Pressrelease: Unable to pay wages *updated
June 23, 2011 in News
A SAAB pressrelease from this morning:
Trollhättan, Sweden: Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) will be unable to pay the wages to employees as it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding. Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile are in discussions with various parties to obtain short-term funding, including via the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab that was announced previously, and with their financiers in connection with current financing arrangements.
These discussions are ongoing. There can however be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that the necessary funding will be obtained.
Saab Automobile has ongoing negotiations with suppliers in reaching agreement on the terms of payments in order to resume an orderly inflow of parts and components.
Swedish Automobile will update the market of any new developments.
_____________________
According to Swedish Law, the company has 10 days to pay the salaries, if it does no do so, the employees have the right to file a demand with the enforcement agency. In this case the courts can extract the money from the company for the sum of the salaries plus any damages that the employees might have suffered. In clear text this usually means a bankruptcy or reconstruction.
Chicago Swede said on June 23, 2011
My thoughts and prayers are with all SAAB employees. They have devoted their lives to creating the products that we love to own. Thank you. I sincerely hope they are taken care of first after all is said and done. While I never give up, if this is truly the end, then please think about the welfare of the employees first before anything else. They are the ones the suffer the most and usually end with the least.
LG Aero said on June 23, 2011
I was not surprised at this step. Once production stopped the payroll continued without any income. In other countries the norm is no work, no pay. Shut the line down, everyone goes home and that’s all til things improve.
This last issue is part of a much bigger picture of how socialism does not provide a business friendly environment.
At this point it appears almost all are pointing to VM as the problem. How quickly we forget that without Victor Muller SAAB was absolutely gone 18 months ago. We have a saying about staying with the person who brought you to the party. Perhaps VM best attributes were putting together a deal rather than running a company. If that is so it still is necessary to pull this back together with a “deal”.
The only sensible thing for the supporters of Saab to do is to stop the panic mentality. There is nothing to be gained from wild speculation. When all about you people are losing there heads, keep calm. Your chances of survival are better!
gryphon95 said on June 23, 2011
LG Aero – So, you’re going to blame the government of Sweden for all of this? That’s hilarious. Based on your logic, no company in Sweden would ever be successful. Oh, but that’s not the case… Look at the situation at Volvo. The company is operating successfully in Sweden, has new products, and is recruiting (vs. VM not being able to pay his employees).
Bash Sweden, the Swedish people, and the government all you want, but it is a simple fact that this ongoing fiasco has been caused by VM, who came in making promises he could not keep and then breaking every single one of them.
Tripod said on June 23, 2011
You make it very simple by comparing with Volvo, that had a completely different situation; but you are right about one thing, it operates in Sweden.
gryphon95 said on June 24, 2011
Tripod – LG Aero was blaming the Swedish people and their form of government for SAAB’s problems and saying that the country “does not provide a business friendly environment.” Well, if that’s true, why is another car company able to survive and prosper under the same form of government that LG Aero does not approve of?
dave said on June 23, 2011
I really hate when I turn on the computer, check Saabs United and see news like these. I have to be honest…I’m losing the faith…
mnztr said on June 23, 2011
What can I say, this is really terrible cash managerment. If the $$ was so incredibly critical SAAB should have laid of employees with the hope they would still be available when the cash situation was fixed. Unfortunately VA’s optmimism has resulted in serious damage here. Maybe fatal. Without cash a company can do NOTHING. What lawyers or executives are going to work for free? This is a code blue for SAAB….and the chances of bringing the patient back grow dimmer with every second.
skn said on June 23, 2011
Folks – this is bleak – but there is clearly a way out. The share issue will give short-term liquidity. The property sale deal will get done. And life will return to the prior stressed out state until the China deals are completed.
Its normal at times like these for everyone to act opportunistically. Capitalism is many things, and its also about being opportunistic – this is an opportunity for a few to make more money at the loss of others. The only thing that could have held such opportunistic actions back would have been a socialist culture’s leadership stepping up. They didn’t – and this is the price.
VA knows how this works – and is not going to be stopped by a few lost limbs. He knows how to grow them back.
Saab Up.