Swedish soapie returns in 2010
In last season's cliffhanger, Saab was clinging to a lifeline as GM reached for the machete...Saab has received a stay of execution in the best traditions of Hollywood scriptwriting. Merely two days after owner General Motors announced that talks with prospective buyer Spyker had failed irretrievably and Saab would be closed down, came another statement from the multinational that several new parties had expressed interesting in acquiring the iconic Swedish car manufacturer.
The follow-up release from GM -- issued on December 20 -- was succinct without being especially illuminating:
Following Friday's announcement that GM will begin the orderly wind down of Saab, GM has received inquiries from several parties. We will evaluate each inquiry. We will not comment further until these evaluations have been completed.
According to the Detroit News, GM has extended its deadline to reach an agreement with a new buyer for the Swedish company from January 1 to January 7. GM has also recommenced production of the new 9-5 model. Word of this comes at a time when GM has freed itself of billions of US dollars of debt, by arriving at a new arrangement for health care with the United Auto Workers in the US.
On top of that, says the Detroit News, Saab has sold the manufacturing technology for the superseded 9-5 and the current 9-3 (due to be replaced within 18 months if the company survives) to China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.
And if you think the soap opera analogy is a stretch, consider this: Ford announced during the break for the festive season that the company had officially accepted Geely's offer for Volvo. Unlike the Saab saga, there was little advance warning of the sale of Sweden's other auto manufacturer to the Chinese. Rumours circulating for some time were finally proved true when the company confirmed on December 23 (Christmas Eve in Australia), that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese company for the sale of Volvo.
In the press release, Ford admits that there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out, but anticipates a settlement in full prior to mid-year. The change of ownership leaves Ford with no shareholding at all in Volvo, but the blue oval brand forecasts on-going cooperation with Volvo -- without detriment to the company's 'One Ford' global product strategy. And Geely will provide the capital for Volvo's future product development.
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