SaabsUnited.com

Picture taken from AMS no.3 2012, A well trained car spotter eye can see 4 NG 9-5´s the car that looks like it is in the front is most probably an inferior brand that is about to be overtaken and get a never before experience.

Our Saab friends at AMS Swedish editor, Mr. Gustaf Sjöholm has written 6 page story with pictures by Luigi di Pronto. It is about his experiences from taking part in the Stockholm to Trollhättan convoy, and of course about the meeting outside the SAAB plant. Some notable SU regulars are featured in both text and picture.
So You who can go and buy Your copy, the 2012 No. 3 Edition of AMS Auto Motor & Sport.

BIG Thank YOU AMS for the support!

Now I’m going to tell you guys something very interesting, I have been researching the parts situation for sometime since for obvious reasons it is one of the more important factors for Saab owners today. I have had some nice feed back form ASAC, the Saab After Sales System Center who more or less work with solving technical issues for dealerships around the world. They are sort of a middle man between the dealerships and Saab Parts and this department would be a nice addition to Saab Parts as a natural step in their development.

ASAC is very much alive and working, they are basically the ones who manage the TILS / EPC and / WIS systems (maintenance and parts software) that we discussed in an article the other day. Some dealers and garages have had minor issues accessing the system but HP who handles the technical support for the software have made it clear that most often it is a firewall or computer issue at the dealership rather than a fault with the actual web-based systems and yes they are still very much up and running!

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The turkish company brightwell and the bankruptcy administrators have signed an agreement of confidentiality which binds both parties not to disclose any information to other parties. One reason according to P4 West could be that Brightwell has in fact placed a bid for Saab that is not to be disclosed to other parties or persons.

As we have been reporting previous Brightwell has been a long time interested party in Saab. They were in contact with Saab and Victor Muller long before the bankruptcy became reality. During the We are many, we are Saab meeting in The Netherlands a representative from Brightwell attended the meeting together with Victor Muller, I have heard from very secure sources that he was mighty impressed with Saab, its heritage and its devoted fans.

It is with great sadness that I’ve heard that a good friend is being forced to close down his business. Here is his letter…

It is with profound sadness that I announce we will be closing after 44 years in business as an exclusive Saab dealer. My father started the business June of 1968 as one of the founding Saab dealers of this quirky, but safe little brand. The bankruptcy of Saab Automobile AB (Sweden) has forced this hand. As hard as we all tried (and you have no idea), it was impossible to sustain this business any longer. We will be closing the doors next Friday, February 3rd at 6:00 PM.

Words cannot describe the array of emotions we are all experiencing right now. Everything from sadness and anger to pride and hope. Although I can sit here and play the ‘blame game’, or let you know how I really feel — I will limit my response to the conclusion that a deal to sell Saab to Youngman/Lotus was ultimately blocked by the decision makers at General Motors. In summary, GM from the outset made it quite clear that they would not approve a sale of Saab to any Chinese entity that allowed a transfer of shares amounting to 20% or more. In the final hours of negotiations, a proposal was presented to GM allowing Youngman/Lotus to focus and invest in new model development for the future without changing the ownership structure of Saab. That proposal was also blocked. At that moment, it became painfully clear that GM would withhold support for any such deal — and the race was lost.

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I thought I’d like to share with you a bit of artistic fun that Fredrik, brother of saabrobz (flickr), did with a couple of great Saabs we know.
I think he has done a fantastic job and big congratulations on your brilliant work.

Here is saabrobz Saab 9-3 Aero.

A few more can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/saabrobz/sets/72157629031625069/
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Sketch mad by Björn Envall given to the SU-Crew after the Oktoberfest in 2010.

Well he has done it again, the legendary design boss at Saab. Björn Envall started his long time with Saab in the 1960′ies working side-by-side with the even more legendary Sixten Sason. Sixten was on the design team for the UR-Saab that was saved with the rest of the Museum yesterday.
Now the Saab world has gained some momentum I felt like the sketch by Björn could accelerate everything even more. With Björn we have living connectivity with the very roots of Saab, I an happy having him as a friend.

So what do You think of the sketch?

This is an article that I shouldn’t have to write because it is too obvious, but there is a website who claims to know the truth about cars, which they don’t who now states that Saab garages are unable to do complex maintenance on Saabs, since Saab is no longer providing the online maintenance system. Well that is the most stupid article I have ever seen! This website has no clue how things work and this is why we never refer to them… I’m making a one time side-step from that policy!

