Court Approves Saab’s Bankruptcy, Appoints Two Receivers – But is it Really Over?

As expected, the District Court of Vanersborg accepted Saab’s request the same day, Monday December 19, and declared the Swedish carmaker bankrupt.

The company's CEO, Victor Muller, blamed General Motors for blocking every rescue attempt that involved the Chinese company Youngman Lotus Automobile, including its latest offer of a US$5 million funding to continue the restructuring process.

“That, basically, was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company”, said Muller only hours after requesting that Saab be declared bankrupt.

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Saab Files for Bankruptcy After All Rescue Plans Fail, This Could be the End

It is sad news for the automotive world to learn of the demise of a company. Unfortunately, Monday December 19, will mark the end of the road for Swedish carmaker Saab – and this time it looks like it is final.

Earlier this morning, Swedish Automotive N.V. (Swan) announced that Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Tools and Saab Powertrain filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vanersborg, Sweden.

This comes after Youngman, the Chinese company which last week promised to pay for the carmaker’s restructuring, informed Saab that it cannot provide the funding necessary for the continuation of the process.

Therefore, Swan concluded that, with GM vetoing any proposed plan until now, and without the essential funding, it would be insolvent. Thus, it was better for its creditors to file for bankruptcy.

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Porsche Sets New Delivery and Order Records Worldwide, China Sales Up by 70%

Demand for its models may have dropped significantly in Northern European countries such as Spain and Greece due to the financial crisis, yet Porsche is still set to achieve its best-ever year in terms of sales.

From January until November, the Stuttgart-based carmaker has delivered 109,709 units of the 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne and Panamera models, a 24.6 percent increase over the same period in 2010.

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Saab Changes Administrator, Awaits Monday’s Court Decision

The ongoing story that is the future of Saab looks set to have more episodes than The Young and the Restless – and the CBS TV soap opera has been running since 1973…

Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who oversaw the restructuring of Saab and last Tuesday proposed that the process be terminated, quit his post.

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Will China’s New Tariffs Really Harm Foreign Manufacturers Like GM?

Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that a new tax is imposed on U.S.-made vehicles with a motor capacity of 2.5-liters and above, effective today, December 15.

The so-called “anti-dumping” duties imposed not just on U.S. carmakers, but all companies that manufacture cars in the United States, were imposed because the Chinese authorities felt that U.S. imports were “damaging the local car industry”.

Most analysts, on the other hand, agree that this is China’s response to the World Trade Organization rejecting its appeal on U.S. duties on imported tires three months earlier.

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Mercedes-Benz Heading Toward New Production Record this Year

Europe may be facing troubles, but its luxury carmakers seem to be doing better than ever. Mercedes-Benz, for example, announced that it's on its way to produce more than 1.25 million vehicles in 2011, beating last year’s best-ever sales record and setting a new all-time high in its 125-year history.

“Mercedes-Benz is going on the attack”, said Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, member of the Daimler Board of Management. “We are securing our path to the top by extensively investing in the expansion of our high-performance production network.”

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China Slaps New Duties on U.S.-Made Cars because it’s Damaging its Domestic Industry!

Another chapter in the tense relationship between the world’s two biggest economies, those of the United States and China, has opened today with the announcement by Chinese authorities of new duties on U.S.-made cars that are imported into the country.

Reuters reported that the Commerce ministry of China said on its website that the measure, which imposes “anti-dumping” and “countervailing” duties on cars with an engine capacity of 2.5-liters and above, is effective tomorrow, December 15, and will last for two years.

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Show Me the Money: Saab Receives $5 Million US from Youngman, More May Come

It’s true that this month is probably the worst in a really bad year for Saab. Its 9-5 ended last in Consumer Reports’ luxury sedan test, GM repeatedly vetoed any sale deal involving the Chinese, and the court-appointed administrator has asked for the restructuring process to be terminated.

Today, though, a ray of light shined in Trollhättan as Saab received a first payment from China's Youngman Lotus Automobile, ahead of the court meeting that will decide its future next week.

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VW Brand's Global Sales Reach 4.69 Million Units from January to November, Up 12.4%

It's been a good year for the Volkswagen brand with the German automaker reporting global sales of 4.69 million passenger cars from January to November 2011, a 12.4 percent increase over the same prior-year period (4.18 million).

For the month of November, the VW brand saw its passenger car sales grow 14.5 percent to 452,900 vehicles.

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A Chinese Man Builds an Eco-Friendly Hummer from Scratch for $630

Chinese regulators may have had little affection for the Hummer brand when they shunned the deal between General Motors and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. in early 2010, but there's at least one man in the world's most populous country that has a lot love left for the maker of the H1.

His name is Qu Zhibo and he is from the city of Zhigong in China's Hainan province. For three years, Zhibo worked on a special project to develop the most eco-friendly Hummer you will ever lay eyes upon.

