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by Swade

WooDz vents on Opel and the Saab 9-4x

February 10, 2010 in Editorial

WooDz is one of our long-termers from the days of Trollhattan Saab. He’s got a bit of a unique perspective on things given that he lives in Germany but it is an expat Brit. Oh, and he used to sell Saabs for a living, too, so he’s pretty familiar with markets and customers, etc.
He’s sent me a little ventitorial and I figured it’d be good to get out in the open.
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There’s a few things that have been going through my mind lately and it’s now reached the point where I need to vent a little.
First up is OPEL and the recent news that Nick Reilly is convinced that GME OPEL can return to profit if they kill off 20% of their production and 10% of their workforce (not meaning they’ll literally kill 10% of their workers, but…..you know….).
I can only guess that means 95% blue collar, hard grafting people and 5% white collar managers on 4 times the blue collar wage, who for the past year have endured a few bouts of RSI, churning out bar graphs and pie charts in true GM fashion, quite possibly showing the forecasted levels of ‘Pi**ed-offedness’ felt by Magna and the German government for each month they dragged their heels on the sale of said German company.
The Great Plan also consists of injecting 11 billion Euro and bringing 9 new models to market. Naturally this 11 billion isn’t just for new models, it will also be used to improve OPEL’s facilities, meaning the canteen will now offer latte and cappuccino as well as regular filtered coffee. Maybe that’s where the nearly 3 billion Euros will go from requested government aid.
What confuses me, and maybe some of you would like to open my eyes to something I’m missing here, is why should the German government give 2.7 billion Euros in aid, when the result still leaves over 2,000 people in search of work? In January, 340,000 people registered for state benefits in Germany, pushing the total of unemployed, in one form or another, to over 10 million for this month.
How about OPEL cutting its production by 20%, cut off the dead wood in redundancy packages, stop ‘crying wolf’ to the EU and invest 8 billion Euros instead?
Even 8 billion Euros is an obscene amount of money. This is a company who couldn’t find 500 million Euros to invest in a premium brand like SAAB each year. OPEL has 9 products and is looking to increase that by a further 3 new products. SAAB, on the other hand, should have at least 5 products. A Sub-Compact, A Compact, Mid-size Sedan/Estate, Over-sized Sedan/Estate and an SUV/MPV. If you want to give them names be my guest.
If GM had invested 4 billion Euros into SAAB I’m 100% convinced that SAAB’s product wouldn’t be in so much need of attention. This 11 billion Euros is just another reason why I am so happy to see SAAB finally setting off on another course and the quicker they can stop using GM components the better. I’d much rather see SAAB use Peugeot/Citroen as a supplier than have GM receive one more Euro of their money ……..which brings me to the 9-4x.
I like the 9-4x, it fills a massive void in SAAB’s product line-up. If you don’t like SUVs then it’s not going to be for you. However, please don’t be all elitist and start spitting fire at the thought of a SAAB off-roader. If Porsche can have one, then any manufacturer can have one.
However, why on earth are we waiting until 2011 for this vehicle?
The concept debuted 2 years ago. It’s production ready. What excuse does SAAB have not to launch the 9-4X sooner? Production costs? Shipping Costs? This is the beauty of the 9-4x. GM build it, SAAB slap on their margin, customer pays for it.
I know what you’re think though. Marketing; we need flashy TV adverts. No we don’t! TV is dead and expensive. Stick to print and online marketing.
So SAAB what are you waiting for? Place an order for 100 Units per month to get started and watch your demand rise to over a 1,000 units a month by the end of the year, without the need to discount them. Keep at least a 6 month waiting list as orders rise and see how well the residuals hold on the used car market. I’m not teaching these boys anything new, just reminding them that flooding the market with unsold cars is very bad for business.
With SAAB producing just 100 units per day they are in a very advantageous position over presumably all other manufacturers who are looking at cutting production and down-sizing. SAAB doesn’t need to just right-size their vehicles – they can right-size their production too.
My hopes for SAAB are high but maybe, like many of you, I’m still getting over the fiasco of the last 15 months. I’m tired of all the what if’s. I want to see some action, new products and I want to see them soon; not in summer and not in 2011.
Now’s the time to capitalise on all the press coverage and launch a new model every 6 months, starting with the 9-5 sedan in March. If it can’t be ordered, it can’t be sold. If it can’t be sold it’s not earning you money.
Just remember you own advertising “The Time is Now!”