Every maintenance facility in the world has the CD/DVD based software called WIS (workshop information system) and EPC (electronic parts catalogue), even I have that software! Which in its last hard-copy based version included all Saab’s built including the 2011 model and yes also includes the new 9-5 with all its modifications. The web-based system was introduced a few years ago but was never really implemented until very recently and was supposed to replace the cd/dvd’s for the 2012 models. But since Saab no longer exists this web-based system has been taken off-line.

TTAC is claiming that because of this, maintenance facilities and dealers are now completely left out of information and can not work on Saab’s at all. Well that is not true at all, they can just revert back to the DVD’s which they do have, problem solved… no wait, it never was a problem to begin with…

Regarding the parts situation, it has improved significantly since the bankruptcy as we’ve reported on earlier and it will continue to improve. Not only are third party parts showing up in a greater extent but also original parts are becoming more widely available. For example 9-3 Keys which are due to arrive very shortly. There are also some other really big spare-parts news that I would LOVE to reveal to you right now, but I’m not allowed to so keep your shirt on, keep driving those great Saab’s and don’t worry, your life with a Saab will not be a problem! =)

PS: if any dealership or garage is missing the software, give me a call and we’ll see what we can do to arrange it for you!

Saab 9-3 SS Racing edition is Saab Car Museum driven by Peter "Poker" Wallenberg, part in saving the museum now. Photo by Jörgen Trued

P4 West reports: The city of Trollhättan, SAAB AB and The Wallenberg foundations – those are the ones who make sure that the Saab Museum will stay in Trollhättan. Together they have paid 28 million SEK for the whole collection.

A lot has happened since Saab filed for bankruptcy in december. Two bankruptcy administrators were appointed and later on a third joined in.

They quickly realized that more money was needed to keep the bankruptcy proceedings alive and quickly it was established that the Saab Cars Museum could bring in the first millions.

And now it’s a done deal, the museum will remain in Trollhättan. The running costs of the museum, will be handled by the city of Trollhättan and Västragötalandsregionen (regional government). P4 West have previous reported that the region, the city and a collection of Saab-veterans wanted to take over the running of the museum.

SaabsUnited trivia: Jörgen Trued contacted Peter “Poker” Wallenberg some weeks ago, letting him know what was about to happen. Seams like the Wallenbergs acted in a very nice way. “Poker” is a true racing fan and active in KAK Royal Automobile Club of Sweden. He has/had a Turbo X and raced a Saab 9-5 SC as well as a Saab 9-3 SS in track racing. The 9-3 is in the museum but lacks the engine. Interesting enough “Poker” asked me some years ago if I wanted to buy that car without the engine.

P4 West reports: that the large indian company Mahindra which employs more than 140’000 people worldwide and early on declared its will to buy what is left of Saab has now visited Trollhättan.

The first meeting was canceled by the bankruptcy administrators who referred to other priorities. but at the end of last week a meeting is to have taken place.

Mahindra has appointed advisors to get an overview of Saab, a so called due diligence*

According to sources, Mahindra is interested in buying all of Saab and also interested in producing cars in Trollhättan.

How quickly Mahindra can get a grip of the situation and present a bid is unclear, according to P4 West’s source.
- “They have to work very quickly in order to make a purchase.”

*“Due diligence” is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations. A common example of due diligence in various industries is the process through which a potential acquirer evaluates a target company or its assets for acquisition.

There are higher bids for the museum than that placed by the city of Trollhättan. These words are among the first one can read in an article published this morning by Trollhättan’s local newspaper TTELA.

The city of Trollhättan, with the aid of the regional government have placed a bid for the complete collection of cars in the Saab Cars Museum. Today it was revealed that this bid is not high enough. Even higher bids for the complete collection have been placed.

From the regions point of view, the politicians are ready to support the running of the museum with 1,5 million SEK, in case the bid from the city of Trollhättan were to win. The national governments culture-department is in favor of the local governments financial support, however are not willing to take any measures to preserve the museum.

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TT reports that its not only the Phoenix platform that the chinese are interested in, also Saab’s e-Power could get chinese ownership.

BAIC, which previously has bought the rights to the old 9-5 and 9-3 from Saab, has announced interest in taking over Saab’s e-Power concept. This is supposed to be developed with a Japanese battery-manufacturer.

The electric car venture is however to a large part owned by the Innovatum foundation in Trollhättan and they want the project to stay in Trollhättan and not have it moved to China.

From Autonews.com The administrator handling Saab Cars North America’s finances told creditors last week that the company will be liquidated.

“We notified creditors that it is our opinion that there is no way to salvage the company,” said Jim McTevia, of McTevia & Associates, the administrator appointed to operate the U.S. distribution arm.

Parent company Saab Automobile filed for liquidation Dec. 19 in a Swedish bankruptcy court. Saab Cars North America suspended operations that day.

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