Click here to watch the episode. The section of the show with Victor Muller starts at 38:40 and is in English.

It’s a very candid interview and well worth watching. Victor is asked about the current situation, what the difficulties are with selling Saab and the possibility of salary payments for Christmas. He also covers some of his business background and his relationship with Russian banker, Vladimir Antonov.

And if you enjoy excellent vocal performances, make sure you watch the last 4 minutes after the VM interview

Our Chairman and CEO, Victor Muller, will be appearing on Swedish television this evening, on an interview program called Skavlan.

The program – recorded yesterday – will air on SVT1 at 9pm and it should be available online after the broadcast via SVT Play. I was able to access SVT Play from Australia today, so other countries should hopefully be able to access it, too.

As Victor doesn’t speak Swedish, the interview will be in English.

A few of the Swedish newspapers had people in the audience and they have prepared news stories based on the interview already. If you don’t want to wait for the show, you can get their reports at DI.se, Ttela, Expressen (all in Swedish).

We’ll insert a link, or embed the show, when the online replay becomes available.

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I wanted to provide some personal thoughts in a more timely manner, but bottom line……. I had to sleep on this one.

Right now, I have mixed feelings for a number of reasons. They’re much more positive than negative, but I can’t say it’s a case of parades and marching bands inside my head right now.

Strap in. This is another long-ish one.

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The good news – the overwhelmingly good news – is that Saab survives and gets a chance to fulfil the promise that it’s had for the last couple of years. I forget the number of times that I’ve spelled out exactly why Saab should be given this chance, but it goes a little something like this:

Product: We have the biggest product portfolio we’ve ever had, with cars that are going to meet the marketplace better than ever, and more new product on the way very soon. Some of the technical innovations we’ve got coming are very, very exciting indeed. Some will be firsts for Saab and some will be world firsts. I’m so very happy that Saab fans will get the chance to see them.

Plant: We’ve got an extremely flexible and modern plant in Trollhattan that forms a big part of who we are. We are Swedish. We do things well. And this is where it all comes together. We’ll take that manufacturing know-how and share it with our new manufacturing facilities as they’re developed in China, which is a very exciting development for the future of this company.

People: Every company’s biggest asset is its people and Saab’s are second to none. Competitors were trying like crazy to take our people during the course of this year. They got a couple of them, too, but the overwhelming majority of them wanted to stay and be part of the Saab story. We talk of the Saab Spirit and I’m sure a lot of people think we’re nuts, but it’s very real and quite compelling. It’s about being part of a small company that confounds the critics and punches well above its weight. It’s about delivering things that are done a certain way for a reason. The lure of fulfilling that mission is a strong one.

Brand: There’s no doubt our brand has taken some punches in the last 6 months or so, but we know that we still have a lot of people on our side. We’re still a global premium carmaker with a sales presence in over 50 markets around the world, with 60+ years of history. We still have an identity as a design-driven carmaker from Scandinavia and that won’t change regardless of who our owners are.

These factors have been in place all along and despite that fact that nearly everybody (including quite a few nobodies) wrote us off in the last six months, we knew that we were an attractive proposition.

A fully functional car company with a global presence and excellent design and technical capability doesn’t come along every day. “Potential” can be one of the cruellest words in the English language, but there’s plenty of it unfulfilled here at Saab and finally, we’re going to have the resources we need to fill out that vision.

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So why the mixed feelings?

You would think that someone who’s seen the Godfather trilogy as much as I have would understand the distinction between ‘business’ and ‘personal’. For me, though, it doesn’t get much more personal than this particular business.

Right now I’m smouldering over the treatment this company has received at the hands of some and I’m trying to figure out how to bury that and move on into the future.

I’m also feeling quite saddened at the treatment of our Chairman and stand-in CEO, Victor Muller. It’s been heartening to see many in Saab community thanking him quite sincerely for his efforts in relation to this company.

A lot of people in the press and the opinion pages, however, have painted him in a very bad light and it tempers my happiness to think that his reputation has been sullied by what’s happened here at Saab. There have been accounts in certain media circles that paint him in the same light as a snake-oil salesman, as someone syphoning off Saab’s money and leaving the company for dead, or worse. All of them absolutely false. These images have raged for nearly two years now and have placed an incredibly bright light on Saab, magnifying every little thing that happened here. I don’t think there has been another company in Sweden that’s had to work under such intense scrutiny in the last two years and it’s certainly arguable that that scrutiny has influenced people in both the general public and in some official circles.