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GM up to their old tricks – plan possible re-badge of Saab 9-5

December 28, 2009 in News

Some things never change.
I can tell you quite positively that GM are negotiating a sale of Saab, but it seems their plan B is to just take the 9-5, shove a different badge on it and sell it as something else.
The story is at DN.se and here’s a snippety Googletrans:

According to Dagens Industri’s sources, GM is planning to use the new Saab 9-5: an own model program, including a future Buick in the U.S.. GM is also in a letter to Saab’s sub-contractors have estimated the time of closure of Saab to five years.
There are sources in Saab Automobile in the Dagens Industri – DI – indicates that GM now see positive opportunities to closure of Saab. By making use of Saab’s technology, tools and production equipment for GM use the new 9-5: an – that would be launched in the spring – to a future Buick in the U.S..
In the GM is also talk of exploiting Saab technology for the production of a new premium car for Opel, “says DI’s sources. It would then be about the reopening of the closed trial with an Opel Senator in Europe.

Shakespeare couldn’t even document the full bastardry these beancounters are capable of.

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Saturday morning snippets – Seeya in January edition

December 12, 2009 in News

Friday saw the last shift at the Saab factory for this year, with a 4-week vacation taking place of the normal 2-week break at Christmas.
It’ll be a nervous Christmas for all these workers, though, as a decision will be made during their break about Saab’s future.
All you Saab workers – we’re anxiously waiting, too. It can’t feel as nerve-wracking for us as it does for you, but know that we’re with you.
Work at the factory is scheduled to re-start on January 11.
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Top Gear drive and review the Saab 9-3x:
I said a few months ago that the modifications made to the SportCombi to bring about the 9-3x work really well, that they make the car make sense even more than usual. These guys seem to agree.

This is the best Saab on sale. I know, I know: right now, in the months before the new 9-5 big car and 9-4 crossover become available, being the best of Saabs is like being the healthiest patient in intensive care.
But it’s better than that. If you’re in the market for one of those slightly jacked-up, slightly toughened-up four-wheel-drive estates, this is very possibly the one to go for……
It’s one of those cars that feels at home with itself. All the dynamic attributes rub along nicely with each other.

And of course, it gives me an opportunity to post one of my favourite Saab 9-3x photos :-)
Saab 9-3x
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There’s more bad JD Power news for Saab this morning, with the brand doing particularly poorly in the 2009 Customer Retention Study.
Saab came dead last in the survey. The typical industry retention rate is 48% and Mercedes Benz scored the highest for customer retention, at 67%. Saab scored 9%.
That said, the reasons why are pretty easily explained. A company in turmoil, ownership uncertain, 60%-plus drop in sales, no leasing, bottomed out trade values. All of this is caused by uncertainty.
It’s not good, but it’s nothing that a couple of good years can’t turn around if Saab get the chance.
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Now that the northern winter is well and truly in effect, GM Europe are trumpeting their fantastic all wheel drive system in the Open Insignia.
Developed for adaptation to front-wheel drive platforms by Saab.

