|
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
I guess the fat lady hasn't sung yet...
Quote:
G.M. Strikes Deal to Save Saab - NYTimes.com
G.M. Strikes Deal to Save Saab
By NELSON SCHWARTZ
PARIS — General Motors said Tuesday it had reached an agreement to sell its struggling Saab Automobile arm to the small Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars, saving Saab from what seemed like certain extinction after earlier bids had collapsed.
G.M. had begun the process of shuttering Saab’s production line and other facilities in Trolltattan, Sweden, at the beginning of the year, but the deal with Spyker will halt that process and buy time for Saab to begin rolling out new cars, according to an official close to the negotiations. The official did not want to be identified because he spoke before the formal announcement was made.
It was the latest turn in a saga that had riveted workers and politicians alike in Sweden, as well as Saab’s famously devoted customer-base.
Still, it will be an uphill battle for Saab to survive over the long-term, auto experts said, noting that just finding a buyer took more than a year for G.M. Amid the uncertainty over the company’s survival, sales plunged 50 percent in the first half of 2009, to 24,000 cars, far too slow a pace for Saab to operate profitably.
Even so, taking over Saab will be a huge leap for Spyker, which sells 30 to 50 made-to-order cars a year for about a quarter-million dollars each. In 2008, Saab produced more than 90,000 cars. And while Saab has 3,400 workers, mainly in Trollhattan, Spyker has just 110.
|
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
|