When Mr. Whitacre gave the cast off remark at the Detroit show it all sounded so easy
" show us the money ". Did he mean the $1 or the $450 million. ???
It does not neccessarily matter as two weeks on there is still no deal.
I for one am quite hopeful that the delay is a good sign. As SWADE said this morning " Treading Water " that is all we can do
I am certain that I can tread a while longer having achieved bronze, silver and gold awards for treading water as a kid.
Most people believe rightly or wrongly that there will be a positive outcome for SAAB.The silence the amount of time that the silence is taking is positive.
What other conclusion is there ?
The liquidation team is in place , the gun is loaded but no shot fired.
It is my birthday on Sunday and I need to be on top form.
I will put everything on hold for the coming days and pick up the thread again very early on Monday morning
Friday, 22 January 2010
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Genii still at the table ?
If I read the article published yesterday by Lars Carlström I would have to say that his comments are not consistent with a company still in negotiations with GM.
Purely my speculation however I do not believe that I have EVER read a more open criticism of the Swedish Press, Government and further open comments regarding GM's accounting practices contributing to Saab's losses over the years.
He goes further to heavily point the finger of responsibility for Saab's bad press at the pundits,analysts and press in general.
It saddens me to say that I have found this to be the case in Sweden.
Saab has ALWAYS received negative press when compared to VOLVO and I have absolutely no idea why this should be the case.
A similar analogy can be made between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Stockholmers do not give a damn if the auto industry dies or gets flat packed and shipped to China....Because they are not affected. That is the same with SAAB. If the guy down the road is not DIRECTLY affected he does not give a damn. On the contrary he will post a comment on an article WILLING that SAAB will be closed.
I know that I have mentioned this before but it would NOT happen in Spain,France Germany,Italy or even Belgium for that matter.
It would however happen in the UK where the auto industry has been decimated due to poor management and disastrous political decisions over the years.
Incidentally in the 1920'2 - 1930's in Coventry which was the heart of the UK auto industry there were 86 separate vehicle manufacturers.
An article in Dagens Industry www.di.se this morning highlighted that the Vovo / Ford / Geely negotiations were not as far along the road as had been claimed by all parties.There seemed to be serious concerns over IP's and control. Fundamentals in my book. It will be interesting to see how that one unfolds.
Hummer is as quiet as SAAB - and has been for some time while awaiting Chinese state approval.
When buying a house you do not go out agree the deal,sign the contract and put down the deposit without talking to the bank. Why should the auto industry be any different ??
Enough said.
One day at a time and still optimistic I have the news feeds on standby
And by the way well done Lars Carlström.
Purely my speculation however I do not believe that I have EVER read a more open criticism of the Swedish Press, Government and further open comments regarding GM's accounting practices contributing to Saab's losses over the years.
He goes further to heavily point the finger of responsibility for Saab's bad press at the pundits,analysts and press in general.
It saddens me to say that I have found this to be the case in Sweden.
Saab has ALWAYS received negative press when compared to VOLVO and I have absolutely no idea why this should be the case.
A similar analogy can be made between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Stockholmers do not give a damn if the auto industry dies or gets flat packed and shipped to China....Because they are not affected. That is the same with SAAB. If the guy down the road is not DIRECTLY affected he does not give a damn. On the contrary he will post a comment on an article WILLING that SAAB will be closed.
I know that I have mentioned this before but it would NOT happen in Spain,France Germany,Italy or even Belgium for that matter.
It would however happen in the UK where the auto industry has been decimated due to poor management and disastrous political decisions over the years.
Incidentally in the 1920'2 - 1930's in Coventry which was the heart of the UK auto industry there were 86 separate vehicle manufacturers.
An article in Dagens Industry www.di.se this morning highlighted that the Vovo / Ford / Geely negotiations were not as far along the road as had been claimed by all parties.There seemed to be serious concerns over IP's and control. Fundamentals in my book. It will be interesting to see how that one unfolds.
Hummer is as quiet as SAAB - and has been for some time while awaiting Chinese state approval.
When buying a house you do not go out agree the deal,sign the contract and put down the deposit without talking to the bank. Why should the auto industry be any different ??
Enough said.
One day at a time and still optimistic I have the news feeds on standby
And by the way well done Lars Carlström.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
OK SAAB's Dream
I woke up this morning having dreamt about my OKSAAB blog.
