UPDATE – Important note to remember at the bottom!
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Time for me to cover what many of you Swedes would have already read. I’ll cover it anyway for the benefit of the non-Swedish speakers here and for the archives.
Auto Motor and Sport have written that Saab will be pronounced dead as of today – February 20th 2008.
They say that Opel will take a big, big hit as well.
A translation from Googlie wooglie.
During the Friday morning announcement [this] could come: General Motors is [killing] Saab! If bankruptcy becomes a fact it means that a 62 year-old car era is over….
…Normally, it should perhaps not be so personal a disclosure [in] articles on the automotive industry. But [this] SEASONED motoring journalist may have debris in the eye when the old Saab-veterans are calling on cell phone crying: “Now is the end, GM is running us in ??? (into the ground? – SW). I worked for Saab all my life – this is a bitch!”
…..several independent sources, the same thing: Today, Friday the 20th of February General Motors announces that Saab Automobile AB goes bankrupt. The message must go out during the morning. We have not been able to get any confirmation of the data, from Saab’s page is the “lid on” and no information has been published since Thursday lunch.
I’ve also tried calling Saab this morning. People are answering the phones, but understandably, the people I need to speak to are all busy.
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From another report, The Gothenburg Post reports that suppliers are withholding parts, trucks are turning back from Germany and people’s belly buttons are mysteriously changing from ‘innies’ to ‘outies’
OK, the last bit isn’t true, but you’ve got to try something to cheer up!
Deliveries are withdrawn
According to the GP experience, several suppliers in Germany has ordered that trucks on their way to Trollhättan to go back to Germany with the loads.
Because of the uncertain situation prevailing currently stopped a subcontractor, PE Plastic in Värnamo, its deliveries to the Saab factory in Trollhättan yesterday.
The company’s CEO, Patrik Ekwall, had only an oral agreement with Saab. Now he wants a written. While the supply of small plastic parts to Trollhättan stopped in Värnamo started a dialogue between the parties.
That article also predicts that if Saab go under, they’ll most likely take around 40 subcontractors with them. That’s most likely going to effect supply for Volvo as well.
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This is all news that is around 10 hours old right now.
It’s 7:41am in Sweden as I write this. Let’s see what the day brings.
And REMEMBER – this was all written before the story stating that GM are willing to guarantee $450m in loans from the EIB. That offer my be enough to entice the Swedish government to save Saab and all these flow-on suppliers.
All of you Saab people reading this, please let me know if you hear anything. This company must survive!!
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