(Transcription of the press conference by ttela.se)
Currently the press conference of Bo Lundgren is ongoing. Mr Lundgren says it will not say anything about the deal.
– It’s been a lot of information in the media that the administrators have begun to move closer to an end, but we will not comment anything about how it goes with the deal.
He is quite ambiguous when he talks about the future of Saab Parts AB. But they are prepared for plan A and plan B.
Now he sees two possibilities. If Saab is sold as a whole, the Debt Office can raise money for the assets it owns. Would Saab however be sold in parts, planning the Debt Office is planning to take over Saab Parts by themselves and drive forward and develop the company further.
Bo Lundgren has been asked if Saab Parts AB can survive as a standalone company.
Questions about Saab Parts survival came up during the press conference and Lundgren explains that it believes in the company to survive the eight years that you otherwise think the Saab owner may need spare parts.
– If you make a sustained effort you have to think longer than eight years and that is why we must work to develop other areas, said Lundgren.
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All in all it was just another press conference about Saab. There was not much information we did not know after the interview SvD did to Bo Lundgren this morning.
The end of Saab. 🙁
It’s extremely frustrating to see what is now happening to Saab. The last 6 months we were mislead by the administrators to think that they actually wanted to sell Saab as a whole, but it’s pretty obvious now what their intentions were. Politics, ecology and financial interests rule the auto world. Good bye Saab ! You shall live on in our hearts…
I hear all this about parts and the company being brought but my question is does anyone think the new owner will be kind enough and loyal enough to offer a warranty on the saabs that were produced in 2008 until now especially the ones that were sold after gm ceased covering them?
If the conjecture that NEVS is the buyer is true, it seems very unlikely. If NEVS focus is on totally different autos than in the past, they are probably not going to set up a division to support cars they don’t make.
If you purchased a Spyker era Saab I can understand you wouldn’t be happy about this. Unfortunately, your complaint would be more accurately directed at VM & Spyker, who sold cars without funding the warranty. Of course they didn’t fund their suppliers either…
Rich; you get your spares.
Saab parts AB exists, makes spare parts available now and in the future, regardless if it gets bought with the deal or not.
If not sold in the deal, then they continue as a stand-alone company.
What a load of gobbledigoop. Gee they dont like to talk straight do they. what a waste of time!
yeeep……whats that all about in plain english ?
NDO will keep Saab parts AB if NEVS buys Saab Automobile AB, which is quite probable, and will try to get the 2.2 bill Crowns investment back during the next 8 years as they expect that the company stays profitable.
oh !
That can only be good news for existing Saab owners and might even help the ridiculously low resale values to pick up a bit.
Sadly, I can’t see another new Saab ending up in my driveway, but at least I might see a decent part-ex valuation now… 🙁
I dont know what part of the world you live but here in UK, only yesterday i was quoted a ridiculus part exchange price for my 2008 93ss aero, against an Audi. Saleman just did’nt want to know, and he did mention that ” take it while you can ”…..?????
If you can afford keeping the 93 aero till it gets an old timer, you could get good value for it 🙂
I will drive my 9-5 NG till the very end but due to all the electronics in the car that one will never become a valuable old timer 🙁
My problem is I don’t want or like to run an older car. I bought my Saab new to have warranty back up etc. I don’t want to keep this car longer than 4 years and risk hefty repair bills (already the drop links are becoming rattly). If I’d know what was coing in just a few months after I bought the car, I would’ve walked away. It’s been a good car, but now I feel I’m stuck with it, and that’s not a happy thought.
That is what I meant; if you can afford buying a brand new car for another four years pleasure and keep your Saab in the garage till it is an old timer; you will again have fun with her.
I still enjoy immensely my 96 when I drive her over the nice and quite roads.
That’s right. I’m mindful of many people in the US who, in 2007/8, sold SUVs at rock bottom prices and bought a hybrid at list cost, convincing themselves they had no choice. A terrible financial decision.
I think you are best to let things settle a bit. Let the others panic sell and then if you want to dump the car, wait until next spring when the demand for convertibles peak, it could be a difference of thousands of dollars/euros/pounds/whateva.