To you guys I am sure you are thinking " so what "
For me remembering a dream has tremendous significance as only twice has this happened before. I wont go into the details as one was not the best outcome and the other well.....thats embarrassing !!
Only to say that on both occasions that following day was eventful.
Back to my dream.
I awoke having dreamt that the OKSAAB blog had become hugely successful,that in fact it was so successful it had been sindicated around the world. Advertizers clamoured to get space space on the OKSAAB blog.
SAAB was the "IN WORD " trendy and got to have.
The URL http://OKSAAB.blogspot.com appeared everywhere in emails and on the net.
500000 hits a day and both my own and Saabs future was secure !!!!
What is the significance and what events are about to unfold ?.........Damned if I know but it made me very happy I know that !!!!
Yesterday I chatted ( via messenger with an ex team mate from OPEL
I refer to him as ex because in the last year we have both separated and divorced.
3 years ago when I joined my current organization we were going into the GM Global world.
A huge programme management system was develeped specifically to run our part of the business.
Going global meant that as a global team we could effectively manage global programmes simultainiously in Korea, Australia,Europe and North America.
Global teams,Global decision boards,Global forums were put into place.
Metrics were regional and global.
It may sound too much and there were elements and processes I would have done differently, but it actually worked !!!
I had European responsibility which meant my team was both in Opel and Saab at the same time resulting in extensive travel. I enjoyed it and miss it.
Miss the colleagues and the multinational aspect.
Our delivery on time was as good as it gets and we were empowered and accountable with given boundries.
The process was so successful that it was wound down.
Our boss in North America decided to retire.
The system was shut down and we went from global to regional and now back to SAAB.
One message was loud and clear in my chat with my ex.
Its no easier right now for the guys at OPEL. Moral is low
What OPEL have to their advantage are 4 very key factors
- GM need a volume car manufacturer in Europe to stay in the global game
- A strong leader in Nick Reilly - That is NOT to say that JAJ is not a strong leader only that he has a track record of saving GM's arse in Korea.
- Strong unions that WILL stand and fight yet make the right concessions
- Finaly a strong goverment nationally and regionally that puts hard cash on the table to keep their auto industry alive.
As we know OPEL is not the strongest brand name in Germany .
SAAB on the other hand has the brand name but misses the other 4 elements. It has passion and passionate followers that OPEL or indeed any other manufacturer that I know of will never have.
Back to my dream
Remembering my dream has made me very upbeat. So much so that I changed the blogs name to simply OKSAAB as the previous title sounded so negative.
I am going to go to bed quite early tonight ( unless news breaks today ) and see if I can dream some more.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
The convoy seems to be making some news around the world.
What with yesterdays "after convoys " there have been around 40 in total.
There is very little other news. Saab has dropped off the news wires again and not surprisingly considering everything else that is going on.
Stephen Taylor the appointed liquidator has not called in the unions yet.
Are the Spyker / Genii negotiations really getting serious ?
I try not to be optimistic but even that is difficult.
There is so much plan B stuff swirling around in my head right now it is difficult ( as for most ) to stay focused, but focus we must and the plan today is to run the regular weekly project review meeting. As we have had engineers on CAD courses , sick etc it will be good to get everyone back together and get moving again.
Stimulation as opposed to living in a vacume.
Plan B - an interesting question. what could it be.
As with a turbine my mind tends to spin at high revs throwing out different ideas and then crossing them off the list. Its an interesting way of keeping active.
There are no limits to what I think of for the future state - very open thinking which is something I like.
Last week I was out on the net looking at businesses for sale here in Sweden.
There did not seem to be the right opportunity but an amazing amount of Pizzarias.
Trollhättan incidentely has the highest Pizzaria rate per capita in Sweden. - A useless piece of information.
Fish and chip shops on the other hand....Zero.........Now there's an opportunity
What with yesterdays "after convoys " there have been around 40 in total.
There is very little other news. Saab has dropped off the news wires again and not surprisingly considering everything else that is going on.
Stephen Taylor the appointed liquidator has not called in the unions yet.
Are the Spyker / Genii negotiations really getting serious ?
I try not to be optimistic but even that is difficult.
