Our Daily Saab: Hold On And Believe

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

The last attempt at saving Saab failed when GM said it would not supply or license technology to Saab if it were 100% owned by PangDa and Youngman, scuttling the Chinese firms’ bid for outright control of the company. Now the two firms have sent a revised proposal to The General in hopes that they can provide safeguards for intellectual property, allowing them to purchase Saab without losing the link to GM. After all, both the 9-3 and 9-5 rely on GM technology and parts, while the 9-4X is wholly supplied by GM. Rachel Pang of PangDa tells TTELA.se

We have not discussed any changes with regard to ownership structure. We are concentrated on the GM issue… It’s about more commercial terms. We want to meet them and have asked for a meeting. First we must give them time to review our proposal. We are waiting for GM’s response and then we will of course respect it.

Of course, our understanding is that “the GM issue” is the same as the ownership structure issue… and keep in mind, PangDa and Youngman are looking for a meeting, not an agreement from GM. Which means this could drag on a while… and wouldn’t you know it, it’s time for Saab to pay salaries again.

Victor Muller, who TTELA says “has increasingly fallen into the background” of negotiations, agrees that it could be a while, noting

GM will first need to digest the information gained from Saab. It is up to Youngman and Pang Da which they want to conduct the negotiations with GM

And while PangDa/Youngman are waiting to hear back from the RenCen, they’ve got to keep the cash flowing. Apparently Youngman injected some $3m into Saab this week, and PangDa could help out with wages, which must be paid at the end of this week. Which raises an interesting question: why are PangDa and Youngman continuing to inject cash into a company they may never be able to own? Surely not because GM has sent promising signals, as its last message was

We have not changed our point of view. We are not negotiating with the Chinese since our contracts are with Saab

When asked about this puzzling state of affairs, Rachel Pang gave an answer that definitely gains something in the Google Translation

TT: Why do you continue to invest in Saab when you do not know if you can buy the company?

– A good question. I do not know what I should be on it at the moment, says Rachel Pang. (Original: En bra fråga. Jag vet inte vad jag ska vara på den i nuläget, säger Rachel Pang.)

I’m sure Ms Pang’s answer must have been more reasonable than this appears, but then, every time I dig back into the Saab story, I tend to not know what I should be on at that moment. A stiff drink? Painkillers? Some kind of exotic hallucinogen, synthesized from the pancreas of Amazonian salamanders? What could possibly make me understand the point of all this burning capital? At this point, I’m almost considering tucking into the barbiturate overdose-in-applesauce that Guy Lofalk is keeping warm for Saab. This story is a killer.


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Trucky McTruckface Trucky McTruckface on Nov 22, 2011

    Yesterday, I saw a 9-4X in the parking lot of my suburban Ohio grocery store. I didn't even know it ever actually went on sale. I've seen a handful of new 9-5s, too. Who's buying these things? Saab fans have to know about the company's struggles; A friend who loved his '00 9-3 was all set to buy a new(er) one until GM went under and he realized that owning a car that might not have parts availability or any resale was an awful idea. I liked his car enough when I drove it that I toyed with getting a used one for awhile...not anymore. They're interesting cars, but not interesting enough to be worth the risk. Have fun with the depreciation.

  • Voyager Voyager on Nov 23, 2011

    Why are Pang Da and Youngman still interested in Saab? Well, they want to be taken seriously as Chinese car companies before Beijing decides it has already enough of those in its "world domination" portfolio. The Swedes are reportedly sending their own little mission to GM. CEO Victor Muller's task is to stop the financial hemorrhage SWAN (Saab holding co.) turned out to be for him and his investors. Question is what part of GM's "simply can't have" the Chinese don't understand. According to Dagens Industri, the latest offer to GM included legal guarantees regarding the technology rights owned by GM, money offer to be able to use the technology, agreements about which volumes Saab could produce and how many years the technology licenses would be used. GM would not confirm that it had received such an offer. "We have communicated with Saab, but I will not make any further comments on that," James cain told DI. Mr. Cain also made it clear that as long as the Chinese want to buy all the shares in Saab, GM will not supply technology. "Let me be clear. Saab and Youngman can do whatever they sseem fit for the company. But if there is a one hundred percent takeover of Saab, it will happen without the vehicles we supply, 9-4X, and without GM's technology." It can't get any clearer than that. Either the Chinese realize that they can't get full control over Saab, or they have to make Saab cars without GM technology or they can give up on trying to acquire Saab.

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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