Breaking: Saab To Announce Deal With Hawtai Motors Tomorrow
Saab and the Chinese automaker Hawtai will announce “an exciting strategic partnership between both parties” at a press conference scheduled for tomorrow, reports MarketWatch. According to Saab/Spyker CEO Victor Muller,
the deal involves “investing in Spyker.”
Hawtai was previously a joint venture partner of Hyundai, and had been approached by Chrysler as a possible partner. The firm reportedly has an annual production capacity of 350k vehicles, 450k automatic transmissions and 300k (Euro IV and V-compliant) diesel engines built under license from VM Motori. The B11 (above) is the firm’s first own-brand sedan, although over the next three years the firm has “plans to launch six more diesel or diesel-electric hybrid passenger cars.” According to chinaautoweb, Hawtai’s gamble on its giant diesel engine plant, the largest and most sophisticated in Asia, may not be panning out as diesel availability has been an issue in the Chinese market, due to high demand from the trucking industry.
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It looks like a Bentley sexually assaulted a Hyundai and because the Hyundai was a conservative - she went ahead and had the baby rather than just paying for the surgery to eliminate it.
Hawtai and SAAB. SAABs and hawtie. Can a reprise of the Swedish Bikini Team happen?
I think SAAB has a lot of engineering brain power in some very important fields- and they have a highly flexible platform of their own that they want to sell to other companies. They have a highly modern plant in Trollhattan with a capacity of, say, 150.000+ cars per annum. What they don't have is adequately modern diesel engines for their 9-5 (and coming 9-3) model, especially a six-cylinder. They also could need some of Hawtais production capacity in China. All in all, this seems a very reasonable deal - and Hawtai will own not more than 29,9% of SAAB, not 100% (of Volvo) like Geely.
It might just work out well. I'm going to go out on a limb and surmise that Hawtai takes the decision to "go ahead" with the baby Saab (was it going to be the 9-2?) on the basis of their smallest car pan (whatever that might be). Perhaps CKD kits assembled in Sweden from some Chinese components, and a four cylinder diesel option. It couldn't be any worse than the Saabaru that I saw on the highway the other day.