There is so much plan B stuff swirling around in my head right now it is difficult ( as for most ) to stay focused, but focus we must and the plan today is to run the regular weekly project review meeting. As we have had engineers on CAD courses , sick etc it will be good to get everyone back together and get moving again.
Stimulation as opposed to living in a vacume.
Plan B - an interesting question. what could it be.
As with a turbine my mind tends to spin at high revs throwing out different ideas and then crossing them off the list. Its an interesting way of keeping active.
There are no limits to what I think of for the future state - very open thinking which is something I like.
Last week I was out on the net looking at businesses for sale here in Sweden.
There did not seem to be the right opportunity but an amazing amount of Pizzarias.
Trollhättan incidentely has the highest Pizzaria rate per capita in Sweden. - A useless piece of information.
Fish and chip shops on the other hand....Zero.........Now there's an opportunity
Monday, 18 January 2010
Yesterday was a day filled with irony.
I joined the Trollhattan SAAB convoy from the SAAB Museum to the factory
The convoy was one of 36 yesterday to show the mighty GM the solidarity and support for the SAAB brand.
It really was amazing to see people having travelled from far and wide. Danmark,Norway and Finland were well represented
An estimated 1500 SAABS of all models,types. I would have put the figure higher.
As luck would have it I ended up towards the front of the convoy only because the convoy set off from various directions and my group was directed in such a way that we received a short cut.
It took two and a half hours for the stragglers to reach the factory wher by that time I was freezing my nuts off even though I had my winter blue and orange jacket with a big standard issue SAAB on the back.
Now for the irony
Yesterday was 11 years to the day since I started working at Saab.I came upon this noteworthy occasion as I was sitting in my car in the convoy. I hadn't thought about it prior to that.
Irony # 2
If there were 1500 SAAB's in the convoy with an average of 2 people in each car, ( and I am sure that they are both low estimates )then that did not represent the SAAB workforce ( 3400 ).
That being the case the total numbers should have been around 3500 cars and 7000 people. - Where was everybody on that cold and snowy Sunday afternoon !!!!
Is the apathy so great that SAAB workers could not show their feelings and solidarity for the cause.?- This is our jobs and our livelyhoods we are talking about.
With that said I met a number ( not a great number ) of colleagues past and present which was great.
Even some from our neighbours from down the road VOLVO:
What was interesting to see were the " important people " hovering.
Hovering not in the literal sense but you could see them growing for the cameras,standing in a place to be seen at the front facing the crowd.
Peter Backstrom who runs the museum as always did a tremendous job.
There is one guy who shows a deep passion and knowledge for SAAB.
Irony# 3
I did not see Ed Whitacre, Bob Lutz or any of the GM crowd - strange
Neither were the Swedish red / Green alliance representatives on hand. In fact they have been totally silent for many weeks. New games to play I guess
Today is the start of of a new week of uncertainty.
Will the axe fall today,tomorrow or Friday.
I am not so positive. This is all about determination. If as Mr. Whiticre appears to be you are DETERMINED to shutter the SAAB brand then you will do it.
Look at the Flint Michigan GM plant that was closed a few years ago THIRTY THOUSAND people YES 30000 !!! were out of a job without batting an eyelid.
Today Flint is a ghost town by comparrison.
What the hell do 3400 souls in a town named Trollhattan somewhere in Europe matter ( by the way it is not between Austria and Italy )
To Mr. Whitacre in means Zip,Zero nothing. And that takes me back to irony number # 2
Apparantly it does not mean so much to some of the 3400 SAAB workers either. Nor the local and national politicians or the shops,the people planning to sell there houses in the next year or so.
As self rightous as it is sounds and as I am, I can say that I was there on a cold windy snowy afternoon on a convoy in Trollhattan..........And it felt damn good !!!!
I joined the Trollhattan SAAB convoy from the SAAB Museum to the factory
The convoy was one of 36 yesterday to show the mighty GM the solidarity and support for the SAAB brand.
It really was amazing to see people having travelled from far and wide. Danmark,Norway and Finland were well represented
An estimated 1500 SAABS of all models,types. I would have put the figure higher.
As luck would have it I ended up towards the front of the convoy only because the convoy set off from various directions and my group was directed in such a way that we received a short cut.
