Saab said on Thursday (12 May, 2011) Spyker parent CEO Victor Muller is now in China to discuss finding new potential partners following today’s collapse of a planned EUR150m (US$213m) investment by Beijing-based Hawtai.
Muller’s presence in China signals the start of yet a further hunt for collaborators willing to provide vital cash for Saab whose Trollhattan factory has remained at a standstill for several weeks.
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Speculation in Beijing suggests Saab could be talking to Great Wall Motor, following the termination of the deal with Hawtai.
Great Wall already has form in western, mature automotive markets, exporting pickup trucks and SUVs to Australia, Europe and, soon, the UK.
“Victor Muller himself is in China having discussions with various firms,” a Saab spokeswoman in Sweden told just-auto. “There are some Chinese stakeholders in the picture.
“I can’t shed any more light on what went wrong – the door is still open to Hawtai – just not in the form agreed last week.”
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By GlobalDataSaab also clarified why it was at pains to point out in a statement, issued by Spyker today, that Chinese manufacturer BAIC indicated it had no problem with the Swedish automaker talking to other Chinese partners.
BAIC purchased technology and tooling for the old Saab 9-3 in 2004 to make cars themselves.
“The statement about BAIC was because there seemed to be some confusion in the Chinese media that technology sold to BAIC was the technology we are talking about to Hawtai,” said the Saab spokeswoman.
“It was, just in case anyone was wondering, BAIC does not have a problem with this either.”