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by Swade

Thursday Snippets – Lost edition

November 26, 2009 in News

I really don’t know where to begin today.
So many opinions, so many headlines. Most of them have been covered in comments already, but I suppose my task is to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Armchair quaterbacks
There’s a bucketload of these going around at the moment. Automotive ‘analysts’ who most likely don’t even think about Saab until a journo rings them up and asks for an opinion. Most of them will be quite dismissive and give a summary comment like “GM will shut down Saab. It’s just not worth them thinking about”.
I’m happy to be as dismissive of them as they are of Saab.
It may well turn out that Saab does not survive this episode. That can happen. But having followed this story for almost a full year now, I know from various contacts inside and outside of Saab that work is going on in the background at a furious pace. They are not lying down.
If Saab is closed, it won’t be because of a lack of work in Sweden and won’t be because there’s no potential there to build something.
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Problem Mathematics
I still can’t get the collapse of the Koenigsegg deal to add up.
fabela.JPG Fabela says it was a complicated deal involving a lot of parties and they weren’t able to get all the parties moving at a quick enough pace. See the interview here.
But the money was just days away. This has been confirmed by Joran Hagglund and the Swedish Debt Office. They would have been up and running an just a few weeks.
Were their margins for time so incredibly fine tuned that 10-14 days is the killer difference?
He says they no longer believed that the business plan they’d developed could be delivered because of the delays. Again, this is the business plan that was reviewed by so many different bodies and approved, yet it was not robust enough to last a few more weeks?
I just doesn’t add up.
And in the next sentence he says the plan was strong and viable.
The money was just a few weeks away. So a strong and viable plan should have been able to be implemented. Didn’t this strong and viable plan go up to December 31st, the date GM had set for Saab?
I just does. not. add. up.
There must have been something else at play here. There is an unseen hand at work with one of these players that has folded this thing up. There’s no other explanation.
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A gutsy appearance
CvKfactory.jpg You’ve got to tip your hat to CvK and Eker for visiting the Saab factory today to try and give some account of what went wrong. By all accounts they were shown some support by the people there, which is the right thing.
Things have gone wrong here, but CvK & co have had a genuine crack at this. The bigger fault here may lie with GM and Deutsche for selecting them in the first place. But I digress…..
CvK said to TTELA that “It was important to come here and tell us more about why we pulled ourselves out” but from the Googletrans that I can see, there doesn’t seem to be too much more of an explanation that we’d already heard.
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It’s a Maud, Maud world
If there’s one thing that’s really annoying in all this, its the point scoring exercise going on between politicians in the Swedish media.
Thankfully, in between volleys, Maud Olofsson did have a few things that were notable and sensible to say:

  • A new buyer coming in is going to have to be able to get the deal tied up quickly. They will need to be well backed and well resourced.
  • The government will work with whoever it is to do what they can to get things done, but they won’t take a stake in the company (which we all know)
  • The EIB loan process that’s been undertaken so far was tied to Koenigsegg’s plan. Any new potential owner requiring and EIB loan would have to start the process over again.

That last one’s in bold because it’s pretty important.
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A final clip, from Automotive News:

A Swedish government official said today that General Motors Co. appeared to still have hopes of being able to sell its Saab unit after the wheels came off of a planned divestment this week. “I talked to GM last night and my impression is that they have not given up hope,” Joran Hagglund, state secretary at Sweden’s Industry Ministry, told reporters.

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And for those of you thinking that GM might still retain Saab, you’d best bear in mind the news from Germany:

General Motors Co. expects to cut around 9,000 jobs at Adam Opel GmbH, or nearly 20 percent of the ailing German carmaker’s work force, as part of a $5 billion restructuring, a top executive said Wednesday.
Nick Reilly, the head of GM’s international operations and interim CEO of Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall, outlined the planned cuts, which were slightly fewer than anticipated, but said no decisions had been reached regarding plant closures.

Cutting 9,000 jobs in Germany and then finding a viable excuse to keep 4,000 in Sweden?
Good luck selling that one to the German government just before asking for aid.
Saab need to be sold. It’s the only viable way to survive.

