PDA

View Full Version : SAAB Chinese buyout?



poita
16th May 2011, 06:45 PM
Thoughts?


http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2011/chinese-buyout-of-saab-on-again-off-again-24846



Hawtai back in the running after Great Wall rumour quashed
It's been a turbulent week for Swedish car maker Saab, which is struggling to survive after it was forced to halt production for the past month because of a cashflow shortfall.

The company has gone to China to try to raise enough cash to stay afloat after being sold by General Motors to small Dutch sportscar maker Spyker last year.

Last week Saab announced it was close to securing a deal with Chinese car maker Hawtai, which was to invest about $USD200 million for a share of the maker.

But the deal fell through at the 11th hour and the next day it was reported that rival Chinese car maker Great Wall was interested in a share of Saab.

But the Great Wall deal too was hit on the head, allegedly by the Chinese government.

However, it has now emerged that the original player, Hawtai, is back in the picture and could resurrect the deal.

According to a report in Britain's Financial Times newspaper, the original Hawtai deal did not fall through because of government intervention, rather it was due to differences in the terms of the agreement

The paper quoted Hawtai vice-president Richard Zhang saying the deal was terminated because of "commercial and economic realities, not lack of government approval". Spyker had earlier said Hawtai was not able to secure "the necessary consents".

"Saab needs help and we strongly believe we are the best partner in this regard," Zhang was quoted in the paper as saying. "We are very focused on coming up with a fair and reasonable structure for a long term relationship."

If the deal goes through it will likely mean that Australia Saab dealers and customers will not notice the interruption to supply of vehicles, given they are sold in relatively small numbers locally.

If the deal falls through and Saab fails to find the necessary backing, the brand may be forced to close or become a boutique car maker.

Regardless of what happens, however, existing Saab customers are protected because Australian law requires the company to make available parts and service for 10 years after a car has been withdrawn from sale

Daisy
16th May 2011, 07:22 PM
.....

kabel
16th May 2011, 09:14 PM
Good luck.

Jerram
16th May 2011, 09:40 PM
shame that - anyone looked at the new 9-5; it looks like a great car.

Bobarache
16th May 2011, 11:43 PM
I'm surprised Saab doesn't have a strong local following

Wraith
17th May 2011, 11:57 AM
I'm surprised Saab doesn't have a strong local following

I'm not...

Most look crap, cost alot and fall apart so little wonder...

However the latest models have improved in the looks and reliabilty area, but their 'dogged' stigma would take a while to turn around, they suffered terrible reliability issues all through the 90's...ring a bell for similar year Opels :rolleyes5:

Dahlia
22nd May 2011, 03:22 PM
I honestly don't think I've ever seen a SAAB?

guy 27
22nd May 2011, 03:36 PM
I honestly don't think I've ever seen a SAAB?

Are you serious?

Daisy
22nd May 2011, 03:49 PM
.....

Dahlia
22nd May 2011, 04:05 PM
Are you serious?
I knew the company existed but I don't think I've ever seen one on the road.

hazrd
22nd May 2011, 09:01 PM
for a saab, my favourite was the 9-5
http://images.usedcheapcars.org/used-saab/2006-saab-9-5-sedan-saab-2-3l-4-cylinder-premium-5-speed-manual/0609_z_2006_saab_9_5_front-ucc.jpg

will be interesting to know what the chinese do to it

Daisy
22nd May 2011, 09:13 PM
.....

gmonkey
22nd May 2011, 10:22 PM
My green one looked like a Saab. It couldn't really be mistaken for anything else. When GM took over, everything started to look like it was made by GM. They stopped building them up to a quality and instead built them down to a price.

looks like old volvos, audis, alfas and to some degree merc to me...


best is the 9-5 wagon

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

cobey
22nd May 2011, 10:30 PM
wasnt there going to be a Saab/Subaru mix at some stage

poita
22nd May 2011, 11:19 PM
there is a Toyota/Subaru mix with the FT86

cobey
22nd May 2011, 11:33 PM
yeah was called a Saab 92x
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6258/saabsubaru.th.jpg (http://img801.imageshack.us/i/saabsubaru.jpg/)
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5203/saabsubaru92x.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/i/saabsubaru92x.jpg/)

Bobarache
4th June 2011, 09:12 PM
for a saab, my favourite was the 9-5
http://images.usedcheapcars.org/used-saab/2006-saab-9-5-sedan-saab-2-3l-4-cylinder-premium-5-speed-manual/0609_z_2006_saab_9_5_front-ucc.jpg

will be interesting to know what the chinese do to it

I'm with hazrd....9-5 is a cool looking car.
I also used to like the mid 90's 9000 Euro model back in the day

ChrisMaz
5th June 2011, 01:55 AM
9-3 Aero Turbo x Wagon looks way better than the 9-5 IMO

Red AH SRI T
5th June 2011, 07:24 PM
9-3 Aero Turbo x Wagon looks way better than the 9-5 IMO

I love the 9-5 but I agree the 9-3 Turbo X SportCombi is HOT

http://www.asphalte.ch/Auto/Saab_93_X/JAD04158.jpg

They go well, handle nicely with the XWD and sound fantastic!

Although I must say new new 9-5 Aero is a brilliant looking car

http://www.planetautocar.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/2011-Saab-9-5-Aero-Turbo-6-XWD-1.jpg

And the wagon is hot too
http://www.autospectator.com/cars/files/images/2011-Saab-9-5-SportCombi-003.jpg

poita
5th June 2011, 07:25 PM
do you watermark pics from your site now kurt :p

Red AH SRI T
5th June 2011, 07:35 PM
do you watermark pics from your site now kurt :p


I fixed it for you :p

poita
5th June 2011, 07:37 PM
thanks :p

stupid question, its insignia based yer?

Red AH SRI T
5th June 2011, 07:43 PM
thanks :p

stupid question, its insignia based yer?

The new 9-5 rides on the LWB version of the Epsilon II Platform shared with the Buick Lacrosse, the Insignia is SWB.

ChrisMaz
5th June 2011, 09:08 PM
Same 4WD system if I'm not mistaken?

Red AH SRI T
6th June 2011, 07:15 PM
Same 4WD system if I'm not mistaken?

Yes, they both use the XWD which was developed by Saab.

glider
6th June 2011, 10:10 PM
wasnt there going to be a Saab/Subaru mix at some stage
-edited-
I had heard back in the day the 1st gen tribeca was going to be a Saab as well but gm sold their share of Subaru so it didn't happen

Red AH SRI T
9th June 2011, 01:34 PM
-edited-
I had heard back in the day the 1st gen tribeca was going to be a Saab as well but gm sold their share of Subaru so it didn't happen

you hear correct! When the pig nose Tribeca came out there was going to be a Saab version

http://www.tiguan.nl/passage/personal/goertz.nsf/v9906/9-4X/$File/Saab_9-4x-2.jpg
http://www.tiguan.nl/passage/personal/goertz.nsf/v9906/9-4X/$File/Saab_9-4x-1.jpg
http://static.blogo.it/autoblog/saab96x_2.jpg

Then GM's shit hit the fan and so GM sold their share of Subaru and the Saab version was canned. At the time the pig nosed Tribeca wasn't selling well, all the development work had been done on the 9-6X so Subaru simply changed the badges and the grille and called it the new Tribeca.


The Saab/Subaru tie up also led to this freak:
Saab 9-2X
http://www.saabhistory.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/saab9-2x_front.jpg