February 23, 2012
Published: 22 Jan 12 09:04 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/38644/20120122/
Saab's bankruptcy administrator said at a press conference on Saturday that the company is dead but continues to bleed, while retaining hope that a buyer can be found.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Geely Holding Group, owners of Swedish brand Volvo, will begin distribution of vehicles outside the Chinese borders as domestic demand continues to slow, the company said on Wednesday. READ (1 COMMENT) »
Fresh figures show that a large percentage of Swedish arms exports go to undemocratic countries and dictatorships, despite a decision from the Riksdag last year to tighten regulation on arms exports. READ (3 COMMENTS) »
A 700,000 kronor ($105,051) asking price didn't stop the sale of a parking spot in Stockholm's trendy Östermalm district where the price for real estate designated for cars can exceed the per square-metre price of nearby apartments. READ (2 COMMENTS) »
The Swedish krona is 25 percent overvalued against the US dollar, according to the OECD, jeopardizing the currency's appeal as a “safe haven” for investors. READ (3 COMMENTS) »
Chinese company Youngman has made a new offer to the administrators for the bankrupt Swedish car-maker, confirmed the founder and owner of Youngman, Pang Qingnian, on Monday. READ (2 COMMENTS) »
What may just be Sweden’s smallest house is being sold in Mellbystrand, southern Sweden – a beach getaway measuring in at just three metres squared. READ (9 COMMENTS) »
Swedish companies want to reform the Swedish labour market in order to boost competitiveness, and hope to adopt the euro, according to their representatives. READ (8 COMMENTS) »
After numerous complaints about a provocative Ryanair advert featuring a calendar bursting with a bevy of bikini-clad women, the discount airline has been rapped by Sweden's advertising watchdog which ruled the advert was "sexist". READ (31 COMMENTS) »
For fans who just can’t get enough of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a new iPad application has been released to complement the footballer's 2011 biography “I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic”. READ (6 COMMENTS) »
The Swedish government wants police and prosecutors to have more power to crack down on illegal file sharing by making it easier to force internet service providers to reveal the identity of individual computer users. READ (12 COMMENTS) »

As diverse as Sweden is, there are a few societal norms that are distinctly Swedish. Understanding a handful of them will hopefully prepare you culturally before you relocate. When you're invited home to a Swede, you better be on time and take your shoes off, writes expat Lola Akinmade-Åkerström. Read more »
Sweden is a country where almost everyone can speak English. So why bother to learn Swedish? Edina Varnagy from Hungary managed with English for a whole year but then found that Swedish could open doors – to a job, a social life and greater understanding. Read more »
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www.saabsdivided.com
Though I will lament the passing of the romantic era of the auto it is going to happen. It's all about market share and only the mega companies will survive.
The Chinese are already taking Volvo in a direction that I feel will destroy the company. They seem to desire to create a luxury European themed brand in China and have chosen Volvo as the vehicle. This is contrary to everything that Volvo has stood for throughout it's history and will, I feel, be it's undoing.
If one looks at automotive history it is full of fascinating and wonderful cars that were not viable for the masses.This is sad and I for one feel fortunate to have lived in an era of romance with the car.
The harsh truth is there was only just enough room in little Sweden for one car company, a tiny outfit like Saab did not fit into a hyper-competitive global car industry where economies of scale and shared development costs are essential. Management, unions, politicians, and even GM, for a while, lived in a state of denial. But the harsh realities of capitalism finally caught up with Saab and did it in. Saab is dead; good! It didn't deserve to live. The Euro is next, that doesn't deserve to live either.
Politicians and dreamers have to up their game. We can't afford to keep paying for this sort of nonsense. It's bankrupting the world.
Other options:
1. Open a Casino at the SAAB factory until all the debts are paid off + a huge cash reserve.
2. Sell SAAB to apple so that they can make an iCar. Apple never had a problem chargin a premium for a beautiful and intuitive product.
3. Get into F-1 racing just long enough to accuse another auto maker of stealing your car plans, and so get a 250 million dollar settlement.
OK I guess the patient really is dead .... not a very serious comment I guess but I am actually sad to see SAAB drive off into the sunset for good.
Accordingly a slightly more serious option #4 to my previous post would be to make high tech police cars, ambulances, or military vehicles (in partnership with Bofors for example) with added instrumentation from the relatively large Swedish defence industry, if there is any room in that market.
SAAB airospace has a niche market that allows it to sell military jets and strike manufacturing sharing arrangements where the Americans are relectant to sell their or assemble their F-16's, F-18's, F-35's etc.., such as to India and possibly Brazil. One wonders if SAAB automobiles could make a high speed and highly equipped military vehicle that would be of interest to places that are not traditional American allies, or even to places that are.
Half of the employees would refuse to return to the production line on moral grounds (refusing to make military vehicles), but this would trim down the workforce to make the new venture slightly easier to start. And half or more of SAAB's auto fans would maybe be very angry or feel betrayed, but anyway this might keep the factory going, unless the re-tooling to make police cars, ambulances, or light weight military vehicles is too expensive, and/or if the market for these is too competitive already.
Or maybe the only market left is for the type of vechilce that SAAB itself make require, namely, a hearse. Hope not, but the vital signs (other than bleeding) indeed look grim.