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Dan Akerson Says GM is “Like Communist China in the ‘60s”, Starts Cultural Revolution by Laying off White-Collar Workers

Last month, General Motors posted a third-quarter profit of $1.7 billion US. Not bad for a company that, only just two years ago, was almost bankrupt and was saved thanks to a massive government bailout.

Yet its aim is to reduce costs and increase profits even more. GM representative Jay Cooney told the Detroit News: “GM is continually seeking ways to improve our operating performance and reduce complexity to deliver a world-class cost structure and profit margins.”

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Court-Appointed Administrator Wants Saab Restructuring Process Terminated

Less than 24 hours after General Motors stated once again, that it will veto any plan that includes a Chinese company acquiring a stake in Saab, the Swedish carmaker received more bad news.

Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator who oversees Saab’s restructuring, announced that he will apply for a termination of the voluntary reorganization of Saab Automobile and its two subsidiaries with the Vanersborg District Court in Sweden.

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Taiwan's Luxgen Launches its First Sedan Model, the Luxgen5 [Videos and Gallery]

Mazda isn't the only automaker to use its name as a designation for its model series. Taiwan's aspiring new automotive brand Luxgen has adopted the same nomenclature for its range of models that has now been expanded with its first ever four-door sedan, the Luxgen5 that joins the Luxgen7 MPV and Luxgen7 SUV.

The newly revealed Luxgen5 is the production version of the Neora EV concept study that was exhibited at the Auto Shanghai 2011 in China earlier this year.

The Taiwanese automaker says it is targeting the medium-large sedan market with the new Luxgen5 that will make its world premiere at the 2012 Taipei Auto Show next April.

According to Luxgen, the four-door model has been created for global markets in mind since its inception. The chassis has been designed with the support of US engineering analysts Altair, while the car was tested by UK safety organization Mira to meet the chassis configuration requirements of local and overseas markets.

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GM Says No to Saab's Latest Ownership Plan, Swedes Reply “There is Always a Plan B”

A day without Saab news is a day wasted. On Monday, Saab's owner, Swan NV, said that after GM’s rejection of the Pang Da and Youngman deal, it was readying another plan, involving Youngman and a Chinese bank.

Unfortunately for Saab, this latest plan, which put Pang Da out of the picture, didn’t make the cut with General Motors either. On Tuesday, GM spokesman James Cain issued the following statement: “We have reviewed Saab’s proposed changes regarding the sale of the company. Nothing in the proposal changes GM’s position. We are unable to support the transaction.”

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Mercedes-Benz's First China-Made GLK Rolls Off the Production Line

Following a June 2011 agreement between Daimler and Chinese joint venture partner BAIC to further expand their collaboration in China with additional projects, Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday that the first locally produced GLK SUV left the production line at the Beijing plant of Beijing Benz Automotive Co. (BBAC). Read more »

Saab in Talks with Youngman and Chinese Bank to Secure November Wages

It’s been almost a week now since we last heard from Saab and as time goes by without a viable solution, the situation for the Swedish carmaker becomes more critical every day.

On Monday, Saab owner Swedish Automobile (SWAN.AS) announced that it is currently in discussions with Youngman Automobile and an unnamed bank in China about a potential investment in Saab.

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China's Geely to Enter UK Market in 2012 with £10,000 Emgrand EC7

Only a week after Geely's Emgrand EC7 became the first Chinese vehicle to receive a respectable four out of five star safety rating under the Euro NCAP crash tests, and the owner of Volvo Cars announced that it is getting ready to enter the UK’s new car market with the first models to arrive at the end of 2012. Read more »

Audi to Build Second Plant in China for Production of the Next A3

The country with the most car brands and factories in the world just agreed to let Audi to open another plant. Audi made the announcement today stating that FAW-VW, the VW Group's current Chinese operation, will set up a new plant in Foshan for the production of the next generation of the A3.

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Does the World Really Need Another Chinese Brand? Chery Certainly Thinks So, Launches Qoros [Video]

We tried to count the number of Chinese carmakers, and it turns out that there are approximately 70 brands. That’s not counting the foreign makes they’ve already bought like Volvo, or are currently trying to acquire like Saab, nor their numerous joint ventures with almost every big-, medium- or small-sized foreign automotive companies from Isuzu and Suzuki to Toyota and General Motors.

Even Alfa Romeo, which has cancelled its return to the U.S. more times than we care to remember, has plans to form a joint venture with local company Guangzhou Automobile.

Well, the list just got a little but bigger as on Monday Chery Automobile Co. and investment firm Israel Corp. announced a new joint venture that will lead to a new brand called Qoros.

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More Troubles for Swedish Carmaker as Saab Great Britain Files for Administration

The impasse on the sale of Saab Automobile to Pang Da and Youngman has not been resolved, due to Saab shareholder and supplier General Motors objecting to its platform and engineering technology being transferred to the Chinese.

Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan), though, announced today that Saab Great Britain (Saab GB) filed for administration with the High Court in London.

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