Is the rain coming to an end at Saab?
Spyker are to be renamed Swedish Automobiles, and the deal with Pang Da should see production resume soon at Trollhatten.
In the seemingly never-ending saga of Spyker and Saab it does now seem likely that the deal we reported last week with Chinese distributors Pang Da is going to pan out.
The messy-looking deal with Pang Da has seen the beleaguered Dutch car maker receiving €30 million already from the cash-rich Chinese, which it’s using to pay-off its suppliers in an attempt to get production lines rolling again in Trollhattan.
In the meantime both Spyker and Pang Da are waiting for the Chinese government to rule if the deal is acceptable.
If it is, Pang Da will stump up an additional €65 million to take a 24% stake in Spyker, which should be enough to see Saab looking forward – at least in the medium term – instead of having to keep looking over its shoulder all the time on the lookout for stalking creditors.
It’s probably best to not think about what will happen if the Chinese authorities refuse to allow the deal to go ahead. Assuming everything is hunky-Dory then the plan is for Pang Da and Saab to enter a joint venture to build Saabs in China.
Which sounds all very well in theory, but Pang Da has no car making expertise at all (they are in effect a mega car dealer group) which makes the venture potentially problematic. Still, after a recent flotation they are flush with cash, which will help.
And finally, Spyker NV are changing their trading name to Swedish Automobile NV.
Which will save confusion with the Spyker cars now owned by Vladimir Antonov and Brendan O’Toole at CPP Manufacturing.
If the new company is planning on building cars in China, does that mean it will buy in new plant, or just move the whole lot out of Sweden?
It really doesn’t make any difference what Spyker call themselves because as soon as the Chinese authorities tell Pang Day the deal can’t happen and Spyker has to pay back the 30 million is the day the doors will close at Saab for good.