Unions: Bankruptcy no longer an issue
June 30, 2011 in News
Dagens Industri (original article here):
The Unions are feeling a great relief that Saab has payed out the salaries for the month of June and are now withdrawing their threat of bankruptcy. The carmaker hopes to start production within two weeks.
“I think I can speak for every member when I say that this is a great relief” that the salaries have been payed, even before the end of the month, which allows the employees to pay their bills on time” say chairman of IF Metall at SAAB, Håkan Skött
We never had time to send any letters of demand to Saab, they are all in a box and will now be destroyed.
AndOne said on June 30, 2011
Yes!
M.A. said on June 30, 2011
This is getting better and better.
By the way, I’ll put two bottles of champagne in the fridge:
1) Once VA has been finally approved.
2) When production restarts.
dave said on June 30, 2011
Nice. I don’t smoke but save cigars for very special occasions. When VA has been aproved and production restarts I’ll light one.
MacPeter said on June 30, 2011
+ 1
likewise as we don’t drive just a car named SAAB
OT: Cigar aficionados never smoke – they purely enjoy the nature of a cigar
But anyway you cannot imagine how much cigars I’ve already smoked while reading through SU with this up and downs with our beloved saab brands.Of course there will be a special one which will be lit at the day when everything will work out.
dave said on June 30, 2011
And I really hope you enjoy that one
In the meantime let’s stick with F5
GerritN said on June 30, 2011
Thanks God that I stopped smoking cigars 7 years ago. This Saab ordeal surely would have severely tarred my lungs by now. The bourbon has been pickling my liver, though. Ah well, what’s life without vices!
Nate 9-3 said on June 30, 2011
Cigars are expensive. You would have a much lighter wallet due to the SAAB saga if you still smoked.
Nate 9-3 said on June 30, 2011
BTW – my vice is free. It is Saabsunited.com!
hilmar said on June 30, 2011
Cheer up people at Saab ! They wanted to kill the brand by doing nothing. Waiting for the first car coming out of the production hall !
Carlo A said on June 30, 2011
Sure they tried hard …. but hopefully a solution is close …..
GRIFFIN UP !!!!
kiriakos said on June 30, 2011
Hope to see some good sales numbers tomorrow!
Gaipa said on June 30, 2011
need to build cars first to sell cars, but great news
Red J said on June 30, 2011
1.700 cars in May.
My bet is to see about 1.000 -1.200 Saabs sold in June. And about the same in July.
Carlo A said on June 30, 2011
you mean …. in total? do you know how much stock was at the dealers ?
kiriakos said on June 30, 2011
Still plenty of cars in inventory but we can’t say June is gonna be a good month…so let July be Saab’s best sales month since independence.
saabberliner said on June 30, 2011
I ordered my new 9-3 SC 1.9TTiD in Berlin yesterday, I hope it helps a little bit…I just can`t wait to get this great car….
Best wishes to all friends of SAAB und best regards from Berlin.
katar1na said on June 30, 2011
Nice choice, there! You will feel like a king, and some maybe envy you… you´ll discover who at the red lights
Congratulations!
Carlo A said on June 30, 2011
Well done …..
i. ant. kal. said on June 30, 2011
aber hallo!
cheers from saaberlin back
wish you a lot of fun!
and yes good news… i hope less than two weeks…
Ruben NL said on June 30, 2011
This makes sense and it stresses the will of the workers going back to work again.
WooDz said on June 30, 2011
I mentioned yesterday I was kicking myself I did not buy SWAN shares when they were at €0,98 and that I would not be surprised if they would be at the €3,00 mark today. As of 16:04CET they are standing at €2,70.
Anyone interesed in following SWAN here’s the link to Reuters
katar1na said on June 30, 2011
Champagne sounds like a great idea. But first I think I will go to Trollhättan (living nearby) just to take a good look at the front door to the production hall…
As somebody else wrote: I keep my fingers and toes crossed as I pray for the next step!
KaiC said on June 30, 2011
I`d like to drink a little bottle of champagne . There are a lot of chances waiting for us to drink with big bottles of champagne like starting production continuously ,making a great target of 80,000 cars being sold etc.
hilmar said on June 30, 2011
@saabberliner. The 9-3 SC is a great car. The 1.9 TTID engine is a very good choice – I go with the 2.0T engine. As I recently told: “gonna fly now”. Viele Grüße aus Bremen.
Carlo A said on June 30, 2011
Bremen …. beautiful town …. I used to have a girlfriend from Drebber, near Bremen
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
Very good!
– seems like many, many swedes have got tired of Saab – and for some reason even hate them…. (???)
What is not so good is to read all the negative comments to the article
I could not resist to make another comment on DI with quite another content…
But there will be a lot to do to rebuild confidence – not at least in the fatherland of Saab..
