In what I hope will be the last and final update on the supplier debaucle of 2011, Reuters interviewed Eric Geers who updates us on what Saab production is like this morning:
“We have solved all the issues with IAC,” said spokesman Eric Geers. “There was an agreement yesterday evening so this morning the plan is to ASAP get going on production.”
IAC had stopped deliveries due to the dispute. Saab was also forced to halt production earlier this week due to another payment dispute with transport company Schenker.
Christer Palm, Chairman of Sweden’s FKG association of car industry suppliers, said he had not heard of any new issues that could hold up production again, though he believed suppliers were somewhat cautious given this week’s payment disputes.
“I have spoken with some of the other suppliers and they seem to be satisfied even if there may be some delays,” he told Reuters, noting that the delays were a matter of days rather than weeks.
“There is no acute problem that I can see at the moment.”
Geers said Saab hoped to get back to its more than 200-car-a-day production capacity as soon as possible.
Meanwhile Spyker has announced that they’re far along in negotiations and talks with banks (that Victor says does not include Conversbank) on finance relief that will help its funding going forward. From DJI:
Spyker said that its now seeking “some direct relief” through additional funding, “in form of equity or similar facilities.” The Dutch car maker added that negotiations on possible financing deals are “in an advanced stage.”
“Management is accordingly confident that it will be able to generate the necessary additional funding and expects to be able to come with further announcements soon,” Spyker said.
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Also included in the report was some good sales information:
Saab said separately registered sales of Saab cars in Sweden, one of its top markets, had risen 129 percent in March to 888 units from a trickle last year as the company’s fate hung in the balance.
We’ll have more on Swedish sales data in addition to other markets as it becomes available.
888 cars in total in March for the Swedish market isn’t that much even if it is a big increase in percent. 🙁
I would really like to see these figures to go through the roof once the new TTID versions of the 9-3 SC starts to ship to customers.
The cars delivered to customers in March were probably ordered in January . TTiD with 119g/km weren´t available throughout the range then. Like you said, TTiD SC is what really should sell in Sweden and elsewhere.
I´d like to interpret the numbers in many positive ways – the percentage of private people buing Saabs has increased. That is good. 9-5 in “just” sedan form sells almost as well (though small numbers) as A6 and Ovlov S80 was not even listed.
Well done Saab!!
In the midst of all the hustle of this week, Saab also had a brief stop on Wednessday to move over to MY2012. So the new version of the 9-3SC TTiD is starting to get built as we speak now. So these deliveries will be seen starting in April’s numbers. Hopefully the news that the suppliers have got paid and are satisfied, along with good sales and Geer’s repetitive statements about Saab having liquidity and some mroe analyzing articles (like that from Jonas Fröberg this morning) will save some of Saab’s trust in the Swedish market. Let’s hope that additional… Read more »
Can you post a link to the Fröberg article?
Does anyone know how many of these 888 cars were 9-3 and how many were 9-5? And do dealers still have examples of the old gen 9-5 which they’re selling which add to these numbers, or is it all truly new cars?
Somebody posted a link to it today, I think, but anyway:
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/hur-ar-laget-for-saab-i-dag_6057063.svd
It’s not all positive, but the level of journalism is perhaps the highest so far…
Strange journalism these days. I have read stories reporting ‘out of VM’s mouth’ that VA’s Converse Group will be one of the banks involved in the refinancing of the EIB loan. Now they all report it will not. Not all that important, really, and it may well, to paraphrase VM, constitute a conflict of interests for VA in certain situations but still strange, such black vs. white differences in reporting. Or maybe the first interviewer just misunderstood VM’s words. It does, however, imho illustrate the quality of current-day reporting. Nobody checks the facts for themselves, they just re-write the first… Read more »
@Ivo +1
Agreed Ivo, the problem is that so few reporters are even citing their sources anymore, so who knows where the coverage is coming from to even check if they’re independent from one another. Very frustrating.
You’re absolutely right. Some of the internet journalism is flat out disgraceful. Can’t even write a fools day piece without messing the up the grammar in the first sentence 😉 (too many changes, not enough coffee)
Many of them know very well how to write an April Fools piece. It’s just that they write them on all days except on April Fools Day.
😉
Ivo
Yes, and I am surprised how many people, even here on SU, eat some (or all!) of this up. In general, I think most humans are hard-wired to believe the worst. We love the drama. And we definitively pride ourselves on our ability to see connections where there may be none at all ({JÅJ leaving} + {suppliers rebelling}). As fans we are naturally concerned with what goes on inside the factory. Some rumours are indeed quite nasty and fills us with worry. But to act on rumours is foolish. Saab has a new owner and it takes time (certainly more… Read more »
I suppose it would be difficult for SAAB to issue a lawsuit against the first or second news agency that broke the news and helped spread the panic. I am not defending SAAB in the ways they handled the mess because it did happened due to mis-management. Obviously, its immensely difficult (with limited funds) to start up the company again from the GM disaster but still the basics need to be in check and communication to your service providers, in any situation, is key. Maybe SAAB will need to toughen up against the local journo´s. Will not help ease their… Read more »
Doesn’t work with the press, has been tried before by others. Such reporting is carefully worded and checked by editors to insulate the publication from just such an action. If you try that, it generally blows up in your face. You’ll never get anything done then plus that by attacking one you alienate all the media. They tend to close ranks after an assault on one of theirs.
