, and in Minnesota), October 1st will see the Saabs United Octoberfest events happening.

Coincidentally, there will also be a significant gathering happening in China, with some attendees driving around 1,000km from Beijing to attend. China is becoming a very important market for Saab so it’s great to recognise this event and I look forward to sharing some photos from the gathering as they come in.

Suzhou is a picturesque southern city, around 60km west of Shanghai. It’s expected that there’ll be quite a few Saab fans not only from parts further north, but also from Shanghai and other areas as well.

More details about activities at the event will be released soon and I’ll be sure to help pass the word around here on Inside Saab.

Category: Events Post a Comment (4)