Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: What Saab’s Demise May Mean for Buyers

"If Saab’s future seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
You can buy a heavily discounted brand new car
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just walk into your nearest Saab dealership - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life..."

First of all, we hope Monty Python won’t mind altering their song from The Life of Brian. We'd also like to note that we are in no way making fun of the fact that, unless something unexpected happens, Saab is closing shop – for good this time, leaving thousands of workers unemployed.

We’re just trying to say that, in the event the liquidation of the car company goes through, there are consequences but not all of them are bad for consumers.

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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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Attention, Serious Buyers Only: 1995 Cadillac 900S Convertible

From the 1980s right through to the beginning of the 21st century, General Motors tried its best to simplify the art of badge engineering as a cheap and easy way to expand its offerings and increase its profits.

Apparently, some of GM's enthusiasm for badge-trickery managed to rub off on certain consumers like the owner of this 1995 Saab who artfully transformed the open-top model into the Cadillac 900S Convertible in a way that a 1990s GM exec would say, "why didn't I think of that?"

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Saab Says it Can’t Pay Workers, Company’s Survival in Doubt

New clouds are forming over Saab as the automaker’s parent company, Swedish Automobile N.V., formerly known as Spyker Cars N.V., said on Thursday it will be unable to pay its 3,800 employees their wages because it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding.

Swedish Automobile said it and Saab “are in discussions with various parties” to secure short-term funding, including through a sale and lease-back of Saab’s real estate assets.

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Saab Production on Hold for at least Two More Weeks

Ailing Swedish car manufacturer Saab will not be producing new vehicles for at least two more weeks until it resolves the problems with its suppliers, the company said on Monday.

"There will be no normal production during weeks 25 and 26 (June 20th-July 3rd)," Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs told Reuters. "We are still negotiating with all suppliers and we need to get everyone on board at the same time. The weeks of 27-29 (July 4th-24th) are planned to be normal working weeks".

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Saab Temporarily Suspends Production Again while it Seeks Parts

The on-off production drama over at Saab’s Trollhättan facility in Sweden continues as the troubled automaker said Wednesday that it temporarily halted production due to a lack of components from its suppliers only two weeks after resuming making cars following a seven-week shutdown.

Saab said that it anticipated production hiccups in the start-up phase, as the supply chain still is not fully operational with some suppliers holding back until they get paid and others trying to re-stock.

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China’s Pang Da Places a New €15 Million Order for Saab Vehicles

Chinese distributor Pang Da Automobile is pumping more cash into Spyker NV's ailing Swedish unit Saab by placing a new order for 630 vehicles valued at €15 million or US$21.5 million. This latest order comes after an earlier one last week for 1,300 cars worth €30 million (US$43.2 million) and is part of a broader deal in which Pang Da agreed to buy a 24 percent stake in Saab’s parent company Spyker for €65 million (US$93.5 million).

The Swedish automaker said that as with the first order, Pang Da will pay the additional €15 million order up front with the funds expected to be received by the end of this week. Delivery of the vehicles ordered by Pang Da will start in the fall of this year.

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Saab Returns from the Dead…Again, Restarts Production at its Trollhättan Factory

Saab is back in the business of making cars again -at least for now- almost two months after production came to a halt on April 6 when the company’s suppliers stopped deliveries of parts in protest over unpaid bills. The Swedish company was able to restart production after receiving €30 million (US$42.8 million) in advance on a deal it has signed with Chinese car distributor Pang Da Automobile.

The China company’s CEO, Mr. Pang Qinghua, visited the Trollhättan factory today together with CEO and Chairman of Saab Automobile, Victor Muller, and witnessed the first vehicle to roll off the assembly line. Saab said around 100 cars were built today but plans to “increase the daily production rate in the coming weeks in parallel with the full re-establishment of the supply chain”.

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What Lies Ahead in Saab’s Future?

Saab is in trouble. With mounting debts and limited capital investment, the Swedish company is a prime candidate to go the way of the dinosaurs. The troubled automaker has not built a single vehicle since the 1st of April, and a much touted deal with China’s Hawtai Motor Group has fallen through. They did however sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with another Chinese company called Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. Ltd, earlier this week, but we will have to wait and see if the deal goes through.

In light of this, I’ve thought up four plausible (though unlikely) scenarios for Saab. These range from the hugely cynical all the way to the brazenly optimistic. After all, isn’t it better than Saab has some future rather than no future at all? Without further ado, here are your options:

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