World Luxury Association Names Top 10 Car Brands

In a glitzy event held in Beijing, China, this month, the World Luxury Association (WLA), which is a non-profit research organization, named its Top 100 most valuable luxury brands of the year.

In the automotive field, the Top 10 premium car brands included some of the usual suspects such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini along with some surprise entrants like Saab's former owner Spyker and Koenigsegg. Not that it matters any more, but Daimler's Maybach brand didn't make the cut.

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Saab Receives Funding from Spyker Buyer but not from Chinese Partners, Administrator Proposes to Terminate Reorganization

The dramatic Saab roller-coaster continues to painfully drag on with good and bad news for the brand. But let's take it in chronologically order.

This morning, Saab's parent company Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) said it has accepted new funding from U.S. private-equity group North Street Capital, which is interested in Spyker.

The equity firm is paying US$10 million for 2.39 million new shares Swan while also providing a further US$60 million as a loan that will be "collateralized by a first lien on certain assets of Saab Automobile as well as a second lien on the collateral as pledged to NDO".

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Spyker to be Sold to US-based Equity Firm for €32 million

Swedish Automobile N.V. [Swan] owner of cash-strapped Saab, announced today that it has reached an agreement with US-based private equity firm North Street Capital LP concerning the main terms for the sale of its Spyker luxury sports car business. Read more »

Saab Delays Payments to White-Collar Employees

When it comes to Saab, it seems that for every dollop of good news that trickles out from Sweden there are multiple bad news.

On Tuesday, the cash-strapped Swedish automaker said that its white-collar workers will not receive their next payment (at least not on time) because the company has not yet been paid by its investors.

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More Good News for Saab as Swedes Receive €25 Million Loan

Another day, another new story for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget –or, as you might know it, Saab. The Swedish company announced on Wednesday that it has entered a €25 million convertible bridge loan from Gemini Investment Fund Limited.

The loan’s annual interest is 10% and the conversion price is €1.38 per share, while Saab can at any time repay the loan, presumably when the expected Pang Da and Youngman Lotus funding is received, without a penalty.

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Saab Says it Can’t Pay Workers, Company’s Survival in Doubt

New clouds are forming over Saab as the automaker’s parent company, Swedish Automobile N.V., formerly known as Spyker Cars N.V., said on Thursday it will be unable to pay its 3,800 employees their wages because it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding.

Swedish Automobile said it and Saab “are in discussions with various parties” to secure short-term funding, including through a sale and lease-back of Saab’s real estate assets.

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Saab Details Partnership with China’s Hawtai Motor Group

In his attempt to save Saab- again, and after having secured short-term cash of €30 million (US$44.6 million), Spyker Car N.V. CEO Victor Muller’s next move was to sign a strategic partnership with China’s Hawtai Motor Group. Under the agreement, Saab will receive a €150 million (US$222.5 million) cash injection while the two companies will form joint ventures for manufacturing, technology and distribution.

As a part of the deal, China’s Hawtai will invest €120 million (US$178 million) for up to a maximum of a 29.9 percent equity stake in Spyker on a fully diluted basis. Τhe remaining €30 million will be in the form of a convertible loan agreement with a 6 month maturity, an interest rate of 7% per annum and a conversion price of €4.88 per share.

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Saab Announces Strategic Partnership with China’s Hawtai Motor Group, Secures New $30 Million Loan

Spyker Cars NV and Saab president Victor Muller is pulling all the strings to kick start the Swedish automaker back into life after the company hit a cash crunch and was forced to halt production last month as suppliers refused to send parts citing lack of payment.

After an earlier announcement on the involvement of Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, who plans to invest €30 million in Saab’s parent company Spyker in return for a 29.9 percent stake, Muller hit twice today revealing that the company has secured a €30 million convertible loan from Gemini Investment Fund Ltd, while also announcing a new partnership with China’s relatively unknown, Hawtai Motor Group.

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Spyker Cars Says Saab won’t Meet its Sales Target this Year, Now Talking with Chinese Companies for Funding

The roller coaster that is Saab has taken another turn, and unfortunately for the Swedish brand, the future doesn’t look so bright. In spite of a tentative agreement to let Russian banker Vladimir Antonov invest 30 million euros in Saab’s parent company Spyker in return for a 29.9 percent stake, the investment still needs to be approved by the European Investment Bank, which means the Swedes are still short on cash and cannot resume full production.

Today, Spyker reported a loss of €79 million before interest and tax for its first quarter earnings, while the company’s CEO, Victor Muller, said that Saab will not meet its sales target this year.

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Swedish Debt Office and GM Allow Antonov to Invest in Saab

It appears that Saab's hopes of survival continue to depend after all that happened on Vladimir Antonov, the Russian banker who was forced by GM to sell his initial shares in Spyker for the Saab sale to occur. Spyker today confirmed that the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) allowed Antonov to become a major shareholder in Spyker Cars, Saab's parent company.

"This is a great day for our company and for me personally. We worked relentlessly for 11 months to achieve the desired result: restore the reputation of Vladimir Antonov, who made so many valuable contributions to Spyker since 2007 as financier and shareholder,” said Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker and chairman of Saab Automobile.

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Saab Roller Coaster Continues as Cash Gets Tight

Saab just can't seem to catch a break. After moving from the General's formerly overcrowded pocket into the hands of Spyker, the once-quirky brand is now doing all it can to bring production back online after failing to pay suppliers.

