All Entries Tagged With: "saab sale"
GM Posts Q1 Profit. Sign of Brighter Days Ahead?
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: GM posts profit
LOVE or hate the General and its tightened stable of four core brands, it seems universally encouraging that the automotive sector and GM that the car company propped up by American and Canadian tax dollars is turning a profit rather than bleeding more red. A sign of brighter days ahead?
According to GM: [our] first quarter adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $1.7 billion, after adjusting for the favorable impact of the sale of the Saab brand.
That means $865 million Q1 profit, according to the BBC and GM’s press release.
Regarding the Saab sale, Saab CEO has said GM sold the Swedish car maker to Spyker for about $74 million. That figure differs from GM’s which is stated at $123 million.
Around that same period, Beijing Automotive paid $200 million for the old 9-3 and 9-5 assemblies which according to SaabSpyker CEO Victor Muller were funds that Saab banked – not former parent company GM.
This suggests that the General is gaining ground on the back of a stronger product line.
For Profit: Spyker Shifted Production From Zeewolde Last Year; The Same For Trollhattan In The Future?
By Gunnar Heinrich
FUNNY, I thought Britons went to Holland to buy cars and not vice versa.
Not with the current weak sterling to strong euro exchange rate which was, apparently, part of Spyker CEO Victor Muller’s decision to up manufacturing from the now-well-publicized Zeewolde, Netherlands to Coventry (home of Jaguar).
The Dutch flight to Albion had to do with business logistics and to “secure the future of our business,” Mr. Muller told the Telegraph. Spyker will be moved near its main supplier CPP Manufacturing.
The November 20th, 2009 press release echoed this rationale:
“By relocating its assembly lines from Zeewolde to Coventry, Spyker will achieve considerable improvements in efficiency and substantial cost-reductions [...] With approximately half our vehicles’ parts and components sourced from the UK, and virtually all key suppliers being located there, moving closer to our suppliers and engineering partners will result in substantial savings and tangible efficiency improvements.“
In a few years time, might we anticipate the same from Spyker management in moving more of Saab manufacturing from pricey Trollhattan? It’s reported that 45 out of 135 Dutch jobs were lost in the jump to Old Blighty.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
Spyker Announcement Re: Saab. Live Video Link
By Gunnar Heinrich
GOT this one courtesy SaabsUnited.com
Spyker’s set to hold a press conference which should take place in the Netherlands directly.
Here’s the link: www.rtl.nl
Saabists remember: if the sale with GM falls through, Genii Capital is reported to be waiting in the wings with a new offer.
It looks as though our dear Saab will find a new home!
Saab Sale Announcement Likely Today, Spyker Shares Up
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Flickr via SaabsUnited
MUM’S the word, but expect an announcement from the General or Spyker later today on the sale of Saab Automobile AB.
With the Saab community a-twitter, and some likely breathing into paper bags – including Spyker’s own CEO – the intense anticipation is palpable as negotiations with GM climax.
At the moment, trends are delicately positive. Spyker’s shares rocketed yesterday on the whiff of good news that the Dutch exotic manufacturer would pull it off.
According to Google Finance, if you bought early yesterday morning (AMS: SPYKR) and sold before trading halted, you would’ve pretty much doubled your money within eight hours.
Glimmers of Hope For Saab
- Saab future remains uncertain following Friday’s announcement
- Further purchase inquiries offer tenuous hope
- Waiting with baited breath
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG GM
THE news on Friday was heartbreaking: GM would close Saab following multiple failed attempts to find a suitable buyer. But today, we have the further angst of not knowing the finality of Saab’s fate.
Hopes springs eternal.
GM Release on 12-20-2009
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.
I Dream of Saab
By Gunnar Heinrich| IMG Saab Automobile AB
SAD to know that what we’ve come to love cannot be forever.
To the Saabists out there – we few but passionate Svenska automobilists – my heart goes out to you on the eve of this terrible news.
Saab Automobile AB will now close after several botched attempts to find suitors.
Truthfully, Saab hasn’t been Saab for some years now. Since 2003, the 9-3 sedan (the bread ‘n butter of Saab’s smart portfolio) was sold as a rebadged Opel (generic as any midsize rental Euro car can get) streamlined in a mistaken quest to compete for BMW 3-Series and Audi A4 sales.
The 9-3 and the effort to drive Saab mainstream was but one of many tragic missteps by GM’s global brand of gross incompetance.
General Motors never understood Saab. Never wanted to, either.
Time and again Saab slipped the world clues as to the true capacity of their creativity despite the fiscal shackles that restrained it. The 9-1X a super techy and oh, so svelte hatchback that if priced in the $20K’s would’ve flattened BMW’s MINI. Even the new 9-5 seemed brimming with promise.
No one ever thought the Turbo X a credible alternative to an Audi S4 or a BMW M3. Nor could we reasonably contemplate purchasing a 9-3 SportCombi in place of a Volvo V70. The customers were very different, even if the price ranges were similar.
And therein lies the crux: Saab drifted away from what Saab did best – selling smart, sleek, turbocharged hatches. MINI has proven that there’s a market for quirky, upscale hatchbacks (even in America) and can now claim the market for its own.
Automotive enthusiasts everywhere have reason to morn tonight. For Saab, a company whose premise was building cars that are more than just appliances for getting us from points A to B, has died. And with it, a piece of the automotive soul.