Ivo
I also do not want Saab in law suits with newspapers etc.
But this is really funny:
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/03/31/tesla-sues-top-gear-over-electric-car-road-tests/?mod=google_news_blog
Electric-car maker Tesla Motors says it served the BBC’s Top Gear with a lawsuit for libel and malicious falsehood….
Not an April fool!
Rodmolyn, that was a good article, the bit were they speculate if they are faking saabs money problem was at least news to me..
Is that a possibility to do that?
Go out in the press and say that you have money problem to get in VA faster in the company?
Seems to me that it would be very difficult to control the timing of such a scam. They’d have to stop paying the suppliers in December in order for it to explode now. Also, the scale of the upset would be fairly unpredictable, you might cause a chain effect where other suppliers get cold feet as well, and where the media goes ape on you. Generally speaking, a scam where neither timing nor scale is within your control is a very bad scam. I guess it would be possible to arrange something like this, but you’d have to be a… Read more »
It is time that Saab creates its own news platform to talk to the public (and let the public talk back). Building their own audience will take a long time, but it’s worth it. Let the public be part of the journey and share all the challenges small Saab is facing in fighting the big boys. Be a smart underdog. Lot of work to do…
Spyker itself seems now to recognize tha the financial situation ist really bad atm: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576236230022459252.html
Not good… 🙁
You should read a bit further. Their working on several options to get more funds 🙂
To be perfectly honest, I am disappointed by the way in which SaabsUnited has covered this week’s events. Production at the factory being impeded for four days in a row because of non-payments to suppliers is a major disaster in itself, and the publicity fallout is even worse. Regardless of what the actual cause of it is, there has obviously been a huge screwup by Saab, and an equally huge screwup when (mis)informing the public about the reasons. But the new SU staff seem inclined to play it down as if it was nothing, and blame the press for making… Read more »
“Major disaster”? “Huge screwup”? “Crisis”? I’m not sure if these statements are accurate, Börjesson. Are you? I agree that it’s important to have objective information. I also believe we need to be careful about exagerrating and or minimizing.
If this has all been much ado about nothing, then there should be a post explaining in detail why this is so, why everything in every press report since Tuesday was wrong. Because there can be no doubt whatsoever that this has been a major disaster as far as PR goes. If there were nothing of substance at all behind it, then that would be an even stronger reason to clarify the situation for the readers.
Börjesson
Swade would have probably had more inside information to base his comments on. No one here SU crew or not knows the reality of the situation. The new crew are not going to develop trust with Saab and get that inside line if they mouth off about such situations without the full facts.
I for one am fed up of the doom merchants, ever heard of self fulfilling prophecies?
SteveW
I tend to agree with Borjesson. I’m growing concerned with the number of people posting that seem to point fingers at everyone, but us(SAAB) when a “negative” issue arises. In business, issues arise. The difference between a company that will survive/thrive and one that will struggle to exist, is how the “issues” are handled/addressed. I am a realist and I think we need to be aware that we(SAAB) will not survive and thrive by instilling the mindset of: “keep calm and carry on”. This type of thinking will not get it done in this situation. We need to be collectively… Read more »
I get what you’re saying, and I think Saab shouldn’t be in denial. At the same time I think their number one issue is gaining customer confidence, and leading with news that they’re having massive liquidity problems prior to announcing a bridge loan facility I think is worse for PR and thus their balance sheet than announcing it without a plan. It’s a catch-22, and the way they’re going about it I think is the lesser of two evils. I’ll have a post about it later tonight or tomorrow.
Can you point to some articles you would have liked us to post? Perhaps the articles suggesting that VA and VM orchestrated this whole thing months ago? Or the ones that stated that Saab would be using the EIB loan to cover liquidity problems only to then revise themselves later? Spyker is a public company, and any inside information that someone posts on a public forum speculating or sharing insider knowledge here especially in a crisis situation would constitute a huge breach of trust. Asking us to analyze Spyker’s balance sheet without an accounting degree is a bit of a… Read more »
Great summary, Jeff! I think it should get its own post on the front page.
Hmm, I guess i stand in the middle between Börjesson and Jeff. The severity of the PR disaster in the Swedish market is without comprehension for anybody not from the northern countries (I’m from Finland myself, nativly (Finland-)Swedish-speaking though). The confidence in VM is below zero in the media. The “severity” and “danger” if Saab’s situation is being touted in every tv-news and business news, with serious reporters standing in front of Saab’s main gate telling the viewers that the end of Saab is near, the leadership can’t be trusted and that Saab might go bankrupt any day now. Meanwhile… Read more »
+1
The WSJ articles are concerning, particularly the details of the balance sheet.
Let’s hope the deal with VA pulls through ( there seems to be no reason why it should not ).
The “new” SU team is doing a great job.
The Bad news: Saab has (what looks to be BIG) problems.
The Good news: Now we know.
Things are adding up and making sense. Revaluing (increasing) the assets. CFO departing. JaJ retiring. Vendors not being paid. Now a liquidity warning.
At least we don’t have to blame each other or the media – there are significant problems. I can deal with knowing.