Tripod said on June 30, 2011
Yep, I’ve mentioned it before, and probably many before me; Sweden is rather odd country when it comes to this; some people “hate” their own industry or one part of it. You don’t see young people in France completely trash one of Renault or Citroën etc. They are not many, but vocal.
jouni72 said on June 30, 2011
In my opinion there is some similarity in Saab´s situation among swedes than a relation to old buildings which are not in good shape. Some people think that best way is to tear them down and build a new one but others think it should be renovated and get blossom and tell something about our roots. People doesn´t see through old paint and bad shape, to which building can become. As soon as building has been repaired and shown to public, these negative attitudes mostly dissappear. Change comes when somebody shows the money and invests it to the building. Very often behind old building`s renovation there are very fanatic people who have a passion to prevent buiding not to be tear down and to believe how fine it can become. I rekoknize myself to have same kind of passion for Saab (well and also for old buildings too..) Sorry this comment went a bit sideway….
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
Interesting comparisons!
– I am telling myself that it is all about real qualities, integrity, “inner beauty” what ever one could call it…
- Many off us might need to be passionate about different matters..
I am it very much about my work (design and architecture) and – I have to say; a little about Saab
Maybe some people, maybe with boring jobs, have to get passionate about hating”weak” minorities … (??) In Denmark – unfortunately – people with other religions and in Sweden maybe Saab… (???)
jouni72 said on June 30, 2011
Yep, during these Saab´s up and down -times being in the minority´s side has become bigger thing at least for me. Saab is hit and laughed at here in Finland too (well not that much as in Sweden but also our media is very eager to tell bad things as big news too) but I´m every time more and more proud to defend it! I think from that perspective could be very interesting to think marketing ideas for Saab. Weak minority which can not be beaten to death but who has a strong beating heart inside. And a survival saga who nobody else has!
Audun said on June 30, 2011
I think many of us feel just like you describe it. It can sure be used in marketing of Saab.
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
jouni72 ! Very good idea to use the minority-aspect in marketing for Saab !
Maybe some intelligent combinations of different pictures and a headline something like; “Not everybody likes us…” (?)
Tomas TL1000R said on July 1, 2011
If Sweden didn´t have ovloV the situation had been different. Think about it and it´s logical. Its also easy to say that our own industry is worse than others and there for saying that BMW, Merce, Audi is much better. Why does so many people chose Coca Cola when there are so many different brands in the supermarket. They choose it because they don´t have to defend that choise in any ways, it´s the right choise and they don´t care if Pepsi tast better or something els. To be the underdog and second biggest car maker in Sweden is unfortunately a really easy target for to many Swedes (in ovloV land).
I see it as an weekness and low currage in all those Saab hater in this country and almost feel sorry for them, but they doesn´t know better is my short conclution and they doesn´t have a clue what they missing. If ovloV had not been Swedish, many of them would not been against Saab I think.
Tripod said on June 30, 2011
I agree with you; real qualities, IMHO, also include doing what no one else has done before, and doing it well, or changing the world by taking something that exists and lifting it to whole new level, as they did with the turbo. That’s also integrity. Saab is the antipode of dull.
And jouni72, that talked about seeing the potential.
jouni72 said on June 30, 2011
yes, seeing the potential!
Tripod said on June 30, 2011
jouni72,
Guess that’s something architects have to do all the time, so they have an eye for that.
jouni72 said on June 30, 2011
I think Saab should use (at least some way) those negative headlines as a base for future marketing. Of course when situation is settled. Let´s say; ad starts “Saab is in crisis” People have read these kind of headlines, they create some kind of feeling in minds, in a way taking them in to sit in the car, and then ad leads minds to today´s perspective. I think this way Saab could somehow use all this (free…) publicity it has got and when things are ok, it is pretty nasty way to say that sorry You were wrong, we ain´t dead yet… In general all what Saab has faced, i think there could be space to a totally different kind of marketing campaign. A new perspective also in it…
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
Exactly!
billkrz said on June 30, 2011
Perhaps adding a live factory webcam (during working hours) showing cars being produced would present a positive image!
Henrik said on June 30, 2011
Very well written (at Di.se) intelligent and funny. Also when it comes from a dane or other foreigner it´s worth more than 100 positive swedish comments!
GerritN said on June 30, 2011
I wonder how much of that negativity is fueled by the idea that it’s the Swedish taxpayers that are funding Saab? It is clear that the Swedish government has been covering up what the fallout will be when Saab goes bust, i.e. many jobless people, a support industry that goes belly up too, etc. I have the distinct feeling that the hidden (not so hidden anymore) agenda has always been to get rid of Saab asap, every single action of the Swedish government has been pointing in that direction.
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
After – with a bad taste in my mouth – reading more of the comments in D.I. I might have found/guessed one main-explanation to all this hate against Saab:
I think it is historical and political. The area around Trollhättan/Vänersborg were – due to the water-power, exploited from the waterfalls – among the very earliest industrialized areas in Sweden. This fact – a little later in history – gave the background for strong unions and left-wing-workers in exactly this part of Sweden. So, in some strange way, I think the hate towards Saab are connected to a hate to unions and the Social-democrats (from the neo-liberalists ?) – the unions might, during some periods, have had a lot to say at Saab (??)
