Youngman bid for Saab rejected!

Sad news.

How fast can things go. According to different sources the Youngman bid is rejected. The receivers seem to hope for a higher bid and/or a better result when Saab is cut into pieces.

They have an offer from Youngman of several billion crowns now, let's wait and see if Brightwell (or Mahindra) can offer the receivers a better deal. All we can do now is wait and be patient.

There are rumours that Brightwell is in contact with GM and working on a bid. As long as it remain rumours it's maybe better not to give it much attention.

Click on the image of the Ursaab (on top) to see the latest post on this blog.

Anne Springer joins Saabsunited

Please read the first post below of Anne Springer on Saabsunited! Anne is also active on this blog and our Facebook page about the Saab Museum.

Hi! My name is Anne, and I am a Saaboholic (meaning addicted to Saab). You will find me on Facebook constantly sharing news updates and giving a good Rah! Rah! to keep people positive about Saab.

Why do I do this? I love Saab. I simply love it. I have fallen in love with the aerodynamic body design, the grinning grille assembly, and the quirkiness of the car once you get in the driver’s seat. Quirks, you have to love them! I find myself patting the dash at times, either words of encouragement, endearment, or straight out, “Settle down, kiddo!”. I’m no stranger to hugging my car either, I’ll openly admit that. But its all in the game of owning a Saab. They’re not perfect machines, but then again, there is no such thing. They will frustrate you, irritate you, puzzle you, but then at the end of the day when you find yourself looking down upon it, you remind yourself how good it feels to turn the ignition on and take off!

And I think Saab has a great future ahead of them. I feel it. Saab has a lot of great people behind the company, and I know with the right investor, they can be restarted. Its going to take a lot of time and money, yes. But when you consider their current and future line up, if the cards are played right, the future can be prosperous. I want to see Saab get into the right hands, of someone who both has a lot of automotive business knowledge, and financing to be able to work through the tough times. This can happen. And I believe us fans can help steer Saab into those hands. They are watching us, and the more we encourage and show what kind of people we are, the more people will listen and want. Sure, there have been a lot of negative reports. But we need not focus on that, negativity never solved any problems.

I believe we have to accept the mistakes that have been made; and the could of, would have, should haves, and move on. We need to start focusing what is in front of us, and what the future holds. That is very exciting, don’t you think? I do! We need Saab around. We need their innovation, safety and reliability. We need a reasonably-priced car that does it all, without having to chop bits of random cars together to make something that’s both comfortable, looks great, and performs well. There are things that Saab does that other automakers cannot do. How many times have you heard someone carrying a refrigerator in their Camry? But I’ve heard it done with a Saab hatchback!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome into the Saabs United family, this is truly an honour and a dream come true for me. I had no idea where this love could take me, and now I am starting to see it. I’m glad I am able to lend support in these troubled times. Go Saab, GO!

The Saab above is not the Saab 9-5 Anne drives but the Saab 9-5 in the showroom of the Saab dealer in Goes (The Netherlands). I`ve made this picture today.

Light on the horizon for Saab?

Good news today! What will happen with Saab? Will it become Turkish or Indian? Here a link to an article from BNR (dutch) about Saab becoming Turkish.

At Saabsunited we`ve found an article about Mahindra to take over Saab;

Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle manufacturer, is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile, two people familiar with the situation said.

Mahindra, based in Mumbai, is in the process of reaching out to the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmaker or the whole company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private. Mahindra has yet to hold discussions with the administrators, the people said.

Roma Balwani, a Mahindra spokeswoman, declined to comment, while Chief Financial Officer Bharat Doshi wrote in a text message that he was in a meeting and wasn’t available to talk. Saab filed for bankruptcy Dec. 19 after running out of cash. General Motors Co. sold the Trollhaettan, Sweden-based company in February 2010 to Dutch sports-car maker Spyker Cars NV, which later changed its name to Swedish Automobile NV. Saab first halted production in March, unable to pay suppliers. Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller said this month that several parties had expressed interest and that Saab still has a chance to emerge from bankruptcy. At least one Turkish company is also interested in investing in Saab, one of the people said. The Turkish government wants the country to have a car brand of its own, and is trying to help a manufacturer take over at least parts of Saab, the person said. Hans Bergqvist and Anne-Marie Pouteaux, the attorneys handling the bankruptcy, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

By Ola Kinnander
Bloomberg News

Link to the original article on the site of Bloomberg.

Save the Saab Museum!

The text below is from Saabsunited of today:

Today is the last day that the Saab Museum is open to the public, if it will open after new years is depending on the will of the receivers and if a potential buyer is found that is willing to take over the museum itself. It is our belief that the museum should be separated from Saab the company!

We want to save Saab Car Museum… if we have to! This is a very important phrase, because we might not need to. But as I have hinted before we have been working on different backup plans for many months drawn different conclusions from that. I have today had a long and very constructive talk with Karl Ask chairman of the Swedish Saab Club and we agree completely on how things needs to be done if we as a world-wide community are to make a contribution of this size.

No individual organization or small club has even a chance to actually save the museum, it needs to be a united action by people, clubs from all over the world if this is to work! Even so we might not be able to do it.

Here is part of the plan which might be the way to save the museum, note the word “might”…

1. Start an association “Club”, for example called the Saab Cars Museum Association (SCMA)
2. Anyone who wants to join in and contribute to saving the museum needs to become a member of this association and pay a membership fee which will be used to cover the running-costs of the museum.
3. Clubs around the world will need to commit to aiding the association with funds to preserve the cars and cover costs, details about how this will be done is private information for each club.
4. A 5 year pure business plan needs to be established on how to cover costs
5. A 10 year plan to display the vision of the association needs to be established
6. Rules and regulations needs to be established
7. The people who will do the actual work will need to display their interest.
8. An temporary management group of the association needs to be established which will run the association for one year until a more permanent team can take over.

This is a joint effort by the whole Saab Community world wide. SaabsUnited is NOT a leading factor in this but only a small contributor and a part of the big picture.

To do this we will need the support of EVERYONE! If you are willing to join in this cause, we want to know. That is why we have created an e-mail where you can declare your intention to join the cause and become a member of the association once it starts. The membership fee is not yet established but should in my mind be in the regions of €50,- / $65,- per year. The people working on this project will do so completely without payment and no company will be involved or any purpose of profit making for anyone except to cover ongoing and future costs for the association.

Please declare your intention to help out at museum@saabsunited.se


Of course we support this plan. We encourage everyone to send an e-mail to museum@saabsunited.se!