Di.se: Youngman prepared to buy for 5 billion SEK

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Rachel Pang is scheduled to come to Sweden next week with her father the companys chairman Pang Qingnian. Willing to put up 5 billion SEK, and another 5 billon SEK to develop the Phoenix platform/NG 900.
Part of the plan is to start up production of 9-3 in 15 weeks time.
DI claim that Youngman has found a way to work around the GM issues. Some part to the 9-3 can be sourced through non-GM channels.

The printed edition of Di claims that engines and gearboxes are being sourced from other companies instead of GM. Would we guess here diesels from Italy. Gerboxes seams to be more complex, but that is just a challenge for the “coming” owners.

There is also some writing that the 9-3 only will be sold in China. Well there are a couple of thousands of unsold NEW or near new Saabs around the world.

Just lets hope Youngman has takes measures and steps to safeguard the museum as one entity intact.

Interesting days to come. Press conference Saturday in Göteborg. Then a Youngman och lawyer meeting next week.

Could this be the fresh new start Saabs so desperately needs? Lets hope for that.

80 thoughts on “Di.se: Youngman prepared to buy for 5 billion SEK”

    • This is the time – around 3 weeks – needed to Youngman’s engineers to get 9-3 into single parts and find out, what and how they can replace from GM to other suppliers, good job 🙂

  3. Sounds great 🙂 Too bad that the 9-4X and 9-5 wont be produced again. I really wanted that 9-5 SportCombi.

    I have one question to GM:

    “You said you will do anything that is in the best interest for your shareholders. Why don’t you want to sell components/licenses to Youngman and earn money?”.

    • Read somewhere that the bid was so high, because they might pay back money to those suppliers that still havent got there money. If the case is so, its a very nice thing to do. =)
      Maybe they can save the Museum to…

      • This is exactly right, if any supplier is going to be able to work for Saab the suppliers debt will need to be settled so that the suppliers in turn can pay their bills and also survive… a lot is depending on this…

  5. GM should have been allowed to go belly up, what a bunch of XXXX EDITED*! And thanks to the American government, I helped pay for that General Mess bailout!

  6. Why don’t you drop it and stop pissing off 1/3 of Saab’s market? If Youngman buys Saab, part of the reason will be the north American dealerships. The game here to survive, if Saab survives, we all win. The last thing you want to do is attending a car club meeting, surrounded by only eighty years olds. Trust me I have been to those meetings, very depressing.

    • Is 50% or more of SAAB 9-3 parts outsourced from GM?
      What are the parts of SAAB that would have to be outsourced from new alternative suppliers to GM?,
      For example, would the engine of SAAB 9-3 be outsourced from BMW rather than GM? Would the new engine be Turbo-charged?
      What are the tricks that SAAB would follow in the short term?

      What would be the overall effect of such acts on the PRODUCT that would be sold after 15 weeks?

      • What are the parts of SAAB that would have to be outsourced from new alternative suppliers to GM?

        The radio. 😉
        not having to use the GM corporate radio could be e big update for the 9-3 😎

  7. 5 Billion SEK?! That certainly is a good amount of money. I don’t see how an offer like this is ever going to be rejected. I mean it couldn’t be rejected right?

  9. If this deal with Youngman is closed. The SUHRT will invite Rachel Pang to take part in the 2012 Rally to The Midnightsun. (Midnattssolsrallyt).
    I am hoping that Youngman has spoken to the lawyers trying to sell the museum and either buy it or have them to hold their horses for some days.

  10. And they didn’t believe this sooner? They should have bought Saab without GM’s blessing and they would be in the same exact position only without a bankruptcy, loss of brand name. employee’s…etc.
    So frustrating, I’ll be back when they’re revived (hopefully).

  12. Let this be true and have conme an end to this unfortunate situation.
    We need Saab alive, developping and producing Saab cars.
    Come on Rachel; do it !!!!
    Saab up

  13. If more than a rumor, it again shows how little we know about the stakes of the parties involved. The suppliers demand 170 million. The EIB wants 200 millions back, I presume? That leaves us with 130 millions. What for? Buying back the facilities? Saving the museum? Paying the receivers?

  14. I can also join the cheerful crowd here and say Rachel Up!!!!

    I just have one reflection here: Since the article mentions that SAAB will be over-payed and even cover most of the debts, why didn’t Youngman just proceed with buying SAAB on that Monday the bankruptcy was declared? It would have been much easier to start up with the production, and that way a lot of dialog “A: SAAB doesn’t exist it went bust! B: No, no, you are wrong!” could have been omitted.

