Spyker files a three billion dollar lawsuit against General Motors

[IVR007]

Press release from a couple of minutes ago:

SPYKER FILES A THREE BILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS



Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 6 August 2012 -- Spyker N.V. ("Spyker") announced that it has filed a complaint against General Motors Company ("GM") in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan today at 08.00 AM EST. Spyker filed the complaint in its own right and on behalf of its 100 percent subsidiary Saab Automobile A.B., which was declared bankrupt on December 19, 2011.

This lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market. GM’s actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM's tortiously interfering with a transaction between Saab Automobile, Spyker and Chinese investor Youngman that would have permitted Saab Automobile to restructure and remain a solvent, going concern. The monetary value of the claim amounts to US$ 3 billion (three billion US dollars).

Since Saab Automobile is in receivership and hence incapable to contribute to the costs of litigation, Spyker and Saab Automobile have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Spyker will bear the costs of such litigation in exchange for a very substantial share of Saab Automobile’s award when the proceedings are successful. Spyker has secured the financial backing required to see the lawsuit through to the end from a third party investor.

Victor R. Muller, Spyker's Chief Executive Officer said: "Ever since we were forced to file for Saab Automobile's bankruptcy in December of last year, we have worked relentlessly on the preparation for this lawsuit which seeks to compensate Spyker and Saab for the massive damages we have incurred as a result of GM's unlawful actions. We owe it to our stakeholders and ourselves that justice is done and we will pursue this lawsuit with the same tenacity and perseverance that we had when we tirelessly worked to save Saab Automobile, until GM destroyed those efforts and deliberately drove Saab Automobile into bankruptcy."

The Complaint, as filed this morning at 08.00 EST, can be found here.

[IVR007]

The Complaint basically boils down to the supposed fact (this is up to a judge to decide) that GM's willingly and illegally steered Saab into bankruptcy because of the fact that the proposed (Chinese) partnerships wouldn't be in GM's best interest, particularly in China.

GM's consent was required when the proposed deals to save Saab included transfers of technology or ownership and obviously GM refused them, probably because of it's huge Chinese interests. Because of exactly this, a final deal was constructed that excluded any GM technology and would push a change of ownership beyond 2016, when Saab was expectantly GM IP free. But GM, supposedly without any legal base whatsoever, claimed that the deal would be illegal and threatened it would no longer provide Saab with GM components or manufacture the Saab 9-4X.

The $3,000,000,000 sum is based on "the value of the Company
projected through 2016 under the Framework Agreement".

[IVR007]

Bloomberg:
Spyker Sues GM for $3 Billion Over Saab Bankruptcy - Bloomberg

[OnTheLam]

Bully for Spyker. But, let's hope that the litigation does not prove too great a distraction from the real job at hand -- getting Spyker back into "going concern" territory, manufacturing great bespoke sports cars, and, oh yeah, racing Le Mans.

[amzamz]

... interesting aspect:

"...most supercars these days have at least 500 horsepower on tap; anything less seems almost pedestrian..." and

"...GM probably won’t want to sell Spyker any engines after getting slapped with a $3 billion lawsuit. We wonder where the Dutch supercar maker will turn next?"

(source)

[amzamz]

... nice would be the Lexus LFA’s V10 engine... for example!

[F Spider]

I think that it will be in the 550hp range.

[Reddingius]

How are Spyker's ties with Lotus these days? Lotus uses Toyota (lexus) engines, maybe Spyker can too?

[mrobin33]

GM, Ford and Chrysler all supply crate engines - literally from the parts catalogue or your local dealer, so not sure GM could stop Spyker buying them... however they may not help much after sales...

LSA 6.2L SC 556 HP Crate Engine 19211708

[F Spider]

The problem is not the engine, but the wiring/CPU. A crate engine does not come with it. You can get an aftermarket (hot rod) harness, but that is not very sophisticated.

[panoz1]

* #108 (permalink) * *
28-10-2009, 21:59

panoz1
Spyker Enthusiast
*
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 102
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reddingius
I'll try to translate that interesting little article:

----------------------
NEW SPYKER MODELS POSSIBLY POWERED BY BMW ENGINES

AMSTERDAM - It isn't yet certain if Spyker have made a deal witch General motors concerning the supply of engines. That is what Autovisie states in their latest issue. According to the usually very well informed magasine Spyker is also negociating with BMW!

During the IAA carshow in Frankfurt last September, De Telegraaf cought Spyker-exec Victor Muller in conversation with a high-ranking BMW employee in a private part of the BMW stand. Muller was then quoted to be talking to numerous supplyers in order to exchange opinions and experiences.

According to Autovisie, Spyker is considering using the 4,4 litre V8 bi-turbo engine out of the X5 M and X6 M for their own SUV and sportscars. In the German leviathans the engine puts out 550 bhp and 680 N.m. In the Beemers the engine is mated to an automatic six speed trasmission. Autovisie says that BMW is normally not very willing to supply their engines to third parties, but at least they are not holding off Spyker.



Btw I hope my translation makes enough sense for you guys to understand it.
I do not think the deal with GM will work. GM likes to sell their engines to anyone, hell you can go to any GM dealer and order any of the LS crate engines. Maybe Spyker did this for the D8. The problem with GM is they do not sell the rest of the powertrain components you need, like IP Clusters, A/C Controls, ABS ETC,ETC, All these items need to communicate with the LS Engine drive train. At this time GM is not letting other companies have access to these items or how they talk to each other. That is why so many small car manufacturers just buy a Corvette and just use all the components to fit into their car. Right now I think Ford is the only Manufacturer that sells a ready to go powertrain package. Goodnews Ford is working on a very powerful All Aluminum DOHC V8 project similar to the SVT package that just ended 6 months ago. For Spyker the BMW would be a great fit.

[Reddingius]

Well it was a long time ago I translated that Autovisie piece about a possible collaboration with BMW. Seeing as BMW are now suing Saab, they might not be willing to cooperate with Spyker either anymore. Furthermore the Autovisie article was very, very speculative. I would approve of BMW engines though, but I still think Spyker should develop their own engines. I know that's expensive, but say they win the GM lawsuit?

[F Spider]

That might not be valid any more, since BMW filed a lawsuit against Saab Parts for non payment of €2M+ this week.....

http://www.autoblog.nl/bmw-sleept-sa...ter#post-53085

[IVR007]

GM granted extension to respond.

Published: 07:00 CEST 24-08-2012 /Thomson Reuters /Source: Spyker N.V. /XAMS: SPYKR /ISIN: NL0010125050
SPYKER AGREES TO GM's REQUEST FOR A 30-DAY EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO ITS COMPLAINT.

Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 24 August 2012 -- Spyker N.V. ("Spyker") announces that it has agreed to General Motors Company's ("GM") request for a 30-day extension of the August 28 deadline to respond to the Complaint, which response is now due on September 28. Spyker and Saab Automobile AB filed the Complaint on Monday, August 6, at 08.00 EST. The lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market. GM's actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM's tortiously interfering with a transaction between Saab Automobile AB, Spyker and Chinese investor Youngman that would have permitted Saab Automobile AB to restructure and remain a solvent, going concern.

[panoz1]

GM doing what they do best Kick the can down the Road.