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... Struggling for its own survival, G.M. has said it will completely pull out of Saab by the end of 2009, a course that Ms. Olofsson, the enterprise minister, described as tantamount to declaring "that they wash their hands of Saab and drop it into the laps of the Swedish taxpayers."
She said: "We are very disappointed in G.M., but we are not prepared to risk taxpayers' money. This is not a game of Monopoly."
Saab lost about $343 million last year. It is now going through a Swedish process known as reorganization, a step short of bankruptcy, as it tries to persuade its creditors to prop it up while it looks for a buyer. Joe Oliver, a spokesman, said in an interview that "around six serious investors," from Sweden and abroad, had expressed interest. ...
This is just an excerpt from the whole article, which also states that the Swedish government will not put taxpayers money into Saab...
This may appear to be old news, but was published today.
One more thing about the Saab, for those who don't know: it's one of the few cars that has its ignition lock between the seats. Saab was among the first manufacturer to do so.
One more thing about the Saab, for those who don't know: it's one of the few cars that has its ignition lock between the seats. Saab was among the first manufacturer to do so.
You say it like it is an amazing feature. I dated a girl in college who had one, and hated the car (and that key between the seats). So many problems, extremely high rates at the dealership, and more buttons inside than the space shuttle.
One more thing about the Saab, for those who don't know: it's one of the few cars that has its ignition lock between the seats. Saab was among the first manufacturer to do so.
From Wikipedia:
"All modern Saabs (except the 9000 and 9-2X) have a floor-mounted ignition. This is for many reasons, some of which follow: Saab believes this is a safer position in case of an accident. The driver's knee often jerks upward in a collision; the compact and dense ignition module on the steering column of many other cars has shattered many kneecaps. Saabs have bolstered dashboards for both front seat occupants. Also, the floor-mounted position yields more space, allowing modern Saabs to have a metal bar that rotates over and up into the ignition when the key is turned to the "Lock" position. This makes Saabs very challenging to hotwire. Ergonomically, the ignition's location next to the parking brake lever, gearshift, and seatbelt, saves time as all motions associated with startup fall right at hand and become second nature. Last of all, the ignition is located on the floor because, in the airplanes that inspired Saab automobiles, the throttle controls were all located on the floor. Originally Saabs also had the key located on the right side of the steering column, but when they changed from a column shifter to a floor shifter, the ignition key followed along, except in the Sonett III and 9000."
Hopefully SAAB will get reorganized as soon as it gets out from under the thumb of the GM bean counters. My wife and I were involved in our only accident ever in a SAAB 99 EMS and had we been in a lesser car, I truely think we would be pretty messed up.
New news:
1) GM and Chrysler are looking at hooking up,... yes, won't that be special.
2) International is going to take JEEP away from Chryco and start offering diesels and numerous models that the current owners would not. They are going to can several of the newer JEEP car like "station wagons" that have become the normal product, and go back to a smaller, stronger, more origional like vehicle. There will also be a new SCOUT. Most models will be available with the 3 liter Daimler diesel engine and a series of much improved transmission offerings.
Saab is the one car I drove for the past 30 or so years.
I hated it when GM first took them over, and then they drove the car literally into the dirt by chucking most of it's innovations, and making them look like Granny's toyota.
My last Saab was purchased in 2002. It was one of the last hatchbacks. I still favor the one I bought in 1996 (still running fine), because of it's somewhat heavier weight, and snow abilities.
Ford confirms talks on Volvo sale
Ford has confirmed it is in talks with "a number of parties" regarding the sale of its Swedish subsidiary Volvo.
The US giant said it was pleased with both the number and "quality" of those who had expressed an interest, but did not reveal any names.
Ford is seeking to offload loss-making Volvo as it continues efforts to turnaround its own fortunes.
In 2008 Ford made its biggest ever annual loss, despite selling Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3bn (£1.15bn).
Those two UK-based brands were bought by India's Tata Motors.
According to reports in Sweden, a number of Chinese firms are interested in buying Volvo.
These are said to include Chery Automobile, Dongfeng Motor Group and Chongqing Changan Automobile.
"Ford is now talking in more detail to these interested parties about the future for Volvo," said a spokesman.
Industry-wide woes
Volvo made a loss of $736m in the last three months of 2008, while Ford's overall loss for the whole year totalled $14.6bn.
Like most of the world's carmakers, Ford and its Volvo unit have seen sales and profits fall as the global economy has declined since last summer.
Ford has been especially affected in its US home market, where like American rivals Chrysler and General Motors (GM), it has also failed to keep up with the growing demand for small, more fuel efficient cars.
However, while Chrysler and GM have to date received a combined $17.4bn in state aid from the US government, and recently asked for a further $21.6bn, Ford has so far said it does not need the money.
Volvo and fellow Swede carmaker Saab were given 28bn kronor (£2.3bn, $3.5bn) from the Swedish government in December.
Saab is owned by GM, which already recent said it was in talks to sell the business.
Separately on Wednesday, Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionnie said he was now more optimistic about the global car industry, saying he expected to see the US economy recover in the second half of this year.
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