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by Swade

EnG Breaking the Tension Snippets

November 14, 2009 in Saabology, Troll Stuff

OK — for all of you out there biting your nails wondering if your Saab dealer was fired or was re-knighted as a purveyor of fine Swedish metal, I offer these small diversions to ease the tension that you may feel….
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First, the fleet at the EggsNGrits manse has grown large. Four vehicles for two drivers is a bit much. But they look so good in the driveway.

the fleet.jpg
front 34.jpg

Click through the jump at the bottom for more pics of the “new guy”, my “new” 1991 Saab 900 Turbo convertible in Edwardian Grey. I love driving that car! More on that in a future post.
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General Motors has repaid another 200 Million Euros from its May 2009 bridge loan from the German government, and confirms that the remainder (400 Million Euros) will be repaid within the month.
Certainly, this signals that Opel and Vauxhall are at least holding their own in the European market. If they are counting on labor concessions, our old pal Klaus Franz, the head of the German auto workers union representing the Opel Russelheim workers, calls the GM plan “a farce” and says that, “there won’t be a single cent’s worth of concessions from workers to back [GM's plan]“. As you may recall, Mr. Franz demanded that Saab assembly work should be transferred to Russelheim to meet contractual increases at the expense of the Trollhattan labor force.
My word to Klaus Franz: those karma paybacks are pretty stiff, aren’t they? I think that you’ll get what you deserve and more from GM. The gloves are off and they’re going to make money, even if that means making lots and lots of cars in Korea.
I, for one, am glad that Saab’s future will be only loosely tied to you!
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Finally, how’s this for contrarian thinking: A Saab dealership that’s expanding!
Well, actually, Valenti Saab, a Watertown, Connecticut dealer, will move the Saab showroom into a new building rather than have Saab share space with the VW and Audi cars in their current space.
Hey, if they need more room, I call that an expansion in this day and time!
Congratulations, Valenti.
(And a note to Mr. Taylor, the newspaperman that wrote the story: Saab is in Sweden, not in Switzerland. We’ll keep that between us.)

Read the rest of this entry →

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by Swade

Bittersweet

November 12, 2009 in Troll Stuff

The new Buick Regal:
BuickRegal.jpg
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The Opel Insignia
opel-insignia-2.jpg
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Bitter because Saab was subject to this sort of badge engineering crap to the point where it watered down the character of the brand and identity of the company for so long.
Sweet because it won’t happen any more.
–

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GM cancels sale of Opel

November 4, 2009 in News

News just in, with thanks to Dippen via comments…

General Motors (GM) has announced it has cancelled plans to sell its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall.
The US giant said in a statement that its board had made the decision because of “an improving business environment for GM over the past few months”…..
……GM added that it had also come to its decision because of the importance of Opel and Vauxhall to its global strategy.
It said it would now “initiate a restructuring of its European operations in earnest” and seek aid from the German government, and other European states.
However, its decision is likely to cause much anger in Europe, where the planned sale of Opel has been dragging on for months.

I believe the Saab deal is binding, so there should be any plans to back out of that one. And how glad are you and I now that Saab wasn’t bundled in with the sale of Opel as some initially suggested.
This has got to be a difficult situation. I undersand why they’d want to keep Opel, but with the EU rules on (more) state aid and the fact that many workers actually wanted the sale to proceed, this is going to be a pretty hairy workplace for some time.
I wonder how many Christmas card lists just got torn up in Europe and Canada?

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by Swade

GM trying to hang on to Opel?

August 25, 2009 in News

There are a number of reports starting to circulate, stating that General Motors may be working on a financial plan that will allow it to retain it’s ownership of Opel.
The whole story starts with a report in the Wall St Journal that I can’t access, but it’s covered elsewhere as well.

General Motors is looking at shelving a German-backed bailout of its Opel European car arm, the Financial Times reported. The U.S. carmaker and its advisers are instead considering raising about 3 billion euros ($4.3 billion) of rescue funds for Opel and its British Vauxhall brand from the U.S. and other European governments, including the U.K. and Spain.

These reports are quite fresh and there are still reports going around that negotiations are taking place for Opel’s sale. I guess it’s pretty early to say what’s going on with any particular authority, but the way GM’s been stalling on this transaction, it’s not overly surprising.
For those who are worried that they might try and pull the same stunt with Saab, bear in mind that the deal signed with Koenigsegg Group last week was a binding agreement. The Saab transaction will go ahead.
Magna were merely nominated as a preferential bidder early in the piece. It seems they’re still the preferred bidder in the German government’s mind, but GM prefers RHJ International, and that may only be if they’re forced to sell.

