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Saab Automobile update on production
Zeewolde, The Netherlands - 21 July 2011
Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) continues discussions with its supplier base on material supply and delivery terms in order to be able to resume
production at its Trollhättan plant. Swan and Saab Automobile continue their discussions with parties to obtain further short-term funding to be able to restart and sustain production. As delivery of all parts
needed to secure a production start is not yet agreed production will not resume on August 9 as intended and will be postponed until a full commitment on delivery plans can be secured.
Gunnar Brunius, Vice President of Production and Purchasing said: "I am positive about the progress we made on the payment terms with our suppliers and it is good to see that we all want to make
it work. What we need now is a full commitment on supply of parts into our factory to be able to restart production and secure a stable manufacturing operation. We are now working hard with our suppliers to nail
down these plans, commit to a delivery schedule and start building the close to 11,000 cars that we currently have in our order books. The industry-wide summer break at our suppliers caused certain key suppliers not
to be able to supply us in time. Saab Automobile hopes to restart production earliest in week 35 provided that it is able to commit to a delivery schedule with its suppliers."
SAAB AUTOMOBILE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS PRODUCTION
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 9 June 2011
Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) today decided to temporarily suspend production at its production facility in Trollhättan. The seven-week production stop in April and May has not just affected
Saab Automobile, but particularly also its supplier base. While Saab Automobile booked lots of progress and reached agreements with the vast majority of its supplier base, negotiations with a number of suppliers on
payment and delivery terms are still ongoing. These negotiations are expected to be finalized shortly.
Saab Automobile is working on a number of initiatives to secure further short and medium-term funding.
As communicated in the press release of May 27th, Saab Automobile anticipated production hiccups in the start-up phase which Saab Automobile has in fact experienced in the last few days. In order to
avoid disruptions as a result of irregular inflows of certain components and parts, Saab Automobile has decided to temporary suspend production and will resume production as soon as possible once it has secured a
more stable inflow of components and parts together with its supplier base.
Victor Muller, Chairman and CEO of Saab Automobile, said: "We anticipated that we would not see a smooth inflow of supplies as from the day we restarted production, May 27th, and communicated
that in our press release of that day. We have a few thousand suppliers worldwide with each of whom we have to reach acceptable terms and conditions to resume production of parts and subsequent deliveries. Many
suppliers are located outside Europe and re-stocking inevitably takes time.
"Thus far we have reached agreements with the vast majority of our suppliers and we are confident that we will reach agreement with all remaining suppliers in the coming days, thereby stabilizing
our operations and our production in particular. However, it is not to be excluded that we will see production hiccups in the near future until the supply chain is fully back to normal. I reiterate our appreciation
for our suppliers who are working with us constructively to come to terms and put our production back on track. At this moment, we have almost 10,000 orders on hand, including those for the Saab 9-4X which is
currently being built in Mexico."
SAAB AUTOMOBILE RESTARTS PRODUCTION
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 27 May 2011
Saab Automobile today restarted production at its production facility in Trollhättan. A first batch of around 100 cars is planned for this first day of production since April 6 and Saab Automobile
plans to increase the daily production rate in the coming weeks in parallel with the full re-establishment of the supply chain.
Attending the restart of production were Victor Muller, CEO and Chairman of Saab Automobile, Mr. Pang Qinghua, Chairman and CEO of Pang Da Automobile, and Gunnar Brunius, Saab Automobile's Vice
President Purchasing & Manufacturing. The first cars to roll off the assembly line were a silver Saab 9-5 Aero XWD and an orange Saab 9-3 Convertible Independence Edition.
With production restarted, Saab Automobile will now focus on building and delivering the thousands of cars ordered by customers around the globe. As the assembly line was fired up again, the total
number of outstanding orders from markets worldwide for the Trollhättan factory amounted to over 6,500 cars. The total order bank, including around 1,600 Saab 9-4X orders, amounts to over 8,100 cars. This number
includes the almost 1,300 cars that were ordered by Pang Da Automobile and for which it paid EUR 30 million up front.
Watching the first car roll off the line, Victor Muller said: "This is a great day for our company and it is great to see the plant running again. We have gone through a rough patch in recent
weeks, but Saab is back in action again. I would like to express my deep gratitude to our fantastic suppliers who have worked so hard with us to make this happen, and to our loyal employees who have constantly stood
by our side."
"We will work hard in the coming period to regain confidence and show our ability to become a successful car maker. We are fortunate that we are in the middle of the largest-ever product
offensive in the company's history. Last year we launched the all-new Saab 9-5 Sedan, while the 9-3 Griffin range went on sale earlier this year. The new Saab 9-4X, our first crossover, has enjoyed raving reviews
from motoring media and we already sold all 9-4X cars for model year 2011. After the summer, we start delivering the much-awaited Saab 9-5 SportCombi to customers."
Gunnar Brunius added: "I am very happy to see our plant in operation again. This is a highly important moment for everyone at Saab Automobile, especially for our loyal people here in the plant
who have eagerly waited for this day. Given the complexity of re-establishing our supply chain there will most likely be some hiccups during this start-up phase, but we will work hard together with our suppliers to
minimize any disruptions to production in the coming weeks."
Media are welcome to join a press meeting which will take place today at 11:45 CET at Saab Automobile headquarters in Trollhättan, Sweden.
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT SALE OF PROPERTY SAAB AUTOMOBILE ONGOING
Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 26 April 2011
Spyker Cars N.V. (Spyker) announces that the intended sale of Saab Automobile Property AB (Saab Property) is still uncertain and subject to the fulfilment of a number of additional conditions imposed
by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile), General Motors (GM), the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) and the Swedish Ministries of Finance and Enterprise.
It is not yet certain whether the above parties will be able to fulfil all of the conditions of the EIB and finalize the sale of Saab Property within a short time frame. The shares in Saab Property
are currently pledged to the NDO (not the EIB) as collateral for the Swedish State guarantee NDO has given to the EIB on the day Spyker acquired Saab Automobile from GM in 2010. With a release by the NDO of its
pledge in the shares of Saab Property, the guarantee of the NDO in favour of the EIB will be reduced by EUR 120 million. As a result, Saab Automobile will not be able to draw more than EUR 280 million under the
existing EIB loan of which currently EUR 217 million have been drawn.
After the NDO confirmed last week that it intends to release its pledge in the shares of Saab Property, since Saab Automobile fulfilled all conditions, the EIB informed Saab Automobile last Thursday
that it will only give its consent to the sale of Saab Property if certain additional conditions are met. The conditions relate - amongst others - to the obligation of Saab Automobile to refinance the sale of Saab
Property or replace the purchaser within a limited period of time. Further, the consent to the transaction by the EIB would relate to a partial sale of Saab Property only. In addition, the EIB is requesting further
clarification and confirmations from the NDO, the Swedish government, GM and Saab Automobile. Saab Automobile is working with all parties involved on a solution to complete the sale of the property and will have
further talks with the EIB today in an attempt to reach agreement on the additional conditions set by the EIB.
Spyker and Saab Automobile continue to work on securing additional funding. To that end Spyker and Saab Automobile are negotiating equity and debt financing and/or technology licensing with various
strategic partners, including various Chinese car manufacturers. No commitments have been received to date.
Finally, Mr. Vladimir Antonov awaits the approval from the NDO and the EIB to be allowed to act as a financier of Saab Automobile and to become a shareholder of Spyker.
SPYKER CARS N.V. including SAAB AUTOMOBILE AB REPORTS ITS FULL YEAR RESULTS 2010
Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 25 March 2011
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