After a skirmish in comments, I feel the need to clarify how Saab sits right now with relation to General Motors, or, as it still is legally, Motors Liquidation Company.
General Motors is a trusted partner, supplier, manufacturer and potential distributor for Saab Automobile AB. They also are holding, as indicated by Victor Muller only yesterday,somewhere around US$175 million of credit in suspension to allow Saab to get on its feet again.
Many Saab employees, particularly in North America and markets where Saab was tightly integrated with GM, are former GM employees with their pensions, friends and families still with GM/ML. Not the least of those is our own Mike Colleran, President of Saab Cars North America.
Certainly, most of us would have picked a much, much different route for Saab. Just like the rest of you, I wanted a path that avoided bondage to any master, especially GM. It didn’t happen that way. It simply didn’t. I have strongly disliked specific actions and omissions taken by GM against Saab. For example, I take GM to task for taking too long with CvK and his offer. Likewise, I believe that GM was a bit obtuse with the whole Antonov affair. I will openly criticize these actions or inactions where they make sense. I invite you to as well.
On the other hand, we must cease the senseless bashing of General Motors and people employed by General Motors. Saying that “GM has no morals” or they are “bastards” (two actual comments in the last 36 hours on this very site) is very, very much out-of-line. If you want to say something, criticize the action. Characterizing people is low-brow and unfair. People make mistakes. People are not mistakes themselves; they are human beings until proven otherwise.
I am big enough to admit my own transgressions. I overreacted to the previously mentioned vicious and uninformed comments (my view). For that I apologize. Starting a rant with a dismissive exclamation didn’t help matters any. I stand behind everything that I wrote save that one phrase.
GM bashing or personal attacks will not be tolerated. Those comments will be edited.
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