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Monday morning snippets – quotable edition

August 24, 2009 in Saabology

The Financial Times has a good summary article on the Koenigsegg Group’s bid for Saab and what they’d like to do with it.

….the agreement raised as many questions as it answered, not least how a tiny niche manufacturer with 45 employees could turn round a mass-market carmaker that GM could not make profitable in two decades.
Mr Koenigsegg insists the answer is simple. As part of the GM behemoth, Saab never received the attention it needed.
He said: “It was very difficult for Saab to have a clear vision for the future and fine-tune its products. We will unleash the creativity within Saab and allow them to do what they’re good at.”
Just as Koenigsegg sports cars offer an individualised alternative to rivals such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, he wants to re-establish Saab as the quirky, niche brand of its 1970s-80s heyday. “It is a more personal and unique brand [than other carmakers],” he says. “It should be a statement in itself.”

Amen, brother.
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And Tompa produces a quotable quote in comments …..

What Koenigsegg must do is put the cards on the table. To show their financial strength. But then…..
Please Merbanco, look into a deal with Koenigsegg. They have the enthusiasm needed to make Saab prosper and become Saab again. On top of that they have enough tech skills to produce their own V8 and one Heck of a supercar. Combined with Saabs strenghts this could all become something like the turnaround of Audi in the mid 80´s… Only better. Why not be a part of all this?
You are Saab fans, please show it in direct support.

Amen, brother.
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Moving away from quotes….
There’s a guy on Flickr named Public Class who posted the following image with a very interesting caption:

All movie material is being recorded for the new campaign for Saab 93-X. Keep an eye out, the the campaign will probably be online in a couple of days!

Saab9-3xshoot.jpg
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Well done to our Unofficial Saab Ambassador in the UK, Robin M, for scoring this convertible as a restorer over the weekend. The lady owner was pleased to let it go for a token price on the promise that it would be taken care of and returned to some former glory.
Robin900Convertible.jpg
Incidentally, Robin has over 12,000 images on Flickr. Absolutely amazing!
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The Opel deal still isn’t done, with GM, the Opel Trustees Board and the German Government still butting heads on who’s going to get the nod.
Here’s a good summary.

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Thursday Night Quick Snippets – Opel done edition

August 13, 2009 in Saabology

This’ll be quick, as you’ll need all day to read the Auto Motor and Sport article below.
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Apparently all issues between GM and Magna have been resolved and the Opel deal is done.

Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank have reached an agreement in principle with General Motors’ management over a contract to buy a stake in GM’s European unit Opel, Magna Co-Chief Executive Siegfried Wolf told Reuters on Thursday
The boards of directors of GM and Canadian automotive group Magna still need to approve a deal before trustees who control a 65 percent stake in Opel can give their final consent.

Now they can get on with the Saab transaction?
Thanks Till!
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Saab GB has a subscription page where you can sign up for the latest info about the 2010 Saab 9-5 as news arises.
GBSaab9-5signup.jpg
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Vehix rates the Saab 9-3 amongst it’s Top 10 Luxury vehicles under $35,000 for 2009.
Thanks Stephen!
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Now scroll down to Gunnar’s AMS report – sensational!

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Report: Opel deal stalling on Russian involvement

