Quote Of The Day: Escape From Trollhttan Edition
We still have not heard from Saab and there have been six weeks without production. It eventually reaches a point when you have to make a decision
Johan Andersson of the Swedish unit of supplier giant Lear in the WSJ, on why his employers just laid off all 160 workers of its Trollhättan-based Saab workforce. Apparently Mr Andersson and Lear aren’t any more encouraged by Saab’s PangDa deal than TTAC. And considering that the Chinese dealer group is telling Gasgoo that “production has already restarted” at Saab, the fleeing suppliers who haven’t even heard from Saab yet create some credibility problems for the PangDa-Saab alliance (even if PangDa was referencing GM production of the 9-4X at Ramos Arizpe). Which makes the dire rumors that the deal has not, nor will be, blessed by the Chinese government a little more worrying. Sounds like the rotund lady is warming up her vocal cords…
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"We still have not heard from Saab and there have been six weeks without production. It eventually reaches a point when you have to make a decision..." Ummm. Not wishing to sound snarky at all, but it looks like the decision has already been made. Six weeks ago.
Thanks for my Hair Band fix of the day. What a great way to celebrate the Not Rapture. Oh, and mandatory car content: Saab is doomed!
Great song. Haven't heard it in years. Used to listen to it before exams for its fatalistic quality. Cruel song for this post.
No. Lear hasn't laid off anyone. They've issued a notice a notice ("varsla" in Swedish) that up to 160 people could be laid off. Swedish labor regulations state that this has to be done at least six weeks before you can fire your staff. After the notice has been issued, you can wait up to 3 months (if I remember correctly) without firing anyone. In most cases this happens, either no one or fewer people than planned are fired (yes, Swedish unions have a lot of power because we are socialists, blabla...) It's also quite remarkable that only three companies have done this so far, which means that most of Saab's contractors believe fully in the company. Also, Lear themselves commented that this has nothing to do with the Pang-Da deal, but rather a safety measure. But please, feel free to not mention that in this article.