Scandinavia’s automotive suppliers association (FKG) has tentatively welcomed today’s (16 May) news of an MOU between Saab and Chinese distributor Pang Da, but is questioning the Swedish government’s apparent “silence” on the automaker’s future.
Pang Da’s announcement it is to make a payment of EUR30m (US$42m) for the purchase of Saab vehicles followed by a further EUR15m within 30 days, follows last week’s collapse of the deal between the Swedish manufacturer and Chinese automaker Hawtai.
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“If this comes true, it could be a first step in a restart,” FKG managing director Sven-Ake Berglie told just-auto from Sweden. “But from a suppliers side, most suppliers are reluctant to do anything yet.
“Naturally, [the] first step would be to start discussing repayment of the overdue bills and then start to plan for production restart. We don’t think it will be that easy. This [is] a really empty supply chain right now – it is off if one or two suppliers have problems getting raw material or components”
Berglie, who has been in contact with Saab this morning, conceded the Pang Da tie-up could offer the automaker interesting China distribution potential, but insisted more long-term financing was still an issue.
The Scandinavian suppliers chief also questioned the apparent “silence” of the Swedish government and what communication there had been between the politicians and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“It is difficult to understand the silence from the Swedish government,” he said. “I hope one day there will be somebody in the Ministries who can tell us how the discussions were going between the different Ministries and the EIB.”
Berglie added the FKG had calculated Saab owed its members “a couple of hundred million Swedish Krone,” but that they were the minority of suppliers to the manufacturer with most coming from abroad.
A statement from Saab and parent Spyker noted the MOU concerning joint ventures with respect to distribution and manufacturing in the Greater China market, was subject to “definitive transaction documentation and certain regulatory approvals.”
Sweden’s National Debt Office, which has been heavily involved with Saab, was not immediately available for comment.