August 7, 2009 in News

German publication WiWo is reporting that the GM deal with Magna is stalling due to US Government insistence on limitations to access patents held by GM. Di.se are also reporting this based on the WiWo story.
The theory seems to be that the Russian membership in the Magna consortium, which is not fully detailed, is a worry to US government as around 5% of GM’s business is military (or the like) and the US government doesn’t want Russia to have unfettered access to the patents related to this.
Again, like with the GP.se story, I’m dealing with translations here, and pretty important ones, too. These stories have a pretty big potential to impact Saab’s sale. I’ll deal with that in a moment.
UPDATE – Full manual translation now received…….read on….
Here’s the original story at WiWo.
Full translation now provided by Till – thanks!!:
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The US government gave advice to the US car company not to sign a contract with the Austrian investor Magna as long as russian companies get extensive access to GM patents. This is reported by WiWo according to American negotiating circles.
Magna insists to get access to all developments from the GM patent pool. But these conern not only car technology. Approx. five per cent of GM’s turnover are made with military items. GM’s request to limit the access to car technology was rejeczed by Magna repeadetly, according to negotiation circles.
The Americans accuse Magna of moving the more away from the first MOU the stronger Sberbanks role gets in the consortium. The base distrust on the US side grows even bigger because the Austrians stubbornly refuse to let GM take a look in the contract between Magna and Sberbank.
Other than reported in the German press the parties argue not only about one or two problems. At first GM had listed 52 issues.At the beginning of last week the parties were still did quarrel about 26 issues put tohether under seven headlines. After tuesdays negotiations there were still 19 issues left. These include besides the role of the Russian partners mainly patents, technology transfer, financing and company rights issues.
The US side expects – according to WiWo’s information – the Federal (i.e. German) government to lead back Magna and Sberbank as close as possible to the MOU they initially agreed upon. Dieter Posch, economy minister of Hessen (German federal state), told WiWo: “It’s not enough to negotiate in Washington, Moskau is as important”.
In last weeks negotiations the representatives of the German federal government and the federal states increased pressure not only on Magna and RHJI but also on the seller GM: the claim for more equity capital concerns not only the investors but also GM that keeps stake in the “new Opel”.
US representatives warn of the possibility that the negotiations could fail. ” The federal government should look for other options than Magna and even consider an insolvency.” Berlin and the federal states are said to have manouvered themselves in a corner. “The Magna bid doesn’t match the economical reality, it just fits the German wishes.
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We have two stories posted in the last hour – one about Saab and one about Opel. BOTH of them deal (to varying degrees) with concerns about Russian investment in the companies. Magna’s Russian contingent has a name, but in the Saab story, the Russian connection is an inference only.
What’s of concern is whether or not this potential Russian connection with Saab could scuttle the deal. Koenigsegg Group’s people do like to sit in the background and if key members are looking to sink further into the shadows, then it doesn’t bode well.
Add into this mix the fact that dealers in the US have posted in comments that a halt has been placed on all orders, including the 9-3x, and you’ve got a very muddy picture that needs some clearing up.
Someone needs to come out and say something here to clarify and reassure……
All the whispers I’ve heard in the last week or so indicate that completion of the Saab deal is imminent. I hope that’s still the case.
We need to move on.

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No deal on Opel sale – yet

August 5, 2009 in News

AMS Sweden are reporting that GM’s decision on Opel may take a little longer – still – than what people hoped.
The new GM board are meeting Monday and Tuesday, for the first time since emerging from bankruptcy, and it was hoped that the RHJ and Magna deadlock could be broken during this time.
From Reuters:

Carmaker General Motors and Germany will not decide on Tuesday which bidder will succeed in buying Opel, GM’s chief negotiator John Smith said at the start of a round of meetings in the German capital.
“If you’re asking me to select one bidder, no,” Smith told reporters as he went into meetings with officials from the German government and from the two main bidders — Canadian supplier Magna and financial investor RHJ International.

And from Bloomberg:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to be involved to end a deadlock over the future of General Motors Co’s Opel division, according to Klaus Franz, Opel’s top labor leader.
While Germany backs Magna International Inc. as the buyer of the carmaking unit, GM chief negotiator John Smith has said an offer from Brussels-based investor RHJ International SA offers a “simpler solution.” A meeting of GM’s 13-member board yesterday failed to come up with a recommendation, as German officials gather today to hold talks with the two bidders.
“It’s inevitable that Merkel will have to be involved,” Franz said in a telephone interview today. “The Americans have now realized that they’re up against an overwhelming coalition of Germany’s federal and state governments as well as unions.”