It took two and a half hours for the stragglers to reach the factory wher by that time I was freezing my nuts off even though I had my winter blue and orange jacket with a big standard issue SAAB on the back.
Now for the irony
Yesterday was 11 years to the day since I started working at Saab.I came upon this noteworthy occasion as I was sitting in my car in the convoy. I hadn't thought about it prior to that.
Irony # 2
If there were 1500 SAAB's in the convoy with an average of 2 people in each car, ( and I am sure that they are both low estimates )then that did not represent the SAAB workforce ( 3400 ).
That being the case the total numbers should have been around 3500 cars and 7000 people. - Where was everybody on that cold and snowy Sunday afternoon !!!!
Is the apathy so great that SAAB workers could not show their feelings and solidarity for the cause.?- This is our jobs and our livelyhoods we are talking about.
With that said I met a number ( not a great number ) of colleagues past and present which was great.
Even some from our neighbours from down the road VOLVO:
What was interesting to see were the " important people " hovering.
Hovering not in the literal sense but you could see them growing for the cameras,standing in a place to be seen at the front facing the crowd.
Peter Backstrom who runs the museum as always did a tremendous job.
There is one guy who shows a deep passion and knowledge for SAAB.
Irony# 3
I did not see Ed Whitacre, Bob Lutz or any of the GM crowd - strange
Neither were the Swedish red / Green alliance representatives on hand. In fact they have been totally silent for many weeks. New games to play I guess
Today is the start of of a new week of uncertainty.
Will the axe fall today,tomorrow or Friday.
I am not so positive. This is all about determination. If as Mr. Whiticre appears to be you are DETERMINED to shutter the SAAB brand then you will do it.
Look at the Flint Michigan GM plant that was closed a few years ago THIRTY THOUSAND people YES 30000 !!! were out of a job without batting an eyelid.
Today Flint is a ghost town by comparrison.
What the hell do 3400 souls in a town named Trollhattan somewhere in Europe matter ( by the way it is not between Austria and Italy )
To Mr. Whitacre in means Zip,Zero nothing. And that takes me back to irony number # 2
Apparantly it does not mean so much to some of the 3400 SAAB workers either. Nor the local and national politicians or the shops,the people planning to sell there houses in the next year or so.
As self rightous as it is sounds and as I am, I can say that I was there on a cold windy snowy afternoon on a convoy in Trollhattan..........And it felt damn good !!!!
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Total silence
The press agencies have been so short on news surrounding Saab that they needed to quote the previous buyers as saying that they could have bought Saab fr 1 Skr.
If I had of known I would done it myself !!
Sunday 17th Jan there are a series of convoys around the world.
The Tollhättan convoy will meet at the SAAB museum which is only 3oo mtrs from where I live. I'll be there.
They then plan to drive in convoy to the SAAB plant.......COOL
I would have preferred it if they had done this on a weekday and stopped th liqudators getting in.
Today I asked to join a SAAB group on Linkedin. Not sure why but I felt solidarity somehow. It would be a real bummer ifthey turned me down !!!
Finally Steven Wade founder of Saabs-united.com - What a hero. A real Tasmanian tiger.
I have to take my hat off to him for pursuing such a crusade on our behalf.
Well informed and well listened to by both the media, Saab employees and those that comment on his site.
As I mentioned at the beginning - No news either from GM or Spycker / Genii / Merbanco. Is this actuallly a positive sign ?? - This is like waiting for the dentist and Christmas at the same time.
GM have already made the SAAB windown statement repeatedly so that is not what we are waiting for. Are they actually working out how to say SAAB is sold..Perish the thought
I have the browser tabs set for all the major agencies during the nigt with a little gadget that will alert me on my iPhone as soon as the news breaks.
Blogging feels pretty good again mostly for my own sanity
Footnote - If anyone out there thinks my spelling is crap ( which it is ) I have noticed that while using the blog the keyboard becomes unpredictable and misses letters and spaces which I need to go back and correct. If anyone has aslution fo this it would be very much appreciated.
Other than that sd of fr tody
The press agencies have been so short on news surrounding Saab that they needed to quote the previous buyers as saying that they could have bought Saab fr 1 Skr.
If I had of known I would done it myself !!
Sunday 17th Jan there are a series of convoys around the world.
