Just the fact Saab was able to hold its huge press conference yesterday evening (30 September) at the Paris show was extraordinary.
The Swedish manufacturer – almost on its knees not many months ago – has risen phoenix-like from the ashes and is confounding its many doubters who have poured present – and future – cold water on the whole project.
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False dawns, uncertain suitors and hardly a benign economic climate, all seemed to have doomed the rescue project before it had even chance to breathe.
But breathing it is and the manufacturer is very much alive and kicking through its charismatic chairman Victor Muller.
It’s not a subject Saab – understandably prefers to dwell on too much – but it was touch and go for a while. “We were pretty close to going out of business, that is clear,” said Saab executive director brand and marketing Knut Simonsson.
And there’s equally clearly a huge trust rebuilding exercise going on at Trollhattan that involves repairing myriad relationships with dealers, supplier and customers that will take some time to achieve.
“We are repairing trust month by month, week by week, by having cars out there and delivering on the business plan,” added Simonsson.
That trust is also being underpinned by – modest for now – sales approaching 1,000 cars a month in each of the key markets of the US, the UK and of course home territory in Sweden.
Last week’s deal with AAM and this week’s blockbuster engine agreement with BMW is further evidence that the market is starting to sit up and take notice of what many had written off as a creature about to become extinct.
“It [BMW] did its evaluation – they are not stupid,” notes Simonsson. “It shows it has trust and is one more piece of the puzzle in gaining trust.
The other practical block in the rebuilding of Saab has, of course, been the European Investment Bank loan (EIB) – underwritten by the Swedish government – that enabled the automaker to get back on its feet.
But the word is loan, not grant. Saab has to pay every penny back and has established a tight schedule with the bankers, as well informing them the business model is on track although Simonsson stressed the EIB has no involvement in strategy.
Saab has enjoyed a huge amount of goodwill in its bid to get back on its feet. As Simonsson likes to point out, its DNA is instantly recognisable from an innovative past to iconic imagery from the aviation world.
There are hints too of that innovation maybe coming through in new designs, although Muller and Simonsson are keeping their cards close to their chests.
It is remarkable a company the size of Spyker has assumed the helm at Saab and even more remarkable it has so far worked. The trick will be to tap and sustain what is clearly a groundswell of goodwill to the brand that so nearly disappeared.