Whilst GM have denied it, it is said that they favour the RHJ bid as RHJ may be more willing to sell their stake back to GM in the future.
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Auto Motor and Sport say that the Opel negotiations are not effecting the Saab transaction at all.
The original. The Googletrans:

The deal between Saab and the supposed new owner Koenigsegg Group unaffected. It is expected a final clearance to come shortly. But for the Volvo PV means further pending the clearance when the owner of Ford Motor Company stated that it does not take any decisions until Opel affair is settled. Ford’s hope is that the company missed Opel instead might be interested in Volvo.

I’ve had recent conversations with two Djup Strupes, both of which support this position, with one going as far as saying that a deal is now ‘very close’ to being signed.

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Binding offers for Opel due today

July 20, 2009 in Archive

It’s been a long time coming, for all this GM Europe divestiture business. For both Saab and Opel. Who knows if we’ll hear a final announcement with regards to Saab this week, but if the timetable in the news services is correct, we should definitely hear an outcome with regards to Opel.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. ( MGA) and Ripplewood, which is behind Belgian investment group RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT), will submit bids for General Motors Corp.’s (GMGMQ) Opel and Vauxhall car brands Monday, the U.K. Business Secretary said.
“We will know today, I believe, that two bidders, Magna International and a Belgium-based company Ripplewood are putting forward bids to share the ownership of General Motors in Europe with the parent company in North America,” Peter Mandelson said on BBC radio.
He said GM would be considering those bids over the following 48 hours and was likely to indicate its preference Wednesday.

I’m not sure why this article from CNN Money doesn’t mention Beijing Automotive, but they’re said to still be in the running, too.
The smart money is on Magna, who enjoy a favourable opinion from both the unions and the German government, both of whom are key to getting this deal done. RHJ are seen as a bidder more likely to try and sell back to GM in a few years, a position which is not viewed positively by the German government:

Germany’s economics minister has ruled out any attempt by General Motors to include an option to buy back majority control of GM Europe, which produces Opel and Vauxhall vehicles, as part of a deal to give up more than 50 per cent of its German subsidiary in exchange for state aid.
“This is incompatible with our views and cannot happen,” Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told German Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview.
Reuters Newsagency says the comments could suggest that Belgian financial investor RHJ International may have problems with its bid if the company is viewed as only a short-term player.

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GM and Saab Wednesday snippets

July 15, 2009 in Archive

I haven’t covered GM much at all in the last few weeks. The less written about them the better as far as I’m concerned.
But does their recent backflipping on several things reek to anyone else?
Leading up to bankruptcy they were as contrite as a swagger-driven company could be. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir. Want us to change the old guard? Yessir! Our went Wagoner and Bob Lutz announced his pending retirement as well.
Then the very same day they emerge from bankruptcy proceedings as “New GM”, Lutz reverses his decision to retire and is retained as head of marketing.
Leading up to bankruptcy they were all about small cars and Volt Volt Volt. Now they’re out relative danger, they’re talking about keeping the RWD Commodore/G8 and talking up the Chevy Camaro like it’s an automotive god.
It’s salesmanship at its best and worst all at the same time. I wish them well, but I really can’t wait for Saab to separate from this crew.
——
Automotive News report that RHJ International have put a figure on their bid for Opel, at around 300 million Euros in equity plus a whole heap in state guaranteed loans.
Magna is still the frontrunner, though, and I’ll be very surprised if Opel goes elsewhere. Talks with RHJ are nothing more than a sideshow.
——
The mainstream automotive press has been given access to the 2010 Saab 9-5. The press must be preparing their reports for upcoming editions. These are real, photographable versions of the car rather than the test mules we’ve been seeing. The cars were handbuilt in Russelsheim and after doing their initial rounds for the cameras at press events and motorshows, they’ll most likely be used for crash testing or sent to the crusher.
The press are also having a chat with Saab people whilst they’re there and the results are starting to pop up in the press.
Unfortunately, I can’t get the links to work at the moment (not even the front pages of these sites will show up on my computer right now), but Whatcar and Car Magazine, both from the UK, should both have stories up there at the moment or in the next day or so.
Obviously, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see the photos, but hopefully the stories will give a good read.
——
The latest info coming through on the Saab 9-3 is that it’s due to get another facelift for the 2011 model year.
This will not mean much in terms of exterior changes as I’m led to believe that the main focus of the facelift will be the interior.
And it’ll be most welcome.
The changes will most likely be to bring the car into line with the new Saab 9-5 and 9-4x that should be out by then.
——
The NY Times keeps up some reporting pressure on JD Power over those Initial Quality Surveys.
Last report, we read how the Mini fared badly but sells incredibly well. The contrast was due to customer perceptions of initial quality being turned around by actual quality once they’d got used to the car.
Read: the customer isn’t always right. Sometimes the customer is an ass.
This time, the NYT is focusing on the inclusion of “brake dust” on the JD Power survey.
——
A link was placed in comments by Gunnar and emailed to me by Mike L.
Nice.
TurboXcoupe.jpg

