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Ken Gratton10 Jan 2013
NEWS

Saab Australia in administration

But Saab China to extend lifeline for brand in Oz?
Car-starved China may be the key to reviving Saab production at Trollhättan – and possibly supplying new cars for the Aussie market. 
The Chinese port city of Qingdao is investing the equivalent of US $304 million in Saab's parent company, National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS). Later this year, production of the aging 9-3 will resume at the Saab factory at Trollhättan in Sweden. Vehicles will be shipped from Sweden to Qingdao, where they'll be offloaded and distributed throughout the country. 
The city of Qingdao (population nine million) is acquiring a 22 per cent stake in NEVS, and will be the site of a Chinese manufacturing facility to be established there in the event that demand outstrips Trollhättan's ability to supply. NEVS and its Chinese investors will be banking on the popularity of a new electric vehicle – also to be built at Trollhättan from early 2014. 
”Vehicles based on new energy sources are the future. Qingdao wants to take an active part in this development,” Mayor of Qingdao, Zhang Xingi explained in a press release issued by NEVS.
Further information from press material on the NEVS website reveals that when the acquisition of Saab was completed at the end of August 2012, the company secured the IP for not only the existing 9-3, but also the Phoenix platform, which was to be the basis for a next-generation 9-3. NEVS has also acquired vehicle assembly and drivetrain production assets. General Motors, owner of Saab prior to the American giant's chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the USA, has refused to relinquish IP for the 9-5 large sedan (pictured) and there is no mention of the 9-4X SUV that was planned to be the brand's saviour in Australia, but never made it here. 
The news of Qingdao's investment in NEVS comes too late for the local distributor, Saab Cars Australia Pty Ltd. The company, which was established here by the factory less than two years ago, has been placed in voluntary administration. After Saab Automobile AB insisted in December that the Australian arm remit all outstanding debts, and negotiations had broken down between Saab Australia and a prospective buyer in Sweden around the same time, the distributor appointed local firm, Ferrier Hodgson, to oversee the winding down of the company. 
Saab Australia's business premises in Port Melbourne has been closed and six members of staff have been laid off. Ferrier Hodgson has undertaken to sell the remaining vehicles and parts in stock. In a press release issued earlier this week Stewart McCallum, Ferrier Hodgson partner, stated that parts will continue to be supplied for existing Saab owners, through Saab Automobile Parts AB, which escaped bankruptcy. Some doubt remains as to whether warranties will be honoured however. 
“SAAB drivers can be confident their vehicles will be kept on the road and they should have no
problems accessing parts over the short to medium term,” Mr McCallum said. “Once we have a better understanding of the level of interest in the business we will be in a position to post a longer term view. With regard to warranties, we are working with the dealers around Australia to minimise any potential impact for SAAB owners.”
As we went to press, Michael Cave, Ferrier Hodgson's Director of Corporate Communications, revealed that there is just one new Saab remaining unsold in Australia. Mr Cave advised that any decision concerning the revival of the Saab brand in Australia – as a distributor of new cars – rests with the parent company in Sweden. By inference, there is no legal obstacle to that arising out of the company being placed in the hands of administrators. 

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Written byKen Gratton
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