You are browsing the archive for 2011 September.

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by TimR

Breaking News: Unionen wants to postpone bankruptcy

September 14, 2011 in Uncategorized

SR.SE (original article here):

The labors union “Unionen” wants that Saabs bankruptcy negotiations are postponed if the court of appeals are not done with the reconstruction proceedings until the 26th of September when the bankruptcy negotiations are to start.

If the court of appeals have not finished Saabs reconstruction-application at the time when the bankruptcy negotiations are to start in the regional court of Vänersborg, Unionen will try to postpone the negotiations say chief legal representative, Martin Wästfelt to P4 West.
- But it is however Saab who needs to file for postponement. We have told the company that if so is done, based on the reasons that the reconstruction proceedings are not complete. We will favor a postponement. Read the rest of this entry →

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by TimR

The Pen

September 14, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

There were a lot of requests from people wanting to know which type of pen it was that we gave Victor.

It is a CROSS Contour Satin Chrome Ball-point pen.

This pen was also featured in a Swedish Radio interview with Rune and Me just after we came out of the factory. To listen to the broadcast please click on the link below.

Link to SR.SE HERE

Here is a photo of what the pen looks like:

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by Rune

Union and reconstruction snippets

September 14, 2011 in News

Some very quick snippets:

The courts have started processing Saab’s appeal. First they will grant a permission to trial the case. This is expected in a few days.

—-

Meanwhile, various lawyers are commenting on the strength of Saab’s appeal.

TTela reports Lawyers say Saab has a point:

The judgement (in the first court) should happen quickly based on limited amount of information. It is certainly more challenging to judge an entity of this size, but the law makes no distinction between a multi-billion corporation with thousands of employees or a company with a one million turnover with few employees.

– Bengt Jonasson, lawyer at Hammar

—-

While visiting Saab yesterday, Tim and I found ourselves outside the conference room next to the reception area. We did not know it at the time, but a meeting took place between local union representatives and representatives of the centrally located union boards.

TTela today features a story about the kerfuffle that took place. Many of the local members feel the bankruptcy application was rushed, and some of them have pulled their own requests as a result. One of the points raised is that the members wanted all the unions to file together. IF Metall and the engineers still have not filed any papers.

We have hinted in the past that the majority of Saab’s employees’ (as well as the local clubs’ leaders) loyalty rests firmly with Saab. The unions are aware of this, but this time they have perhaps overplayed their hands a bit?

Given that Hovrätten (“the royal court”) has started processing Saab’s appeal now, it looks as if the reconstruction will be granted before the bankruptcy proceedings take place, so hopefully the unions’ actions will not cause a dramatic result.

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by till72

Victor – my personal view on a tall dutchman

September 13, 2011 in Editorial

It was back in 2009, in the middle of the storm. Koenigsegg had just quit negotiations with Saab and we were waiting for Swade to inform us how things would go on as a new name appeared: Spyker. I had no idea who those guys should be besides some dark rememberance of a Formula 1 team that had been not too successful. We found out a bit more and came across the leading guy: Victor Muller. We all pretty much remember how this went on. He and his team kept fighting windmills (in any way you can read this) until they had taken over Saab from GM. It was a very emotional story and as a result many here got a quite emotional view at the guy who saved Saab.

Read the rest of this entry →

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by Rune

Provincial RDC approval — NDRC picking up the pace

September 13, 2011 in News

di.se reports that the Saab-Youngman-Pang Da deal has today been approved on the provincial level.

In about a month’s time a decision is expected from NDRC centrally after which another two government authorities will have their say.

Local DRC approval came last week. So far there has only been talk of three authorities – local, provincial and national. Only one more to go, as far as I know. ttela.se also reports that NDRC is the final hurdle.

Saab still needs NDRC approval. After that Youngman will have to submit papers to the Local Commerce Department, contact the Chinese embassies in Stockholm and Amsterdam, file an application with National Department of Commerce and finally (together with Pang Da) get everything approved by Foreign Exchange Bureau. (See Letters of Support from Pang Da and Youngman)

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by Red J

IAA short notice

September 13, 2011 in News

To be here and checking the offerings from the other brands and knowing that Saab is not here makes me a little bit sad.

OK, I’m still missing Merc and VW, the Koreans, Fiat and JLR but nothing has impressed me at the moment, but maybe is it only because the brands have last week already announced everything they will be showing. :-(

Read the rest of this entry →

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by TimR

The handover

September 13, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

At about 11 AM today me and Rune visited Victor and his colleagues, with a nice surprise. We brought him a very nice cream-cake which included vanilla-cream, strawberries, banana and cream which was actually baked by my mother. We have confirmed through very secure sources that it was consumed very quickly.