    Maybe they didn’t know that SAAB 9-3 could be produced without GM’s consent, maybe they finally realized that SAAB has real value after the convoys last weekend.

    Anyway I would welcome Youngman as a new owner. I personally think they have shown a genuine interest in the brand and the technology, and didn’t come out promising stars, like theTurkish competition.

  15. And I am also somewhat amazed to see 500 million Euros for the development of the Phoenix, that we had previously been told to be more or less completed. That is a lot of money.

    And what about the 15 weeks? Everybody seems to imply that this refers to a restart. But could they also mean to start the new 9-3 within that time frame? A lot of money could speed up up its development?!

  16. The 9-4x is just an OEM product that GM manufactures and Saab sells. How continuing that arrangement would be difficult for GM, I fail to see. However the situation with the 9-5 is far more complicated. If GM can’t be flexible it will only loose. But then where Saab is concerned, GM has never shown much intelligence.

  17. Yes, great news. I hope the liquidators will not sc*ew this up again. This may be the only and last life line for Saab. Other bidders, please cooperate and don’t mess up Youngman’s deal.

  18. Great!
    Now also bidders feel the pressure to bid no less than that.

    And if the money paid is enough to pay the suppliers, that should be a great start for signing new contracts with the same suppliers.

    Perhaps some stickers for the new cars with the proud message “No GM inside!” would become popular? 🙂

    • Maybe they could upgrade the ‘NG’ 9-3’s interior and add eXWD while their at it and in waiting for the PhoeniX 900.
      It could sell surprisingly well especially if the diesel would go under the magical 120g CO2.

      • That is the 180 hp or even 160 TTiD with eXWD.
        I’m aware that the 9-3 diesel hasn’t been available with AWD before but that’s what you have a progressive owner with deep pockets and a bunch of engineers for…

        The new 900 cannot be rushed! It’s got to wow the journos immediately and be as reliable as the NG 9-5 ones it comes out. I’d be willing to accept some e-AAM hiccups in a reasonably priced 9-3 Griffin but not in a brand new premium 900.

  20. I really hope that this comes off. Youngman have certainly shown commitment with the money they have already invested. The market in China is significant and they will be able to sell a lot of 9-3’s there until the new 900 comes along. I am really looking forward to the new 900 and I’m glad that is will be called a 900 and not a 9-3.

  21. In real i’m not (Jewis, Christian, Islamic or what ever wise) religious, but i believe in the people and of course SAAB, so:
    LET US PRAY for the future of “our brand”!
    For everyone by Yongman: Thank you for what you have done and are doing for SAAB, it’s really great and i hope you can let “our brand” live as never before!

  23. I always think of the old Village People song YMCA when I hear the name Youngman..

    Youngman, I was once in your shoes.
    I said, I was down and out with the blues.
    I felt no man cared if I were alive.
    I felt the whole world was so jive …

    That’s when someone came up to me,
    And said, Youngman, take a walk up the street.
    It’s a place there called the S.A.A.B.
    They can start you back on your way.

    It’s fun to be in a S-A-A-B.

    Something like that 🙂

  24. If you look at the figures: Saab didn’t sell the numbers they hoped they would sell in the USA. I think that maybe Saab shouldn’t be active in this market anymore. In the USA people tend to buy a car ‘off stock’, which means that there has to be at least some cars at the dealership for immidiate sell. This means a risk in liquidity: there are a lot of cars not sold that you should produce. A Toyota has a large manufacturing base and higher sales, so that risk is limited. Saab has low sales…
    In Europe you order a car and then it’s build up specs. Then there’s a legal order and payment on the way.

  26. Regarding the 9-5, maybe Saab could fosus their attention on a single model, i.e. the 9-3 Phoenix, but provide options for different wheel bases (like with the 900CD). 5000 Euro gets you 6 cm length, 10000 Euro gets you 12 cm additional wheel base. And instead of integrating all the good stuff into a higher level 9-5, they could offer it as options to the 9-3. Like an additional sound dampening package. As both the 9-3 and the next 9-5 are to be based on the Phoenix, why not reducing it to a single model?

    Now, some of you will argue that cars are all about image, and not about real value, and that all previous attempts at doing the wheel base trick more or less failed, as richer people want to distinguish themseves from the poor masses by a special dedicated car design. But maybe Saab driver are really different in this regard?