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Avatar of Swade

by Swade

Government playing favourites with Saab/Fiat

July 1, 2009 in Archive

A report in today’s Dagens Industri will give you a pretty clear indication of who the Swedish government’s favourite is for a takeover of Saab.
You may remember Maud Olofsson’s almost palatable disappointment when Fiat pulled out of the bidding for Opel. She’ll be smiling again now as Fiat are apparently back in the game for Opel (kinda) and included in that is Sergio Marchionne’s plans to include Saab.
From Dagens:

Fiat has come back as one of the candidates to take over Saab, the details of the seller to General Motors turned to the question of who should take over Opel, writes Dagens Industri.
According to Dagens Industri flourishes new information that GM is looking for a better deal to sell Opel than the current candidate, the subcontractor Magna offers.
“I am not surprised. That’s exactly what we have seen with GM for a long time. It signed preliminary deals, but after a time GM can open up to sweeten and enhance the bids for their own part. It is no surprise, but it does not contribute to any clarity, “says Jöran Hägglund, State Secretary at the Industry Ministry, to DI.
Secretary of State describes Fiat plans for Saab as “exciting” and suggests that Fiat probably has more resources to help Saab, who need to borrow money quickly to be able to produce cars.
“Fiat is a larger group who managed to turn a negative into a positive development and have the ability to fend off the up and downs. In light of the need for capital, it may perhaps feel better to have it in the back, unless a smaller player has enough capital with them, “he says to Dagens Industri.

Any references to Koenigsegg in the last few weeks have been quite negative in tone. The contrast here is blinding.
I’m not against Fiat owning Saab. The continued tie-in with Opel would annoy me more, personally. I’m quite sure that Saab would have more identity under Fiat than what they did under GM.
What annoys me, though, is the government’s lack of consistency in their commentary. Koenigsegg may be small but Fiat have huge problems of their own in terms of debt and their work with Chrysler in the US.
I guess if they look big it’s a less risky deal in the eyes of the public. And it’s the public who votes at election time.
–
I’ve got to go hunting, but I haven’t read anything recently that shows Fiat are active again in their pursuit of Opel. The last I read they had left their offer on the table, saying it was the best they could make.
GM were pursuing improved offers and BAIC and RHJ are going to submit improved offers, but as I understood it, Fiat would let theirs stand saying it was the best they could do.
The Opel deal is under significant pressure, not only from GM courting different people, but also from the EU:

The guidelines for state aid to ailing companies through the German “Economy Fund” is very strictly: The state must be of high interest rates for the Opel credit. For the guarantees envisaged by 2014 further fees would be payable. Only 90 percent of a loan should be hedged.
If the Federal Government and the investor do not fulfill these conditions, the control of EU state aid rescue will be effective: Opel is threatened with harsh conditions, the company would have to reduce capacity and close plants.

——
Thanks to MG in comments and Alexandros via email

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