Hearing for Saab bankruptcy scheduled before the end of the month

Struggling car manufacturer Saab’s hearing for its bankruptcy is scheduled on 26 September according to a district court in Sweden. Saab will be appearing in a lower court in Vanersborg, a town in the southern portion of Sweden.

Saab has to deal with two white collar worker unions complaining about unpaid salaries for the month of June thru July. They are also not compensated yet for the month August. . The unions served applications for bankruptcy last week to push for the activation of an insurance scheme by the state to handle the wage problems.

One spokesperson of the worker unions shared information that the process might take 3 to 5 weeks.

Saab, on the other hand, announced money-raising activities spearheaded by the company’s CEO Victor Muller. The car producer arranged for around $96 in bridge loan with the aid of a Chinese guarantor. The bridge financing gives Saab some more time as they take legal steps to protect the company from creditors. It has sought for the court’s protection for the second time as it tries to restructure.

One of Sweden’s lower court rejected the case of Saab but the car manufacturer filed for an appeal so the case can be reconsidered.

Saab reveals specs of US version of 9-5 SportCombi

While Saab is struggling to get some good funding, the carmaker aims to maker cars and sell them. The 9-5 SportCombi is one that might help it get the ball rolling again and we have been waiting for news about what version will be rolling onto the US soil. Good thing Saab recently released a brochure about the Saab 9-5 SportCombi prior to its scheduled release in North America.

According to the Saab document that is all over the net, the 2012 905 SportCombi will make use of a 220 horsepower 2.0L 4-cylinder, turbocharged powerplant with a torque of 258 pound-feet. The engine of this handsome wagon will be linked to an automatic gearbox with six speeds and its XWD or Cross Wheel Drive technology implemented by Saab.

The 9-5 SportCombi also gets a good setup for its interiors as Saab gives it an upscale, pricier treatment. It will come with heated seats, panoramic moonroof, keyless start, and touch screen navigation unit as standard issues. Other options include a Technology Package which will give he 9-5 SportCombi a park assist system, lane departure warning, head up display, and bi-xenon lights for cornering. Another option will be the Rear Passenger to give you a DVD player, eight inch screens, tri-zone HVAC, and wireless headphones.

There is still no word about the pricing of this ride.

Saab plans to distribute in China and Russia

Saab Automobile is laying out their plans to sell their cars in China by 2011. According to its CEO Jan Jonsson, the initial roll out will involve a few thousand vehicles every year with the supply line depending on importing the units. It will be a wait and see situation until the company launches the new 9-3 before the end of 2012, and when they will manufacture the car locally.

The top priority of Saab is to outline their first web of dealerships in the Chinese market. They are looking setup initially in six cities and have around 15 dealerships. If ever Saab will produce the vehicles in China, the next gen 9-3 will be the starting point followed by the 9-5 and the 9-4X crossover. The car manufacturer is aiming to sell around 10,000 units per year before considering the local production of its vehicles. The 9-4X will hit the US market by April while non-US consumers can expect it by August.

The Saab 9-4X comes with two V6 powerplant options. Both of the engines are coupled with a six-speed automatic gearbox. There is a 3.0L engine that produces 265 horsepower which speeds up the 9-4X from 0 to 60 miles per hours in just 7.9 seconds with the FWD version while the XWD version comes in at 8.4 seconds.  The 2.8L variant of the V6 produces 300 horsepower and a torque of 295 lb-ft. This version on an XWD configuration blasts from 0 to 60 in 7.7 seconds. The tag price for the 9-4X begins at $34,205.

Saab collaborates with Hirsch Performance for go faster-parts for roll out with dealers

Saab is exerting its efforts to boost the enthusiasm of the market towards their car line up especially the 9-3 and the 9-5 but licensed architectures are limiting their options since they cannot modify the licenses to compete with GM’s products.

Without any license hindrances a 2011 9-5 engine which outputs 220 horsepower can easily be tweaked so it will output a far better 260 hp. This is one among the other things that can be done to the line of powerplants of the Saab vehicles.

For now the top executives of Saab is in talks with Hirsch Performance, a known Saab tuner in Europe, to come up with performance parts that can be offered and installed by dealers for their market in North America and their other markets. The car manufacturer though has not yet decided under which brand name the go-faster parts will be marketed since Hirsch is not a well known tuning company outside Europe or to the not so diehard fans of their brand.

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