  27. I really hope this works out with Youngman. They have always seemed serious and are really interestedI want to buy a new 9-3SC if they start to produce them again. Last time I was in China I was travelling in Youngman busses 🙂

  29. This does seem promising but please bare in mind its GM, who have typically been obstructive to any sale-quite what rights they still have to bar a sale independant of their IP I do not know, but I do not expect it to suddenly become an easy ride after the 2 years of wrangling we have seen. but I cannot re-iterate it enough if Saab Survives and builds the PhoeniX/ng9-3/900 whatever you want to call it and they can do it in less than 2 years whilst manintaining a small revenue stream from a re-engineered 9-3-then I beleive they will succeed and shift the ng car in volumes previously unkown to Saab. There is clear hunger for a versatile sporty hatch, many people are waiting for it and have been for years. I wish Youngman the best of luck in the absence of a Scandinavian or European or US buyer.

  30. Hey all You supporters around the globe. If this deal is coming through, There is one thing You all must do, guess You know that right….
    GO AND BUY A NEW SAAB.
    Now it is up to You happy smiling customers to do the job. Rachel et.al. doing theirs now the customers MUST buy the products.
    This is the bare naked truth folks!

    • Bring the plant back online and consider the new 9-3 Aero ordered!
      Not to forget that one year later our second car has to be replaced… 🙂

    • If i had the money i bought a lot of new SAAB’s, one for every month of the year, perhaps one for each week of the year, perhaps one for every day of the year, but, as the situation of my wallet can’t allow to buy not even one new one, i have to do it with the SAAB(‘s) i already have.
      But, if i win the lottery, then……………… , oh yeahhhhh.

    • All YM needs to do is to offer Saabs that we want/can buy and their sales will be fine. Same thing applied to SWAN. Unfortunately time and money ran out.

      Trued, I remember ‘someone’ being initially quite critical of the NG 9-5 in 2010 when many of us were waiting for the big SC 😉

  31. perhaps youngman can strike a deal with gm anyhow and they are allowed to continue to produce the 9-4x, the 9-5 and the 9-5sc. Imho with only one car in the show-room it is going to be very difficult to survive the next few years.
    In the Austrian Saab Club I know two members who signed up for new Saabs that now haven’t been built. At the dealership where we met last Saturday they have 27 signed contracts for new Saabs. I just hope things work out again. We should continue to put GM under pressure so they‘ll agree to produce the 9-4x again…

  33. Saab Will be like minicooper for à while, one model one brand.
    This is quite interesting. The qwestion is how Saab will build it self up.
    I would like to start from the bottom with a small 91 and a sportscar 98 at the top. the new 93 will most likely come in both suv, convertible, sportscombi and hatch. Maybe wait w a 9-5 for a few years until the brand has recovered.

  34. By the way, tet’s all keep in mind that this is all so far nothing but a rumour. It doesn’t becoume The Truth just because it has been told by an anonymous sourse to di.se. 🙂

  35. ok, this new deal sounds good. Don’t mean to be cynical(I’m a cynic anyway), but I guess Youngman now has to go before Yang Xi Koping or whoever is the big Government guy and ask for “approval” and then wait for another year for Big Government to say no or yes,.

    • The article in the Swedish online paper says that the new 9-3 …..

      I can’t find the word new on that article, but still it is only rumours from DI, as they only have one source for that.

  38. The most important thing is that people will have a work to go to. That development and manufacturing stays in Trollhättan and that Saabs still are made.
    Sure i´d love to get my hands on a 9-5 SC or a Phoenix 900 in 2013, but we just have to accept that that may not be possible.
    The thing I like the most about this setup is that Saab would be free of GM chains.

  39. As far as I can make sense of it, the story will have us believe that the 9-3 (the one they plan to resume building within 15 weeks, so it must be the current 9-3) will be fitted with a non-GM powertrain and only sold in China. Given the logistics of the situation, I believe that they must be planning to equip the cars with a Chinese-built or some other cheap engine and gearbox combination (the Lotus powerplants they already have available?) to keep the price as low as possible. The price would have to be the compelling selling point in China because at the usual Saab price levels the cars wouldn’t sell there at all, given their age and the -probably- locally sourced engines and gearboxes. And with a powertrain like that, they probably wouldn’t be marketable outside of China anyway.

    So if all this actually does happen, it’s probably just a stopgap measure to generate at least some turnover until the new PhoeniX-based 900 is ready to be launched.

    Wonder if they plan a similar trick -downgraded bottom-price GM-less version- with the NG 9-5.

    Ivo

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