Saab to restart production after six-week suspension
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/china/" rel="tag">China</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/euro/" rel="tag">Europe</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/plants-manufacturing/" rel="tag">Plants/Manufacturing</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/saab/" rel="tag">Saab</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/earnings-financials/" rel="tag">Earnings/Financials</a></p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/26/saab-idUSLDE74P1IK20110526"><i mg alt="Saab production line" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/03/saab-plant.jpg" style="width: 630px; height: 471px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px 0px;" /></a><br />
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Six weeks have passed since <a href="http://autoblog.com/make/saab">Saab</a> was forced to halt production of its <a href="http://autoblog.com/model/9-3">9-3</a> and <a href="http://autoblog.com/model/9-5">9-5</a> models in Sweden due to a lack of funds needed to pay suppliers. The automaker had hoped to get production back up and running after it agreed to a deal with Chinese automaker Hawtai Motors, but that plan <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/12/saab-deal-with-chinese-partner-collapses/">was scrapped</a> after the agreement failed to materialize.<br />
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But now there's a new Chinese suitor in town. A Memorandum of Understanding has been <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/16/saab-announces-memorandum-of-understanding-with-chinas-pang-da/">signed between Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Saab</a>, and a report from <em>Reuters</em> quotes spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs as saying that production ought to be restarted today (Friday, May 27, 2011).<br />
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We've <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/02/saab-to-resume-production-after-securing-short-term-loan/">heard this one before</a>, and it has so far failed to materialize. That said, Pang Da has already <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/23/spyker-to-be-renamed-swedish-automobile-n-v-as-pang-da-talks-wi/">forwarded Saab 30 million euros</a> to get production restarted, and Pangda Chief Executive Pang Qinghua would like to see the lines humming along in time for his scheduled visit to Trollh&auml;ttan that same day.<br />
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In other Saab news, Sweden's enterprise minister Maud Olofsson met with Russian investor Vladimir Antonov to discuss his interest in continued financial backing for the struggling automaker, which is hoping to receive approval for a 29.1-million-euro draw-down from its open request to the European Investment Bank.<br />
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Only time will tell if this Saab story (yes, pun intended... sorry) has a happy ending.<p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/27/saab-to-restart-production-after-six-week-suspension/">Saab to restart production after six-week suspension</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Fri, 27 May 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/27/saab-to-restart-production-after-six-week-suspension/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19951278/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/27/saab-to-restart-production-after-six-week-suspension/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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