The gist is this: Saab received 400 million Euros (~$580 million) from the European Investment Bank so it could keep on ticking. Sweden guaranteed the loan, meaning whatever Spyker's resolution calls for must get the go-ahead from the Man.

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New Woes for Saab, Production Halted Again After Company Fails to Pay Suppliers

Less than a week after Saab idled its Trollhattan plant in Sweden for a few days due to a shortage of parts after failing to pay suppliers, the company once again halted production on Tuesday for the same exact reasons, despite solving the previous disputes.

"Production is stopped right now. It was stopped this morning," said Saab spokesperson Gunilla Gustavs. "We are working intensively to make sure the flow gets going again. We are having discussions with suppliers and doing our best to come to mutual agreements," Gustavs added.

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Saab Temporarily Halts Production After Suppliers Suspend Parts for Not Being Paid

In a sign of the possible problems brewing up at Saab, the Swedish firm was forced to temporarily halt production for a few hours at its plant on Tuesday as well as on Wednesday after component makers cut off deliveries to the factory because they hadn’t been paid.

“Certain suppliers halted supplies to Saab Automobile pending discussions about payments and supply terms,” Spyker said in a statement on Wednesday. “Saab Automobile expects to resolve these issues in the short term, also to prevent any further disruptions in supply. Saab Automobile has sufficient means to meet its immediate liquidity needs from existing and available sources,” the company added.

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SAAB CEO Jan Åke Jonsson to Retire, Victor Muller Takes Over Temporarily

Dutch automaker Spyker Cars NV announced on Friday that Saab Automobile’s Chief Executive Officer and President, Jan Åke Jonsson, has decided to step down from his position on 19 May, 2011. The company said that until a successor to the longtime Saab executive is found, Spyker Car’s CEO Victor Muller will temporarily assume the role of President and CEO of Saab Automobile AB in addition to his role as Chairman of the Board.

The 59-year old executive, who has worked for Saab for close to 40 years, took over the helm of the company in 2005 when it was still under the ownership of General Motors. Jonsson has been credited for playing a key role in the savior of Saab when the Detroit automaker wanted to close down the brand.

“I have been with Saab Automobile for almost my entire career of 40 years, of which almost six years as the head of Saab Automobile,” said Jonsson in a statement. “The last three years have of course been very demanding and forced me to focus on one thing only – my work. Now it is time for me to also spend some time on other things that had to stand back for my duties to Saab Automobile.”

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Spyker to Sell its Sportscar Business in Order to Focus on SAAB

Spyker Cars N.V., the Dutch owner of Saab, announced today that is has started negotiations to sell its sports car brand in order to focus on the development of premium car maker Saab, which it acquired one year ago from General Motors.

The Dutch company said it will sell the assets of its Spyker sportscar business to the UK-based CPP Global Holdings Limited, owned by Russian millionaire Vladimir Antonov. The terms of the deal include an initial purchase price of EUR15 million, plus a further EUR17 million to be paid from future earnings over a six-year period. The money will be used by Spyker Cars N.V. to reduce its debt.

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Saab to Cut Workforce after Poor Sales Forecast

Sweden-based Saab Automobile plans to reduce its workforce by 200 employees or about one-eighth of its current staff, according to report from Reuters citing a union official. Hakan Skott, a union representative at Saab, told the news site that the move was expected after the company's new owner, Dutch supercar maker Spyker, cut the firm's sales target from 60,000 units in February, to 45,000 a few months later and finally to just 30,000 cars at end of October.

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Simbol Design K1 Attack is a Shed-Built Italian GT with an Alfa V6

From the creators of the Ferrari Enzo-emulating GTX-R comes the K1 Attack, a car that takes styling cues from the Spyker C8 Aileron, Lotus Europa and others. Simbol Design has fitted the Attack with an Alfa Romeo-sourced V6 turbo good for 246 horsepower. Mated to a 5-speed manual, this gives the custom built sports car an apparent 0 to 100 km/h [62 mph] time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 265 km/h [165 mph].

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Swedish Regional Government Demands $15.9 Million in Debt from Saab

A local government authority in Sweden is seeking to recover US$15.9 million from Saab, even going so far as to enlist a government debt collector.

Vastra Gotaland, where Saab's main production plant is located, covered worker wages to the tune while the company was in administration. Now that Saab has its very own 'Daddy Warbucks' in the form of Spyker, the regional government wants its money back.

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Spyker to Begin Selling Sports Cars at Saab Showrooms

In a move that won't surprise anyone in the automotive industry, Spyker Cars NV and Saab Automobile owner, Victor Muller, confirmed plans to sell Spyker's high-end sports cars through Saab retailers by the end of the year.

"We are signing up Spyker dealerships left, right and center," Muller said in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency at Saab's headquarters in Trollhaettan, Sweden.

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Spyker C8 Laviolette LM85 Available on Forza Motorsport 3 / Xbox 360

Xbox 360 gamers are offered their first opportunity to take a virtual place behind the wheel of a Spyker supercar as the Dutch firm's C8 Laviolette LM85 is now available as the gift car of the Exotic Car Pack for Forza Motorsport 3, which was released on 11 May for 400 Microsoft Points.

"We've created something very special and unique with the LM85," said Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker and recently, of Saab Automobile as well. "It's very exciting to share our creation and passion with the Xbox and Forza Motorsport community, and we can't wait to see how players put it through the paces on the track."

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