A new Saab 9-4X with the 9-5. Production of the latter model has been on hold since late March.
With a pair of Chinese deals apparently ready to collapse, it appears that embattled Swedish automaker Saab may be mere hours away from bankruptcy.
The administrator put in charge of helping Saab reorganize appears to be losing patience as several proposed partnerships fail to materialize for the Swedish marque. Barring a last-minute breakthrough, Swedish newspapers say he could pull the plug and force Saab into formal bankruptcy, effectively spelling the end for the maker.
Saab had hoped to turn to two Chinese allies, dealership network Pangda and automaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus, to generate more than $200 million in much-needed cash – including a $96 million short-term bridge loan. But the loan has repeatedly been delayed and it appears now that the Chinese government is refusing to authorize the deals because it does not believe Saab can provide the sort of intellectual property the money would justify, according to Svenska Dagbladet.
“We are still expecting the Youngman loan to come in,” insisted spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs, but the maker has been saying the same thing for weeks.
Saab appeared headed for bankruptcy last month – pressed by more than 3,000 Swedish union employees who have gone without pay for several months. But the maker was able to convince a Swedish appeals court to instead allow it to reorganize its finances using the proposed bridge loan while waiting for Chinese regulators to approve the three-way partnership.
The carmaker simply has no way to generate any significant revenues on its own. While it continues building a small number of 9-4X crossover vehicles at a General Motors plant in Mexico, Saab’s headquarters assembly plant, in Trollhattan, has been shuttered since late March, when a number of key suppliers began to boycott due to unpaid bills.
With no indication that cash would be forthcoming from the Chinese, Saab’s creditors – as well as administrator Guy Lofalk – could ask the courts to remove Saab from protection and put it into bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Swedish papers say their government has “no mandate” to offer a rescue program of its own for Saab.