Personally speaking, the future of Saab Automobile matters to me more than the business future of Victor Muller. I was a Saab enthusiast long before I ever heard his name. But that doesn’t mean that the reputation and characterisation of Victor Muller doesn’t matter to me.

Victor Muller saved this company from liquidation back in 2010 by having the vision, courage and tenacity to pursue a deal to buy this company when everyone, including it’s owner, said it was to be closed.

Victor Muller will most likely be remembered by many as the person at the helm when things went bad for Saab in 2011. I’m sure he’s not entirely blameless, too, but Saab’s executive consisted of a team of people and the truth (as I see it) is that we struggled to get out of the culture we had lived in for the previous 10 years at an adequate speed. We didn’t sell enough cars, largely because of this failure to adapt quickly to our new circumstances. We had an acute cashflow problem that brought us down this year, but that cashflow problem should not be pinned on one person when there was a team making the decisions.

Hopefully Victor Muller will be remembered as many of us at Saab saw him in the last few months. Not the exceedingly tired guy you heard on the radio yesterday, but as the guy who once again exhausted himself finding a solution that would allow this company to live on. He said he would never, ever give up, and he never, ever did.

It’s been said in these early hours following the deal that Victor will still be around at Saab after the company changes hands, possibly in a consultancy role of some sort after we hand over to a new CEO. I sincerely hope that is the case. Despite what people outside the company might read about him in the papers, he’s a man with an inspiring vision for what Saab could be, an entrepreneurial vision that very few others possess and more than anything else, he fights with every fibre in his being for what he believes in.

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Back to business…….

This IS a good day for Saab Automobile.

I know a lot of people have been hoping the best for this car company. They’re fans of the brand, automotive writers, and others in the motoring community. I know there are a lot of people hoping that we can deliver on the promise that the Saab ethos offers.

I also know we’ve got a long road ahead of us when it comes to that.

I’m also mindful of the fact that this deal isn’t done and dusted just yet. There are approvals to be obtained and those talks have to happen very quickly.

We also have to get acquainted with our new owners, which will be an interesting process in itself. Aside from their basic corporate presence in China, I personally know little about them except that one offers an incredibly exciting distribution network in the largest automotive market in the world, whilst the other offers a tremendous capacity to develop manufacturing in that same market. Both of these will be key parts to Saab’s growth in the future and it’s going to be fascinating to be part of that journey.

All going well, the hard work for the whole company will begin mid-November. I’m told that’s the time when we should be able to forecast a definite date for the recommencement of production and that’s when the job of rebuilding this brand begins.

To those of you who have maintained your support for Saab, I hope you stay on board with us in the future. This company has changed hands once again, but the vision for our products and the people delivering on that vision will remain and we can’t wait to get moving once again.

As you can tell, the whole thing’s been pretty tiring for him and the Saab executive team. Saab lives, as we all believed it should.

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Firstly, there’s an interview with Saab CEO Victor Muller on Radio P4 West, from Sweden. It’s in English.

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From the observer/enthusiast point of view, Life with Saab has summarised the day’s events quite well. It’s a piece of reasoned and measured analysis that I personally think sums up the situation nicely.

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If I can provide a rather basic summary of what’s transpired:

• Saab had agreements in place with Youngman and Pang Da for the distribution of vehicles in China and the formation of a manufacturing joint venture. Some of these agreements were binding and some still in development. These involved Youngman and PangDa taking an ownership stake in Saab totalling just over 50%. The agreements were subject to approval to the NDRC and this process was progressing well, having passed provincial and local approval with national approval very close to being decided.
• Mr Lofalk is reported in newspapers as having investigated a 100% takeover of Saab by Youngman and PangDa. This is in spite of the aforementioned agreements, and regardless of the fact that Saab’s reorganisation submission was based on the above agreements, and also without Saab’s knowledge.
• Saab had a bridge financing agreement in place with Youngman for an amount of 70mil Euros, however there seem to have been complications with this agreement, to the point where Saab could not count on the full amount of the agreement being received in a timely manner. An instalment has been paid.
• Saab sought and found alternative bridge financing arrangements in the United States, announced yesterday.
• Despite this deal, Guy Lofalk has indicated that funding is not sufficient to continue reorganisation and has submitted an application for the reorganisation to be stopped. Saab will seek to appeal this and have Guy Lofalk replaced as administrator.

That’s not comprehensive by any means, and does not include all the side shows such as Geely, etc, but I think you should get the picture.

