Saab files for bankruptcy..for realz this time
12-19-2011, 12:05 PM
#1
Jive Turkey
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 4,946
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Saab files for bankruptcy..for realz this time
Goodnight, sweet prince
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmul...ldnt-be-saved/
It was hard not to get swept up in Victor Muller’s enthusiasm about saving Saab. The founder of Spyker Cars, the Dutch exotic car company, was convinced he could restore the Swedish brand’s luster after General Motors‘ kicked it to the curb in early 2010.
He would practically leap out of his seat during interviews as he rattled off his long-term product plan for Saab, a quirky brand with an insanely loyal following that he believed was worth saving. Even as the company was running out of money this past spring, he remained upbeat. “I have compared Saab often to a beautiful lion who grew up in captivity,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders in April 2011. “One day that lion is loaded on to a truck and released in the vast savannahs of Africa. That mighty animal has to learn how to hunt for its own prey and support himself. Being used to receiving his meals in a stainless bowl, that lion has some serious challenges adapting to his new-found freedom.”
But as so often happens in the capital-intensive auto business, the dreamers fail. On Monday, Muller finally threw in the towel after an exhaustive hunt for financing to keep the company going. In reality, Saab died last spring when the company stopped producing cars in Sweden and couldn’t meet its payroll. Sporadic cash infusions from the Swedish government and various Chinese investors had extended Saab’s life artificially, but now, finally, it will be liquidated.
Ironically, it was GM that finally forced Muller to end his resuscitation bid. The U.S. carmaker (which had been licensing technology to Saab) still owned preferred shares in Saab, thus giving it a say in any potential change of control. Muller had a last-ditch plan to sell Saab to a Chinese contract manufacturer, Youngman, for about $130 million. But GM, which is the leading manufacturer in China through its joint venture with China’s SAIC, objected, saying it couldn’t support a deal that would create a new competitor in China (especially one using GM’s intellectual property, although it’s not entirely clear how much GM technology would have been in Saab’s next products, including the 9-5 sport wagon, 9-3 compact and 9-1 subcompact).
GM’s decision to end its licensing and contract manufacturing relationship with Saab, and refusal to back the Youngman buyout, was the final nail in the coffin. In a statement Monday, Swedish Automobile (the new name for Spyker) cited GM’s position as the reason for Saab Automobile’s bankruptcy filing. “After having received the recent position of GM on the contemplated transaction with Saab Automobile, Youngman informed Saab Automobile that the funding to continue and complete the reorganization of Saab Automobile could not be concluded. The Board of Saab Automobile subsequently decided that the company without further funding will be insolvent and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors.”
But let’s face it: Muller’s Saab plan was a desperate “Hail Mary” pass from the beginning. Saab was never profitable under GM’s control, and the company’s finances have continued to deteriorate since mid-2009, when a bankrupt GM first tried to sell it to Koenigsegg Group. Muller learned, as so many before him — Preston Tucker, John DeLorean and Malcolm Bricklin among them — that it takes an enormous amount of capital to operate an automotive company. And this industry already has too many brands, and too many factories for all to be profitable.
Because of Muller, Saab probably survived two and a half years beyond its life expectancy.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmul...ldnt-be-saved/
It was hard not to get swept up in Victor Muller’s enthusiasm about saving Saab. The founder of Spyker Cars, the Dutch exotic car company, was convinced he could restore the Swedish brand’s luster after General Motors‘ kicked it to the curb in early 2010.
He would practically leap out of his seat during interviews as he rattled off his long-term product plan for Saab, a quirky brand with an insanely loyal following that he believed was worth saving. Even as the company was running out of money this past spring, he remained upbeat. “I have compared Saab often to a beautiful lion who grew up in captivity,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders in April 2011. “One day that lion is loaded on to a truck and released in the vast savannahs of Africa. That mighty animal has to learn how to hunt for its own prey and support himself. Being used to receiving his meals in a stainless bowl, that lion has some serious challenges adapting to his new-found freedom.”
But as so often happens in the capital-intensive auto business, the dreamers fail. On Monday, Muller finally threw in the towel after an exhaustive hunt for financing to keep the company going. In reality, Saab died last spring when the company stopped producing cars in Sweden and couldn’t meet its payroll. Sporadic cash infusions from the Swedish government and various Chinese investors had extended Saab’s life artificially, but now, finally, it will be liquidated.
Ironically, it was GM that finally forced Muller to end his resuscitation bid. The U.S. carmaker (which had been licensing technology to Saab) still owned preferred shares in Saab, thus giving it a say in any potential change of control. Muller had a last-ditch plan to sell Saab to a Chinese contract manufacturer, Youngman, for about $130 million. But GM, which is the leading manufacturer in China through its joint venture with China’s SAIC, objected, saying it couldn’t support a deal that would create a new competitor in China (especially one using GM’s intellectual property, although it’s not entirely clear how much GM technology would have been in Saab’s next products, including the 9-5 sport wagon, 9-3 compact and 9-1 subcompact).
GM’s decision to end its licensing and contract manufacturing relationship with Saab, and refusal to back the Youngman buyout, was the final nail in the coffin. In a statement Monday, Swedish Automobile (the new name for Spyker) cited GM’s position as the reason for Saab Automobile’s bankruptcy filing. “After having received the recent position of GM on the contemplated transaction with Saab Automobile, Youngman informed Saab Automobile that the funding to continue and complete the reorganization of Saab Automobile could not be concluded. The Board of Saab Automobile subsequently decided that the company without further funding will be insolvent and that filing bankruptcy is in the best interests of its creditors.”
But let’s face it: Muller’s Saab plan was a desperate “Hail Mary” pass from the beginning. Saab was never profitable under GM’s control, and the company’s finances have continued to deteriorate since mid-2009, when a bankrupt GM first tried to sell it to Koenigsegg Group. Muller learned, as so many before him — Preston Tucker, John DeLorean and Malcolm Bricklin among them — that it takes an enormous amount of capital to operate an automotive company. And this industry already has too many brands, and too many factories for all to be profitable.
Because of Muller, Saab probably survived two and a half years beyond its life expectancy.
12-19-2011, 12:36 PM
#4
Jive Turkey
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 4,946
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
12-19-2011, 12:36 PM
#5
Saabing Around
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Williamburg
Posts: 1,445
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Saab files for bankruptcy..for realz this time
everything in that article is kinda old news....
mind you Joe appreciates you putting up pics of his vert
and the first pic is a cgi/pchop... kinda a shame
mind you Joe appreciates you putting up pics of his vert
and the first pic is a cgi/pchop... kinda a shame
12-19-2011, 04:37 PM
#9
Saabing Around
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Williamburg
Posts: 1,445
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
