Another Day, Another Chinese Deal To Save Saab

Last week, we brought you news that the deal between China’s Hawtai Motors and Spyker, parent to Saab, had fallen apart. Rumored at the time was that Spyker CEO Victor Muller had been in dialogue with multiple Chinese companies. It looked like that rumor would prove to be false when China’s Great Wall Motors denied any contact with Spyker’s CEO, but this morning brings news of a possible deal between Spyker and China’s Pangda Automobile Trade Company, Limited. Pangda, according to Reuters, is the largest distributor of cars in China, and they’re offering as much as 110 million Euros in support of the struggling automaker. Pangda would pay 30 million Euros up front, for Saab vehicles destined for the Chinese market. That amount, according to Spyker CEO Muller, is sufficient to repay existing supplier debt and restart Saab production. Read more…

Hawtai’s Deal To Rescue Saab Collapses

Bad news, Saabophiles: the latest deal to rescue the struggling automaker with an influx of capital from China’s Hawtai Motor Group has fallen through. Reuters reports that Hawtai was unable to obtain the necessary approvals, but it’s unclear if these were approvals from the Swedish government, the European Investment Bank or the Chinese government. The collapse leaves Saab without badly needed funding, although Spyker (Saab’s parent) insists that dialogue with Hawtai and other Chinese investors (including Great Wall Motor) is ongoing. Vladimir Antonov, the Russian investor with a somewhat questionable past, also remains interested in investing in Saab pending approval of the EIB and the Swedish government. Read more…

Can The Chinese Save Saab?

In many ways, the saga of Saab automobiles is playing out like an old-fashioned movie cliffhanger. Each week, our hero (Saab, in this case) seems closer to imminent death, yet somehow survives to fight another day. For the past month, Saab’s financial state has looked bleak: a plan to sell off Saab assets to raise capital was being heavily scrutinized by both the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Swedish Debt Office. At issue was the potential buyer (Vladimir Antonov), a Russian investor with alleged ties to organized crime. Read more…

Saab’s IQon Brings The Android OS To Your Car

Wouldn’t it be cool if your car was just like a big version of your smartphone, complete with internet connectivity? If you could upload apps that would enhance your driving, navigation or ability to communicate behind the wheel? Even better, what if these apps could automatically update when new data (or bug fixes) were available? What if your car could schedule it’s own service appointments, or send telemetry data to a dealership the second a problem was discovered? Those features, and more, will all be part of a new Android based infotainment system developed by Saab and currently in beta testing . Called IQon (pronounced “icon”), the technology may be the first truly user-friendly infotainment and telematics system on the market. Read more…

GM Keeps On Saabing

I bought my first Saab from my best friend for $300 bucks. The driver’s side floor pan was rusted out nothing a painted piece of plywood couldn’t fix. The engine ran beautifully and it had the one part that all young men with cheap and fast on their mind “a turbo charger”.

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Koenigsegg Could Be Buyer of Saab

Speculation is arising that Koenigsegg, the Swedish supercar maker, is obtaining Saab from GM. As part of GM’s road back to financial health, they have slapped a for-sale sign on the Saab brand some time ago.

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Saab To Leave GM and File for Bankruptcy Protection

 

At the time of GM’s (General Motors) woes in the suffering economy they are looking to out some of the makes including that of the Swedish connection, Saab. Saab looks to be on their own again and filing for bankruptcy protection. Saab seeks $1 billion to be self-financing while they reorganize. They will still have some support from GM during the reorganization which leaves us with the question: will the newer Saabs be based off of the same (GM) platforms or will they have more deep-rooted Swedish roots?

Below is an excerpt from autonews on the full story…

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2009 Saab 9-3 Sportcombi Named “Top 5 Wagon” By Nadaguides.Com

Even though GM is talking about selling off Saab, they still have it going on with their engineering. Lately a lot of people have not really focused on the engineering that goes into some of today’s cars. All we are talking about is Bailouts and saving gas. GM still deserves some credit for the workers who really put thought into some of the vehicles such as the Saab 9-3 SPORTCOMBI. Below is an article discussing how the new Saab 9-3 Sportcombi was named “top 5 wagon” by Nadaguides.com.

Enjoy – article after the jump…

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