Some further resources:

• Reuters report on developments
• Wall Street Journal report on developments
• Dagens Industri report on developments (Swedish)
• TTELA report on developments
• Saabs United have ongoing discussions about various press reports

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These statements have unfortunately led to the interpretation that the funds would be available within Saab Automobile AB. However, Victor Muller reiterates that the funds to which he referred to are not and have never been within Saab Automobile.

Victor Muller stresses the fact that Saab Automobile in every aspect is in full compliance with Swedish legislation as to the disclosure process in respect of the Swedish enforcement agency ‘Kronofogdemyndigheten’ and has been and will be totally transparent in this respect. Victor Muller regrets that his statements have been misinterpreted.

Provided by Swedish Television.

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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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UPDATE: Notes from Victor Muller’s address are now posted below.

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Notes from the address by Victor Muller to Saab employees – Tuesday 17 May

- Victor began the address with a heartfelt apology to staff for having put them in this position. He mentioned a commitment made to Jan-Ake Jonsson when they made the Saab purchase that they would not let this company slide and he is very mindful of that commitment. Of course, this is a different situation to the purchase, however, because now Saab are their own masters.

- “I got us here. I’ll get us out”. There was a definite feeling of personal responsibility in the address.

- VM was heartened by the good news that Saab has received through this situation, the reviews of the Saab 9-4x from the drive event in Washington DC, in particular. Whilst it’s been a bad time for Saab, there have been encouraging things happening on the product side.

- In speaking about press coverage of the situation, VM said that whilst the press have applied a high level of scrutiny to Saab, the only reason they’ve been able to do this is because we gave them the opportunity to do so.

- On the collapse of the Hawtai deal, VM indicated that there were a number of potential suitors at the time the deal was done. Hawtai had great potential but the deal was ultimately thwarted by the regulatory structure and the challenges that would provide to getting the deal done in a timely manner. Indicated that Hawtai executives were heartbroken when they had to advise that they couldn’t complete the deal.

- The collapse of this deal was quite unfortunate, but it did give Saab the opportunity to learn from it and construct a better deal second time around.

- Pang Da will make for an incredibly good partner and their focus on sales and distribution should mean more business for Saab, plus the opportunity to execute parts of the deal straight away such as the commitment to purchase cars straight away. Buying cars is Pang Da’s business and does not require regulatory approval, which is the benefit of this deal for Saab at this time.

- It is too early to say what the medium-long term ramifications of the recent stoppage will be for Saab, but as well as challenges, there are also opportunities and the deal with Pang Da presents such opportunities.

- The required negotiations with suppliers, as well as supplier ramp-up time mean that it could take several weeks for production to recommence.

- VM is mindful of the fact that Saab operates in a glasshouse environment, where everyone is watching what we are doing. We have to take steps and build strength in the organisation so that we are protected from this sort of situation ever happening again.

- As with the sale process from GM, the recent situation has demonstrated the loyalty and commitment of Saab employees once again. VM expressed a profound gratitude for their loyalty and vowed to reward it with a healthier company. He will continue to source deals and partners that can assist in building stability into the Saab business.

- His final words: “Never, ever give up”

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Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 28 April 2011 – Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) confirms the announcement of the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) to allow Vladimir Antonov as a shareholder of Spyker.

Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker and Chairman of Saab Automobile said:

“This is a great day for our company and for me personally. We worked relentlessly for 11 months to achieve the desired result: restore the reputation of Vladimir Antonov, who made so many valuable contributions to Spyker since 2007 as financier and shareholder. We are convinced he will be able to make such contributions again in the near future and look forward to the decisions of the Swedish Government, General Motors and the European Investment Bank (EIB), following the recommendation of the NDO which was the result of intense scrutinising.”

Vladimir Antonov, Chairman of Conversgroup said:

“I am very happy finally getting the recommendation from the NDO to the involved parties, being a future investor in Spyker. The past months of speculations around me, as an individual investor and my businesses has been exhausting. Clearly this has been a disturbing factor for many of my businesses. Finally we have managed to obtain a clean bill of health and we need to move fast forward to secure the cash flow of Saab Automobile. I hope all involved parties now further take on their responsibility so we can close all processes fast to secure the future of Saab Automobile.”

Spyker and Saab Automobile continue to work on securing funding. Saab Automobile is still in talks with the EIB and all parties involved on a solution to complete the sale of Saab Automobile Property AB (Saab Property). It is not yet certain whether the above parties will be able to fulfil all of the conditions of the EIB and finalize the sale of Saab Property.

In addition, Spyker and Saab Automobile are negotiating equity and debt financing and/or technology licensing with various strategic partners, including various Chinese car manufacturers. No commitments have been received to date.