Spyker-saab??

[Reddingius]

wow I have to say, that's pretty darn ugly :P

[IVR007]

wow I have to say, that's pretty darn ugly :P

+1:lol:

[bucciali]

found what appears to be VM's powerpoint presentation from the 12 January Automotive News NAIAS Conference. Or perhaps it was press material for that conference, seeing that there is little text in the presentation. Some nice pictures though

[Swisstrader]

Hey, that's my firm that sponsored the event:lol:

Thought slide 26 was most interesting...wondering whether or not this is aspirational or how Spyker (or someone else) views the competition.

found what appears to be VM's powerpoint presentation from the 12 January Automotive News NAIAS Conference. Or perhaps it was press material for that conference, seeing that there is little text in the presentation. Some nice pictures though

[whitlock]

Thought slide 26 was most interesting...wondering whether or not this is aspirational or how Spyker (or someone else) views the competition.

I was going to comment on slide 26 as well. It is an interesting view of the marketplace, especially the placement of Porsche/Ferrari/Lambo.

Also on slide 31, "become profitalbe." Was actually wondering that earlier when I was reading a post regarding sold units over the years. Now taking on the debt to finance the Saab deal, will this slow them down at all?

[F Spider]

What I thought would be the biggest hurdle has been taken!

EU clears Swedish state guarantee for Saab
Mon Feb 8, 2010 5:52am EST
Stocks

Spyker Cars N.V.
SPYKR.AS
€3.38
+0.20+6.29%
10:36am EST
BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sweden's Saab won EU regulatory approval on Monday for a state guarantee of a 400 million euro ($546 million) European Investment Bank loan, key to the carmaker's sale to Dutch peer Spyker (SPYKR.AS) by General Motors [GM.UL].

Tiny, loss-making luxury carmaker Spyker clinched the $400 million takeover last month and estimated it would need about $1 billion for Saab to develop three or four niche models. Part of these costs will come from the EIB loan. [ID:nLDE61109C]

The European Commission said about four-fifths of the guarantee was subject to rules allowing European Union countries to facilitate access to financing by crisis-hit companies.

"The state guarantee will contribute to the implementation of Saab's business plan without giving rise to any undue distortions of competition," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

The Commission said the remaining 17.2 percent was not considered to be state aid, and therefore not subject to EU scrutiny, as it would be provided on market conditions. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Dale Hudson)

[SpykerOwner]

Exciting!

Looks like they are going to open our bottle Moët and Chandon soon

[IVR007]

...:lol:

Another hurdle passed (the EU) by Spyker! Now only the EIB itself has to approve the loan, and then Muller can open a big bottle of champagne:lol:

[IVR007]

Antonov is really disappointed he can't be a partial owner of (saab) Spyker anymore. He wrote an editorial in the NYT (NYT link).
He regrets the fear of 'Russian money'.
He also said that he can't be a part of the Saab deal (and isn't financing Muller in an other way) because of a report of the säpo, swedish security service, that according to him is based on rumours. If GM and other parties accept his re-entrance he would very much like to be a part of Saab Spyker again. Actually today he was in Coventry too (his office is in London: is #170 his?). I really can understand his frustration, and I can imagine it is damaging his other businesses too..

[Laviolette GT2R]

Antonov owns #040 and #140

[Reddingius]

@IVR007:

At first I felt the same way, I felt sorry for the man. And of course, there is a chance that he is indeed a fine guy in financial respect. But let's put it this way: The Swedish Secret Service investigated and concluded Mr. Antonov wasn't sound. They managed to convince the Swedish Government, GM and even the FBI to adopt their views of the situation. That is a whole lot of people saying something's wrong with Mr. Antonov, and only one person (Antonov himself) saying there's not.

You could argue that his attempt to clear his name and undo the damage done to his enterprises is a sign he's not some sort of crook, but it's likely he'd do the same if he was one.

So all in all I tend to trust the majority, which in this case is säpo. I will be first one to admit my being wrong if it turns out I am though, I hope it will!

[amzamz]

... perhaps the Saab deal was the only way to get Mr.Antonov out of Spyker... ? and kind of re-finance Spyker by use of Swedish funds... only the future will tell what the whole thing is all about.

[IVR007]

For now we can only guess..

Here's James May's opinion about Saab Spyker: article

His concluding sentences

But now fire up your internet and take a look at the Spyker C8. Do we really want the people who came up with that to be building a regular four-door saloon?

Yes please.

[amzamz]

...

... that article is wonderful, and pretty much reflects my opinion about Saab, too. Of course, i couldn't phrase it so well. It's probably not my job...

If Spyker ("that wacky Dutch lot", ref. James May, The Telegraph) is doing the right stuff, it could truly re-vive a wonderful set of cars. See the pictures below. It was a legend, like the VW beetle, the Citoen 2CV or the Austin Mini. And it may ever be worth thinking of getting that sort of looks back again. It would be unique. Perhaps, a design class should do retro-looks of new Saab models... Unfortunately, GM appears to have no notable designers involved in the last 10 years of Saab, and the cars indeed disappeared into the crowd of average car models... including the Aero X, to be honest.

I truly wish Saab a good facelift from Spykers designers and managers... and hope they will come back as Saab (as I know them from the 1950s-70s).

[Laviolette GT2R]

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