That might even explain the PMs unwillingness to visit Saab – and the whole laissez-faire-attitude from the Swedish government ???
Any Swedes here that can comment this possible explanation ???
jouni72 said on June 30, 2011
Interesting analysis, Troels. Kind of historical swedish trauma?
Tripod said on June 30, 2011
I’ve seen similar thoughts; and I agree that it’s plausible. Also, in a small country with only two manufacturers you’ll always see a rivalry between fans. The “young one” takes the underdog position, and is by some seen as “not needed”. Also, again, but this is universal, when there’s not an immediate success, or when times go rough, some are quick to turn their back, longing for something to be proud of. But as I mentioned earlier, and as you know, even though this is universal, the Jante is strong Scandinavia.
Btw, good comments by you at DI.
Troels, Denmark said on June 30, 2011
Thanks.
RS said on June 30, 2011
Add a Russian Saab nut businessman into the mix and you have the mother of all traumas.
hilmar said on June 30, 2011
One should prove whether these negative comments are representative. Sometimes they are chosen from certain media just to make believe that this is consensus. Just a thought.
StefanH STHLM (www.bmsg.se/saab sales.pdf) said on June 30, 2011
Fredrik Reinfeldt visited a small cleaning business in Enköping June 13, no calendar problems then.
So he must be able to scuff himself down to Trollhattan.
The Enköping company was part of the RUT-programme which the conservative alliance introduced, so I guess he wanted to pick up some pre election points.
http://www.direktpress.se/enahabotidningen/Artiklar/Artiklar/Statsministern-var-pa-besok/
Ps. No shadow over the cleaning company. THEY do their job. Others dont. ds
Audun said on June 30, 2011
Great, then he should visit Saab in Trollhattan ASAP!
GerritN said on June 30, 2011
Is a cleaning company part of the new Swedish ‘service economy’?
JasonPowell said on June 30, 2011
lol.. maybe they can clean up the governments mess?
Tripod said on June 30, 2011
Heh, I think they already have spin doctors, but I haven’t heard that they are eligible of RUT.-allowance.
kiriakos said on June 30, 2011
By the way, does anyone know what’s up with the 9-4X?
ryanonsrc said on June 30, 2011
I continue to be astounded by Saab’s resilience. If they are able to have this kind of a recovery after a blow like that, I see no reason why they can’t reach the likes of BMW/Audi someday.
Saab has to be first company (to my knowledge) that reached the point of completely shutting down production and runs out of money to pay employees … yet, still manage to make a recovery. Granted, production hasn’t started yet, but all the money that’s being tossed around it’s hard to imagine that not happening soon.
Audun said on June 30, 2011
+1
malutki said on June 30, 2011
The most of the money is borrowed and has to be paid back. I think we are not out of woods just yet.
rallyho said on June 30, 2011
Is production going to start on July 4′th as predicted?
jerome of switzerland said on July 1, 2011
I am sorry. How everyone can be happy with what is happened? Saab sold all his properties. How is Saab going to pay the salaries of the next months ? The solution wich has been found, is a short term solution. And the sell of saab are, despite the differences with last year very low in comparaison with 2007. And at that time when Saab sold around 150’000 cars, Saab was already losing money. Saab will not earn any money this year and next year for sure, and has no enough cash to survive more as a few month. I’am sorry. Again I’m not happy with the Saab situation. But let’s face the economic problems, Saab without a miracle is already dead..
But again, I hope that I will get wrong.
KarlR said on July 1, 2011
You really are new to SAAB. I think you need to do your lesson first and then write!
Chicago Swede said on July 1, 2011
Unfortunately, none of us, (that I know) here at SU have the right to view SAAB’s balance sheet and inside the mind of VM regarding his future plans for SAAB. If anything is true after these past two weeks, a MIRACLE is possible and quite probably more than possible. I don’t believe you have all the needed information or a magic crystal ball that allows you to accurately predict SAAB’s future. Until you do have all of the above, I humbly suggest you choose your words more carefully.
Red J said on July 1, 2011
Jerome,
I don’t know if I’ve explained it many times or not, but I don’t understand why people are concentrating in the details and are not trying to see the big picture.
All that money that Saab has got in the last weeks is only to be able to survive till the Chinese are allowed to be part of Swedish Automobile, at that point more money will come to Saab to secure the mid-term financial situation. The long term financial situation will only be solved when Saab sells cars.
In the original plan Saab was intended to make losses on 2010 and 2011. After this 2011 financial turmoil, I expect that the black zero will be reached 1 year later than expected.
That Saab made loses building 150.000 cars is a rumour that I don’t believe, sorry. But in any case Saab is now able to reach break even at 120.000 sold cars, and this figure is already being pushed down till 80.000 cars.
Saab doesn’t need a miracle to continue existing, but customers that are able to calm down and wait. People are still ordering cars, even in the current situation, and in the markets where cars are available the sales figures are low, but not that low.
Saab is here to stay, and people in Sweden do begin to understand that Sweden needs Saab, and now Saab also needs Sweden.