Saab: China to invest $7.5 billion
Reports from Sweden this morning claim that the new Chinese owners of Saab – Pang Da and Youngman – plan to invest $7.5 billion in the coming years.
Update: We have now been told by Saab that Pang Da and Youngman are to provide €50 million immediately and €600 million for short to medium finance. Funding for the revised business plan and provide long-term financial stability the new Chinese owners have also budgeted funding for the planned expansion of Saab Automobile’s portfolio and additional operations to be set up in China
There will be a reduction of 500 in the employee numbers. Sales targets for 2012 of 35-55,000 cars and 2013 of 75-85,00 and long-term of 200,000 cars a year
Interestingly, Saab says that ‘Saab Automobile has not received the funds from Pang Da and Youngman that have been committed for today.’ Oh, well.
Although the deal which will see Saab sold to China’s Youngman and Pang Da is still subject to a raft of approvals – Swedish Debt Office, EIB, GM, Chinese Government… – it seems the Chinese have big plans to invest up to $7.5 billion in Saab in the coming years.
Auto Motor Sport in Sweden is reporting that Youngman and Pang Da will report to the Swedish Court of Protection in Vanersborg this morning the extent of their plans to turn Saab back in to a viable car maker once more.
The Chinese are planning to invest $2 billion immediately to get Saab back on to an even keel and get the production lines running again (and all the bills paid). That will mean the new Saab 9-5 finally coming out of the gates at Trollhattan again and feeding the starving network of remaining Saab dealers.
But over the next few years the Chinese are planning to invest a further $5.5 billion to develop a new small Saab, the next generation Saab 9-3 and a new, bigger Saab, for the Chinese market.
The plans to expand the range – which could see a Saab 9-1,Saab 9-6 and Saab 9-7 arrive in the next few years – are probably the Saab model expansion plans Victor Muller revealed back in July.
Those plans were for the baby Saab – the Saab 9-1 – to be based on the MINI platform with BMW engines, a Saab 9-6, which we assume to be a stretched Saab 9-5 for China, and a Saab 9-7, which could be a production version of the Saab Aero X Concept.
Grandiose plans, indeed, but it’s exactly the sort of news Saab needs if it’s to recover from the debacle of the last year.
More when we get it.
Dteamer says
There are so many regulatory hoops to jump through before the Chinese can get their hands on Saab, it’s all but pointless to think in terms of Saab being saved. The fact Saab note they haven’t even got the small amount of funding supposed to have already arrived perhaps gives the clearest signal.
There’s a very long way to go before Saab is safe.
Thor says
It’s interesting, because someone said, not long ago (I can’t remember who it was…maybe Lofalk) that Youngman and Pang Da didn’t have the money required to turn Saab around. Now they’re willing to invest billions, so where did these money come from? The magic box?
CarsUK says
We have no idea where the money will come from, but Pang Da did raise around $1 billion earlier this year in China’s second biggest IPO. That should be enough to leverage the funds talked about.
But until there is some sort of approval from all the vested interest, the ‘deal’ is just a ‘plan’.