We thought a nice ballpoint-pen would be a nice thing for him to have and Victor promised to sign “The Deal” with exactly that pen! We all know Victor has good taste and with only seeing the box and the name of the brand and without actually knowing that it was a pen he recognized it immediately.

Victor was in very good spirit, happy and was joking with the rest of the guys a lot. We brought the cake into a meeting room where Victor cut it into pieces so that everyone would get an equally big piece.

We hope you have a very nice afternoon Victor!


Read the rest of this entry →

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by TimR

The Secret Box

September 13, 2011 in Uncategorized

20110913-103107.jpg

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by TimR

Victor Muller’s Birthday!

September 13, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

Today is Victor Mullers birthday and we at SaabsUnited would like to celebrate him a bit, since we know that he reads this we will not say what we are going to give him.

Please contact crew@saabsunited.se for more info!

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by Red J

SaabsUnited at the IAA

September 12, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

Hi,
in the next two days I will be at the IAA in Frankfurt. There will be no Saab booth inside of the motor-show and there won’t be no Saab convoy outside, but if you have interest in any non-Saab thing, I will try to make a couple of exclusive pictures for you.

I will only check the site one or two times per day, so please don’t get to impatient ;-)

Tags: 19 Comments »

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by TimR

Suppliers satisfied with Victor Mullers plans

September 12, 2011 in News

Di.se (original article here):

Fredrik Sidahl, CEO of the branch organization for Scandinavian Suppliers within the auto industry, FGK, thinks there is a logic in Saab’s business plan. This he claims after listening to Victor Muller’s presentation in Frankfurt on Monday.

On Monday, the sneak-peak of the international auto-salon IAA, Victor Muller held a presentation for suppliers, FKG and CLEPA were among them. During the presentation he went through Saab’s business plan and the plan to repay the suppliers.

Read the rest of this entry →

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by Jeff

Bulletpoints From Saab’s Reconstruction Appeal

September 12, 2011 in News

In the third and fourth appendices to their reconstruction appeal, Swedish Automobile lists the quality and operational improvements, as well as several new advancements we’ve heard about behind the scenes but haven’t been able to share with you publicly. This document changes that, and is further proof that the company deserves to live on.

Want an example of how Saab has been spending their EIB environmental loan prudently besides the incredible 119g/km CO2? There’s more information about that Extended Range Electric Vehicle à la Chevy Volt or new Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid mentioned in their press release from this morning. Read about that plus other highlights after the break.

Read the rest of this entry →

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by Jeff

Letters of Support From Pang Da and Youngman

September 12, 2011 in News

As part of Saab’s appeal today, Pang Da and Youngman have both submitted letters to the court explaining their belief that the deal will go through. They back it up with tables showing the process, and what levels of that process are complete. Read the letters and see those charts after the break.

Read the rest of this entry →

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by TimR

SAAB Press-Release

September 12, 2011 in News

Trollhättan, Sweden: Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB and its subsidiaries Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB (collectively Saab Automobile) today lodged their appeal against the District Court’s decision last week to reject Saab Automobile’s proposal for voluntary reorganization. The appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeal in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Saab Automobile is of the opinion that by rejecting the voluntary reorganization proposal based on the reasons cited in the rejection statement, the District Court went considerably further in its consideration than what the legislator intended. Saab Automobile is of the opinion that the District Court has left out of consideration that the District Court’s assignment is to avoid pure abuse of the Swedish Company Reorganization Act approval of a reorganization request shall be based on the provision of a limited amount of documentation. Thus, Saab Automobile is of the opinion that in its ruling, the District Court has applied a much stricter standard of proof than is required under the Act. Read the rest of this entry →

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by TimR

More afternoon news…

September 12, 2011 in News

Ten minutes to four this afternoon Saab delivered its appeal to the district court of Vänersborg, a request of secrecy was requested however turned down by the court.

Meanwhile Victor Muller has traveled to Frankfurt to meet with CLEPA, the European supplier organization. He will explain to the CLEPA the strategy he has for paying the overdue invoices that Saab has right now.

A very GOOD news is that Saab is one of the selected brands chosen by the city of Stockholm and power-company Vattenfall for the 5000 electrical cars to be bought over the next four years. This shows that despite Saabs troubles there are still firm believers in the company! -link here- Thanx Bengan for the tip! =)

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