Saab's Workers Told To Stay At Home
So Saab had called an all hands meeting for today. 3,700 employees attended with great expectations or knots in their stomachs. This could have been the first day of a great future or the last of Saab. Instead ….
… employees “were given an update on the situation” and told to continue to stay home because “the production line is not able to run normally,” spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs told AFP. There is nothing wrong with the line. There is everything wrog with Saab’s and Spyker’s financing.
Meanwhile, the Swedish government begins to tire of the issue. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson said today that the Sweden will not save Saab’s bacon if it is unable to secure the cash to keep the lights on.
“We have done as much as we could,” Olofsson told news agency TT.
Unless a miracle happens, those employees will stay home for a long time.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Say, here's a question - what happens if you're leasing a car and the manufacturer goes bust? If Saab itself is handling the leases, and disappears in a puff of smoke, what do you do? Presumably someone is going to try to recover money for the creditors / investors, but I doubt they'd want to get into the leasing business. So if there's no parent company to take over, what's the deal?
Antonov's been approved as a shareholder at long last, which means that they'll receive the liquidity injection they need to stay afloat. It looks like TTAC's poor commentariat will have to wait at least a few more months before they can excitedly cheer on the death of a car company with rich history and promise.
Interesting Volvo v. Saab narrative. One is bought by a big US company, is nurtured (even to the exclusion of its core lines), has its pipeline filled with fairly appealing product, and is then cut loose. The other is bought by a big US company that never understood it, has its pipeline filled with badge-engineered product that is not all that appealing (certainly not to its core demographic) and is then cut loose. Like being cast adrift in a lifeboat with no provisions. Volvo at least got some provisions for the voyage. The result is hardly surprising, but still a little sad for me. I am not really part of Saab-land, but have always had a soft spot for its unique and quirky nature. Goodbye, Saab.
where are the Saab stories about how this will impact the economy or what not? Maybe Saab's fate was decided by consumers, with assistance from a really stupid GM leadership that decided to water down the brand. I was looking for our usual gadfly who accuses us of Saabhate but no show. Maybe we can put a happy face on this situation somehow. At least it's not my tax money that is being lost.