No Reserve Nr High Bidder Wins !!! Mechanic Special Runs And Drives on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Spyker files $3 billion lawsuit against General Motors over Saab's demise

"Smack." That's the sound of Spyker's process server dropping a big ol' pile of legal documents on the doorstep of The Renaissance Center, home of General Motors - or wherever GM's attorneys live during business hours. Contained therein is a Complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and demanding a jury trial, that seeks $3 billion in damages due to "the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market." Spyker accuses GM of "tortiously interfering" with Saab's business relationship with Chinese automaker Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile (Youngman), actions that Spyker CEO Victor Muller (above) said "deliberately drove Saab Automobile into bankruptcy."
(From Wikipedia: "Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, in the common law of torts, occurs when a person intentionally damages the plaintiff's contractual or other business relationships.")
The interference in question specifically refers to the very last potential deal, called the Framework Agreement, that Spyker worked out with Youngman. With lots of GM engineering embedded into the 9-4X and 9-5, The General had the right to approve any Saab partnership that would involve the transfer of GM intellectual property. Spyker had been rebuffed over every previous deal with a Chinese firm, including two bids by Youngman, due to GM concerns over its IP getting into Chinese hands and having to face Chinese-market competitors using its technology. The Complaint alleges that the Framework Agreement would have put a firewall around all GM IP - Youngman would only work on Saab's Phoenix platform, said to be just about free of GM tech, and would have no access to 9-3, 9-4X or 9-5 technology until after Saab ceased all ties to GM.

Saab plant reopens, production to resume by year's end?

Saab is gearing up to start production of the 9-3 again in September, two years after the last exampled rolled off the assembly line at the company's Trollhättan factory, Aftonbladet reports. Saab's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), a Chinese-Japanese consortium created solely to buy Saab, says that the model's parts supply is the bottleneck in the production process, understandable since many of Saab's suppliers closed after it stopped production two years ago. The automaker also needs to establish a new dealership network. It is not entirely clear where Saab will market their new models, but North America is not expected to figure into their plans, at least initially.
Almost 400 factory employees are reportedly back working at Trollhättan, and Saab is looking to recruit 180 workers to help with production, presuming the factory can overcome its supply issues and go back online in the fall.
The new 9-3 is understood to be something short of an all-new car, a revision of the old 9-3 that started production in 2002. It will reportedly be offered initially as a four-door sedan and two-door convertible, and it will have a turbocharged engine, according to NEVS, which we expect will be a four cylinder. An electric 9-3 could come as early as next year. Turbocharged engines are part of Saab's DNA, NEVS Vice President Mattias Bergman has stated, and future Saab models will have them - despite the automaker's planned progression toward electric vehicles. The 9-3 will get small facelifts over time, says Mikael Östlund, a press officer at NEVS.

3 former Saab execs charged with tax evasion

The Associated Press reports three former Saab executives have been arrested on charges of accounting fraud. Swedish prosecutor Olof Sahlgren has refused to identify the individuals, but says they're suspected of attempting to evade taxes by falsifying Saab accounts between 2010 and 2011 during the Spyker years. Other reports indicate the parties involved include former General Counsel to Saab Kristina Geers (seen to the left of former CEO Victor Muller, above), a 15-year-veteran of the company - her husband, Eric, was the company's communications director for 9 years as well.
Saab filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and was purchased shortly thereafter by National Electric Vehicle Sweden. If convicted, the trio could face up to four years in prison for their crimes under Swedish law.