Report: Saab suffers another production stoppage as supplier woes mount
 

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....rollhatten.jpg

Last week, we told you about the on-off three-day work stoppage at Saab's Trolhättan plant, which occurred due to a financial dispute with one or more suppliers. Spyker CEO Victor Muller then publicly insisted that the delay was nothing more than a "minor glitch" due to a short-term liquidity problem.

But new reports indicate that Trollhättan is down again for a second day this week, and the work stoppage could go on for several more days. According to Reuters, Saab spokesperson Gunilla Gustavs says that the automaker is working hard to resolve the issue, adding "we are trying to reach a resolution with the suppliers."

If money is the automaker's biggest stumbling block to paying off suppliers, Vladimir Antonov could be the answer. The wealthy Russian has expressed interest in buying into Saab in the past, and if he were permitted to invest capital, we're thinking Saab would insist on the liquid, spendable kind.

Due to the work stoppages and liquidity issues, there is a lot of speculation that Saab's very survival could be in doubt, though the company's new administration has said since Day One that they had a fully funded business plan through 2012, an assertion that now looks to be on shaky ground. As one might expect, Saab isn't being completely transparent about what's going on, but there should be no danger of dealers running out of units to sell - slow sales has meant that the Swedish automaker has a substantial backlog of unsold units in most markets, including here in North America. One thing is for sure, this situation is starting to get really ugly. Hat tip to Louis!



More...