Comments on: Summary: Saab deals with Pang Da and Youngman

By: Steven Wade

Steven Wade — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:06:00 +0000

Cheers, Al. See you in a few weeks?

By: Alistair Philpott

Alistair Philpott — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:34:00 +0000

Ah, the clarity we are missing from SU…cheers mate.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:33:00 +0000

Well done, Steven! Nice to get the bullet points out there to make the deals/relationships easier to comprehend. Makes me wonder if you had to run this one by the legal department first just to make sure everything lined up properly.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:47:00 +0000

So, we’ve two of the four agencies approving Antonov. We’re halfway home. Perhaps things will move more smoothly now that Saab is high on the EIB agenda. This waiting game has gotten old. However, I’m glad to read all of the good news lately. Saab really is like the Phoenix, arising from the dead. Next is to restart production. I can’t wait to to see the new 9-5 SC arrive.

By: Steven Wade

Steven Wade — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:27:00 +0000

Vladimir Antonov is indeed ready to invest now and has been since late 2009. For whatever reason, the EIB has been reluctant to allow that despite his clearance by the National Debt Office in Sweden and by GM. It is believed that this broader base of ownership and financial resources should make that decision easier for the EIB to make.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:01:00 +0000

Swade, your last sentence was the most interesting – “better conditions for the entry of Vladimir Antonov into the ownership group”. Are you saying that Antonov will not be approved by the EIB to invest in Saab until the Chinese deals are approved by the various agencies? I’m not understanding how the deals affect Victor Antonov as an investor. My understanding was that Antonov is ready to invest now.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:38:00 +0000

I hope you’re right Steven. That would be the best outcome

By: Steven Wade

Steven Wade — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:06:00 +0000

No need to be so fatalistic, DRM. As you can see from the release, the new vehicles will all be designed, developed and tested here in Sweden and I’m quite sure that if Saab wish to remain as a global premium brand then they will realise the need to maintain a manufacturing presence here in Sweden as well.

By: Mark Savage

Mark Savage — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:41:00 +0000

I wonder to what extent Saabs will continue to be Saabs as we know them under these arrangements and also how long it might be before all manufacturing is transferred to China and the Trollhatten factory closes.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:10:00 +0000

Difficult to tell from just model numbers, but my guess would be that the 9-7 would be for China only as the 9-5 is large enough already. The rest of the models would probably be made both in China (for the local market) and at Trollhättan (rest of the world).