Saab On Hold Again, And Other Underreported News
Our friends at Saabsunited are slacking off. They used to have cameras trained on the Saab plant in Trollhättan that allowed them to (prematurely) report the return of the workers to the idling plant. Now they had to learn out of the press that the plant will remain closed for a few more weeks. From Reuters all the way to Car and Van Weeks, they all report that Saab workers will stay at home for another two weeks, or thereabouts. The negotiatations with the darned suppliers are ongoing. What else is new? Well, Saabsunited was able to provide the news that the news are true, and that “no definite date for a production restart has been set.” To make up for the temporary breakdown of communication, Saabsunited was allowed to listen-in on a conference call with American suppliers. However, they “can’t reveal specifics.” So why listen in at all? I know, the matter is getting old and tedious, but while we are at it …
Previously, Saabsunited was more on the ball. For instance, they had found the good news in Chinacartimes that Pangda has finished its due diligence process with Saab (that was quick.) What they forgot to say was that Chinacartimes unearthed a niggling little detail:
“It’s a procedure for Chinese companies to conduct due diligence if they want to acquire or partner with foreign companies, and then they are allowed to submit to the regulator an application for opening a joint venture.
However, the application should be submitted by Youngman Automobile, said Pang Qinghua. He has urged Youngman Automobile’s chairman Pang Qingnian to file the application as soon as possible.”
Well, lets hope that both submit their application. All parties involved in a joint venture need to be approved by the Chinese government. Because Pangda and Youngman want to hold interests both in the joint venture as well as in Saab, they better submit those papers. Remember how Hummer got shot down? It never was shot down. The government claimed they received an incomplete application, and then they never received a complete one.
After that secret conference call, Victor Muller reminded Saabsunited of “a previously announced fact that has been underreported – that Youngman has been preselected to make a deal with Saab by the NDRC.” Ok, so let’s do our reporting duty. “Preselected” is the wrong word. Youngman was first to hand in their application (which waits to be updated with the due diligence report and whatever else the Chinese government needs).
When other companies such as Hawtai applied to the NDRC for permission to do a deal with Saab, the NDRC did not deny the application either. The NDRC reminded Hawtai and any other suitors that Youngman had handed in their application first, and according to Chinese rules, no other application can be considered by the government while the first application is pending, ni tingdong ma? With that out of the way, the NDRC can now take its time with Youngman.
Tip to Saabsunited: There is another article up on Chinacartimes. Likewise underreported. It is titled “Are Youngman the best bet for Saab?” It has words such as
“Youngman’s negotiating policy seems to revolve around the ‘waiting for them to be half dead, half alive’”
and
“SAIC waited until MG-Rover was cold and very dead before moving into scrape the corpse clean and they launched the Roewe brand two years later. Could Youngman be stalling for time to repeat SAIC’s tactics?”
Required reading. And while we recommend articles from China, here is another one. Underreported again.
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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“Youngman’s negotiating policy seems to revolve around the ‘waiting for them to be half dead, half alive’” IOW, Youngman is waiting to Saab to sell the name, tooling and IP as a going-out-of-business sale, but NOT any of the overpriced labor in Sweden. See? Smart!
“SAIC waited until MG-Rover was cold and very dead before moving into scrape the corpse clean and they launched the Roewe brand two years later. Could Youngman be stalling for time to repeat SAIC’s tactics?” I think this is the plan. No one else will save my beloved SAAB at this point - GM destroyed the brand, left it with too much baggage, and made it damaged goods. I pray I'm wrong, but I don't see how SAAB can survive to the autumn, unless it morphs into and design and prove-out house with some niche/specialty manufacturing on the side. I still think it would be a good fit with VAG. I don't know a soul who bought a Volvo since the Chinese took over.