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SAAB'S BANKRUPTCY BATTLE

SAAB

‘Turkish Saab’ would stay in Trollhättan: report

If Saab gets Turkish owners, the company will continue to build cars in Trollhättan, according to Turkish company Brightwell Holdings, which recently entered in the competition over the cash-strapped carmaker.

‘Turkish Saab’ would stay in Trollhättan: report

“We are interested in the whole company, not just small components or the brand,“ said Brightwell board member Zarnier Ahmed to Swedish business paper Dagens Industri (DI).

Ahmed and Brightwell are now waiting to hear from the two official Saab bankruptcy receivers to initiate negotiations.

According to Ahmed, the company intends to continue manufacturing cars in Trollhättan, although he couldn’t say on what scale.

The company needs to know more about the structure of Saab first. It might be that some components would need to be produced somewhere else in order to save money.

Ahmed is not anticipating any problems with former owners General Motors, GM, despite the company’s objections having constituted the largest obstacle for a Chinese sale, due to their blocking of the necessary transfer of technology licences to the two Chinese firms interested.

But Zamier Ahmed says that although familiar with Saab’s long history and tradition, he is critical to how the company was run prior to the bankruptcy petition.

“By the end, the company was handled very badly,” he said,

Despite not wanting to mention any names Ahmed said that in the end the responsibility lies with CEO Victor Muller, just as it would anyone else in his position.

“Mr Muller does not have a background in the car industry. To use an example: If you have heart trouble you see a heart specialist not an orthopedic surgeon,” said Ahmed to DI.

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CARMAKER

VW Scandal: France to launch ‘in-depth’ probe

Update: France's Environment Minister Segolene Royal on Tuesday announced an "in-depth" investigation after Volkswagen admitted millions of cars were fitted with software that secretly thwarts pollution tests in the US.

VW Scandal: France to launch 'in-depth' probe
"This is not a minor subject, it's not about speed or the quality of leather," said the French finance minister of the VW scandal. Photo: AFP

Royal also asked French manufacturers to “ensure that such schemes are not taking place in France.”

Her announcement came after Michel Sapin on Tuesday morning told French radio that in order to “reassure” the public, it seemed “necessary” to carry out checks on cars manufactured by other European carmakers.

“We are in a European market, with European rules that need to be respected,” Sapin told Europe 1 radio.

“Even if it's just to reassure people, it seems necessary to me that (checks should be carried out) also on French carmakers,” he said, adding he had no “particular reason” to suspect wrongdoing.

According to US authorities, VW admitted that it had equipped about 482,000 cars in the United States with sophisticated software that covertly turns off pollution controls when the car is being driven and turns them on only when it detects that the car is undergoing an emissions test.

With the so-called “defeat device” deactivated, the car can spew pollutant gases into the air, including nitrogen oxide in amounts as much as 40 percent higher than emissions standards, said the US Environmental Protection Agency.

“This is not a minor subject, it's not about speed or the quality of leather,” stressed Sapin.

“What we are dealing with is making sure people avoid being poisoned by pollution,” said the minister.

German authorities have already announced an investigation into whether Volkswagen or other carmakers are doing anything similar in Germany or Europe.