To start everyone’s Monday off, I gathered the stories that are kicking of our week of Saab news.
Getting the bad press off our chests first, ChinaCarTimes.com has an article up about why they think the Saab-Hawtai deal is going to fail. For every point they raise, I have a response that pretty well shoots it down. When they project out that Spyker is going to continue bleeding money at last year’s rates, they ignore the progress they’ve made and how much further along they are on their way towards getting to the break even point. Never once do they mention Antonov. And their pessimism about China approving the deal doesn’t take into account the ties between Hawtai and Bank of Beijing, let alone their new factory in Ordos. They do have a pretty good summary of the background though, including the names of the players at Hawtai and the tangled web that exists between GM, BAIC, and SAIC. I’ve been working on an in depth analysis piece about Hawtai over the weekend and I’ll have it up sometime midweek that helps everyone understand the bigger issues and why I’m much more optimistic about a deal (hint: one of the answers to Saab’s issues is in Mongolia).
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Also in China, spotted outside a Westin hotel you can see a 9-5 next to it’s possible distant cousin, a Hawtai B35 (Hyundai Santa Fe with a Cayenne face). Other outlets are saying it’s a dealer– it’s not, it’s a hotel.
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Finally as we speak, the media is test driving a fleet of 9-4Xs around the suburbs of Washington, D.C. as part of the second leg of its reviews. They should have some great weather so expect a slew of great reviews in the next few weeks. That coincides very well with deliveries of the 9-4X, which should be showing up in dealers in mid to late June– only five or six weeks away!
i read somewhere that the Hawtai $$$ would hit the bank in a matter of days…. has this outlook changed?
@Baas900i, if they receive money from Hawtai it will “only” be the 30 million from the convertible loan. They need approval for the 120 million.
Where in DC ? Id love to take some pics and check out the event.
The DC 9-4X event is a press test drive for the the short lead press (daily or weekly publications). I believe they are test driving the cars all day around rural Virginia. Saab and the press will reconvene at the Ritz in Georgetown for dinner. Saab did the 9-7X Aero press drive out of the Rizt several years back. If they stage the vehicles similarly, there will be some great photo opportunities in front of the Ritz.
Hey Kurt glad to see you’re posting here. I was supposed to be at the event, but given that they scheduled it for mother’s day I obviously had some conflicts, oh well. I love that Ritz, stayed there a few times. That smokestack boardroom is wild.
I’m heading down later today. It would have been nice to catch up with you in person.
100% Agree. That would have been a Great Opportunity.
I read just the other day that it´s really unusual that the chinese state don´t allow such deals. They can, but it´s very unusual. Besides they have everything to gain and nothing to loose, Hawtai really needs Saabs knowledge about electric cars and safety.
but the 9-3 e-power and the e-AAM axle must already have been ready when EIB stepped in?
I do not know where the boarders are drawn, since product development continues every week. . I only know that situations like this, is what lawyers love, and all parties involved now probably are working through hired lawyers and other legal experts.
Here it is:
http://translate.google.se/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fttela.se%2Fekonomi%2Fsaab%2F1.1206836-kinaforhandlare-om-hawtaiaffaren
http://ttela.se/ekonomi/saab/1.1208485-saab-har-fatt-pengar-fran-gemini
Gemini-money is now on the Saab accounts 🙂
Good News !!!
On a side note, who is Ms. Garfield? 😉
(I love Googletrans)
Read the last line of the article 🙂
A little OT, but there’s a white 9-5 parked outside my apt.building, and I just think it looks so stunning from this angle:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5703821830/
Now that is a beautiful sight! I saw one of those babies at a supermarket during the weekend. The second I’ve seen in the city where I live. And it was also a white Aero, but with turbine rims. So beautiful!
Hard to know how independent this China Auto publication is and whether they have a particular axe to grind. I think it is better for SAAB to be a bigger fish in a smaller Chinese auto company pond, rather that to be another fly on the Chinese version of GM’s ass.
But, as I have stated before, $200 M won’t last long in the car business. That is the main point of the article.
Hope for the best.