GM considers ditching Saab: report
Saab Automobile is among the brands US automaker General Motors (GM) is thinking about unloading in order to get through its current crisis.
The news comes from the Bloomberg news agency and cites a source with insight into the situation. The source wished to remain anonymous because no final decision has been made.
GM is currently preparing a plan to present to the US Congress on December 2nd which the carmaker hopes will help it secure several billion dollars in government loans and avoid running out of cash.
Other brands under consideration for sale or dissolution include Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer.
The news came as surprise to the head of Sweden’s IF Metall union, Paul Åkerlund, although he added that he was no stranger to rumours about Saab’s fate.
“I’ve heard rumours before, but no concrete information,” he told the TT news agency.
“GM is discussing a lot of issues. I don’t know if this is one of them.”
Åkerlund doesn’t believe that selling Saab could solve GM’s problems and thus assumes that the Swedish brand isn’t high on its US owner’s agenda.
Eric Geers, a spokesperson for Saab Automobile, had no comment on the new information.
“We have no knowledge of the information which is on Bloomberg right now,” he said.
After submitting the plan to Congress, representatives from GM will travel to Washington for a hearing scheduled for December 5th.
A vote on a proposed rescue package for the US auto industry is expected the week of December 8th, just days before the Swedish holiday of Lucia, which is likely the earliest date on when questions about Saab’s future could be answered.
“It’s not so easy,” said Åkerlund.
“Sure there may be a change of ownership. But what comes next, what the conditions will be look like, and so on. It’s hard to be prepared for something you don’t know.”
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The news comes from the Bloomberg news agency and cites a source with insight into the situation. The source wished to remain anonymous because no final decision has been made.
GM is currently preparing a plan to present to the US Congress on December 2nd which the carmaker hopes will help it secure several billion dollars in government loans and avoid running out of cash.
Other brands under consideration for sale or dissolution include Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer.
The news came as surprise to the head of Sweden’s IF Metall union, Paul Åkerlund, although he added that he was no stranger to rumours about Saab’s fate.
“I’ve heard rumours before, but no concrete information,” he told the TT news agency.
“GM is discussing a lot of issues. I don’t know if this is one of them.”
Åkerlund doesn’t believe that selling Saab could solve GM’s problems and thus assumes that the Swedish brand isn’t high on its US owner’s agenda.
Eric Geers, a spokesperson for Saab Automobile, had no comment on the new information.
“We have no knowledge of the information which is on Bloomberg right now,” he said.
After submitting the plan to Congress, representatives from GM will travel to Washington for a hearing scheduled for December 5th.
A vote on a proposed rescue package for the US auto industry is expected the week of December 8th, just days before the Swedish holiday of Lucia, which is likely the earliest date on when questions about Saab’s future could be answered.
“It’s not so easy,” said Åkerlund.
“Sure there may be a change of ownership. But what comes next, what the conditions will be look like, and so on. It’s hard to be prepared for something you don’t know.”
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