Right at the very start the Option to break up saab into pieces, everyone agreed was the worst case scenario. Well that looks to be happening Volvo were interested in some test equipment (NEVS has a significant relationship with Volvo) NEVS not interested with Saab Parts or Tools. Looks increasingly like they are interested in the technology only. Building cars? Not in the next 5 + years, especially if they have no need for parts distribution. I really hope I am wrong but every day I think it moves in the wrong dirction
Totally agree, and then, hopefully, confidence will return to the used market and potential buyers of used Saabs won’t be so worried about the future and maintaining their Saabs.
That is an excellent point. Some stability can return to Saab auto.
Much needed here in the UK. The brand could not be regarded any lower in the motor trade if it tried. 🙁
Indeed a good point.
Of course it was better if a buyer would buy it all but with the day it becomes more clear that production of this generation of Saab cars did come to an end and that we will have two entities soon; one delivering parts to the current Saabs in the market and another that start developing something we only can guess about. That something is hopefully a futuristic car that will be far ahead of all cars that do exist at the moment it can be launched.
Wait and see.
I agree with that too, I was going to add that to my comment but clicked the post link by mistake. We as Saab orphans can help by buy geniune parts for our cars, yes they maybe more expensive but just think of it as insurance for being able to have these parts available in the future. As long as Saab Parts stays profitable as a business the more secure in the hands of the NDO.
So I applaud the NDO for the most rational and sensible decision in this whole god awful mess.
Just to clarify… The breakup of Saab Automobile started way back in the autumn of 2009 when those parts that had some form of long-term value (like Saab Parts AB) were carved out to be held by the state as pawns for the EIB loan.
and aren’t we all mighty pleased they did, otherwise we would all be needing to change our cars in a couple of years.
Right !!
Great pressconference ! At least they keep that tradition up. When will be the next one?
Is it cut and dry that NEVS have bought SAAB? Or could there be a surprise announcement shortly?
Who ever has bought SAAB though I don’t think they will be honoring the 2 years left on my 95 sadly
You mean your two year’s warranty? Beherman in Belux still honours that warranty; no surprises at all.
Yes, I mean I should have 2 years warranty left on the car but not only did SAAB go into receivership so did the SAAB dealer who I bought the car from! A no win situation. One good thing though I love the car
That,s a different story.
My dealer did take Kia as a second brand but luckily still deliver service for Saab as well.
And that runs smoothly; had two small issues which were nicely repaired under warranty.
Hope you do not face too many issues.
Take care.
I really don’t get this anymore. How can the administrators ignore Youngman’s latest bid if their role is to find the buyer with the best offer? It seems like NEVS are not after whole of SAAB, and are no even paying that well. Am I missing something?
How do you know that Youngman’s bid were the best offer?
It was widely publicised that YM came in with a late $552M bid for the whole of SAAB.
This reasoning is leaking water.
Administrators can’t rely on their gut feelings about Youngman, if they made a valid bid highest of all.
I agree it is incredible to me that a company comes in with $552M to buy the whole company including parts and that is not explored in detail. Was the YM bid a mirage?
I can only agree with you, and that you express this optimistic tone is helping me to pass this weekend.
Will there finally a final announcement next week?
Top gear tested the tesla aswell, it kept breaking down, so they reported their findings: It’s rubbish.
Then they got sued by Tesla for it…
why doesn’t youngman or Mahindra just go out and buy saab parts, strike a deal with spycker for the 9-5NG License, say up yours and find a nice place somewhere to start building Spycker/YM/M&M 9-5s , meanwhile throwing the GM stuff out of the 9-3 and giving it their twist and start building those aswell, one hand in the air, middle finger displayed…
😀 i’d lol
I realy hope there will be a market for electric 9-3 so NEVS can re-employ all of former work force that is willing to comeback, to start with. I think thats what truly matters among all those former Saab employees. The rest is easy.
Volume production=lots of employees. Some kind of half R&D + prototypes=forget about big number of employees (us, our fathers, mothers, family, friends…).
So, is there a market for volume production of e-cars? Cos, everything depends on that.
That is ONLY reason im against NEVS, based upon what we know about them today and e-cars in general.
All I can say is, my Saab is in good nick, and should still run smoothly with regular maintenance for the next 4 years. By then, if Saabs are still around, i would get a brand new one, be it hybrid, petrol, diesel or fully electric, and i mean it.