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GENERAL MOTORS

Union groups: ‘Save money – sell Saab’

The heads of the local chapters of four trade unions represented at Saab headquarters in Trollhättan in south west Sweden have written a letter to US media urging General Motors to protect American taxpayers' money by saving Saab.

Published: 12 January 2010 13:16 CET

Below is the text of the letter in full:

WHY ENDANGER U.S. TAX PAYERS MONEY??

General Motor’s way to a healthy company has included the sale of Saab Automobile AB and the brand Saab.

As soon as this plan was announced several bidders for Saab appeared and still do!!

The best economical solution to save money/cost avoidance for General Motors is to sell Saab, rather than to wind down the company. GM will be left with a risk of huge cancellation costs and big risks of claims.

Since the US Government (US citizens) still own approx 60% of GM, it is a waste of US tax payers money not to sell Saab!!!

Saab’s wind down impact on Swedish society is at least as big as GM’s impact in the US.

Save Money – Sell Saab!!!

Employees representatives at Saab Automobile AB

Paul Akerlund

Anette Hellgren

Hakan Danielsson

Kenneth Trei

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CARS

Former Swedish Saab bosses appear in court

Swedish car maker Saab's former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson and the firm's former head lawyer Kristina Geers have appeared in court in Vänersborg in west Sweden, accused of falsifying financial documents shortly before the company went bankrupt in 2011.

Published: 2 September 2015 14:46 CEST
Updated: 2 September 2015 16:26 CEST
Former Swedish Saab bosses appear in court
Saab's former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson. Photo: Karin Olander/TT
The pair are accused of falsifying the paperwork at the height of the Swedish company's financial difficulties at the start of the decade.
 
A third person – who has not been named in the Swedish media – is accused of assisting them by issuing false invoices adding up to a total of 30 million kronor ($3.55m).
 
According to court documents, the charges relate to the firm's business in Ukraine and the paperwork in question was signed just before former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson resigned.
 
Both Jonsson and Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers have admitted signing the papers but denied knowledge of the Ukranian firm implicated in the case.
 
All three suspects deny all the charges against them.
 

Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers. Photo:  Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT
 
Saab filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2011, after teetering on the edge of collapse for nearly two years.
 
Chief prosecutor Olof Sahlgren told the court in Vänersborg on Wednesday that the alleged crimes took place in March 2011, when Saab was briefly owned by the Dutch company Spyker Cars.
  
It was eventually bought by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs), a Chinese-owned company after hundreds of staff lost their jobs.
 
The car maker, which is based in west Sweden, has struggled to resolve serious financial difficulties by attracting new investors since the takeover.
 
In October 2014 it announced it had axed 155 workers, close to a third of its workforce.
 
Since 2000, Saab automobile has had no connection with the defence and aeronautics firm with the same name. It only produces one model today, the electric 9-3 Aero Sedan, mainly targeting the Chinese market.