SAAB is on the brink of bankruptcy after the car maker admitted it cannot pay the wages and salaries of its 3700 employees.
Losses, sustainable under the previous owner, General Motors, are on the verge of overwhelming Saab's Dutch parent, Swedish Automobile, which was forced to stop salary payments for 1500 factory workers on Thursday. The IF Metall union set the clock ticking on the company, warning it would enforce bankruptcy proceedings to reclaim the unpaid wages within a fortnight.
A Saab spokeswoman admitted that about 2200 office workers, designers and engineers might not be paid as Sweden goes into a holiday period. Apologising for leaving production-line staff out of pocket, she said: ''The last thing we want is to be forced to come with this very sad news the day before a major Swedish holiday. We would not have done this if we were in a situation where we had an alternative.''
But she said Saab was not actively preparing for bankruptcy, with the car maker making a final bid for cash by negotiating a sale and leaseback of its Trollhattan factory with unnamed parties.
''[Bankruptcy] is not the scenario that we are working with. We are working on securing short-term financing to pay our employees and to work with suppliers to get production going again,'' she said.
Saab production has been halted until July 4 at the earliest, after suppliers refused to distribute parts to the company. ''It is mostly related to the financial situation,'' said the spokeswoman.
Russian investor Vladimir Antonov has been lined up as a potential rescuer, but has not been given the go-ahead by the European Investment Bank, which has lent Saab $US280 million ($A266 million). Earlier this year, Saab's chairman, Victor Muller, tempted fate by announcing at the Geneva motor show that the brand was ''back and here to stay''. Saab produces just three vehicles - the 9-3, the 9-5 and the 9-4x.
Neil King, analyst at IHS Automotive, said Saab appeared to have been left behind by the emerging market boom. ''They suffered as a result of the financial crisis but unlike their peers they have not capitalised on booming demand for premium cars in the emerging markets.''
King warned that Saab's decline could become inevitable as would-be buyers were put off by its plight. ''If this drags on it is clearly damaging and people will start becoming fearful about warranties and being able to secure spare parts.''
But he said a distribution deal being lined up with two Chinese investors provided some hope.
GUARDIAN
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Saab faces bankruptcy