The Tollhättan convoy will meet at the SAAB museum which is only 3oo mtrs from where I live. I'll be there.
They then plan to drive in convoy to the SAAB plant.......COOL
I would have preferred it if they had done this on a weekday and stopped th liqudators getting in.
Today I asked to join a SAAB group on Linkedin. Not sure why but I felt solidarity somehow. It would be a real bummer ifthey turned me down !!!
Finally Steven Wade founder of Saabs-united.com - What a hero. A real Tasmanian tiger.
I have to take my hat off to him for pursuing such a crusade on our behalf.
Well informed and well listened to by both the media, Saab employees and those that comment on his site.
As I mentioned at the beginning - No news either from GM or Spycker / Genii / Merbanco. Is this actuallly a positive sign ?? - This is like waiting for the dentist and Christmas at the same time.
GM have already made the SAAB windown statement repeatedly so that is not what we are waiting for. Are they actually working out how to say SAAB is sold..Perish the thought
I have the browser tabs set for all the major agencies during the nigt with a little gadget that will alert me on my iPhone as soon as the news breaks.
Blogging feels pretty good again mostly for my own sanity
Footnote - If anyone out there thinks my spelling is crap ( which it is ) I have noticed that while using the blog the keyboard becomes unpredictable and misses letters and spaces which I need to go back and correct. If anyone has aslution fo this it would be very much appreciated.
Other than that sd of fr tody
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
I needed a little therapy followng the last 4 weeks No pun intended.
I actually took a long sabatical during Christmas and to be honest I could not be "arsed" to blog. Sad but true
Having so much snow I did not have time anyway
Almost every morning digging out more snow 20cm a day for 5 days X 5mtrs wide and 120 mtrs long. Must work out the volume and mass at some point and how much energy I consumed .
Back to the SAAB thingy.
I would have used the word circus but they are generally speaking quit entertaining.
Farse is also not qute right.
What I am looking for is that one special word that describs a bunch of useless arrogant businessmen who having failed with their own company would rather ( maybe out of spite )close their own failure than see another succeed ( or maybe not )
In any event like most at Saab I want to see an end to this torture one way or another and move on.
I was part of a " manifestation" at Saab yesterday lunchtime.
Fo those who do not know what a manifesation is ( and I'm not sur I really do ) it is a symbolic gathering to show support or feelings for an issue.
In yesterdays event it was organized by the SAAB unions at short notice outside the main gate. Its purpose to show GM management and the world the felings of the SAAB workforce.
It seemed as though everyone at SAAB was there.
I was along way back and could not hear a word hat was said. I clapped when everyone else did to not only not look stupid (double negative )
Suddenly the crowd was turning towards me. It was all over within five minutes ( bit like sex I guess ) and everyone was returning back to their work place.
BIZZARE - much too peacful for me but very Swedish
The same day JAJ was replaced by the liquidator I am asahmed to say a BRIT
Today has bee a lot of thinking about plans B,C and whatever.
More on that later
I actually took a long sabatical during Christmas and to be honest I could not be "arsed" to blog. Sad but true
Having so much snow I did not have time anyway
Almost every morning digging out more snow 20cm a day for 5 days X 5mtrs wide and 120 mtrs long. Must work out the volume and mass at some point and how much energy I consumed .
Back to the SAAB thingy.
I would have used the word circus but they are generally speaking quit entertaining.
Farse is also not qute right.
What I am looking for is that one special word that describs a bunch of useless arrogant businessmen who having failed with their own company would rather ( maybe out of spite )close their own failure than see another succeed ( or maybe not )
In any event like most at Saab I want to see an end to this torture one way or another and move on.
I was part of a " manifestation" at Saab yesterday lunchtime.
Fo those who do not know what a manifesation is ( and I'm not sur I really do ) it is a symbolic gathering to show support or feelings for an issue.
In yesterdays event it was organized by the SAAB unions at short notice outside the main gate. Its purpose to show GM management and the world the felings of the SAAB workforce.
It seemed as though everyone at SAAB was there.
I was along way back and could not hear a word hat was said. I clapped when everyone else did to not only not look stupid (double negative )
Suddenly the crowd was turning towards me. It was all over within five minutes ( bit like sex I guess ) and everyone was returning back to their work place.
BIZZARE - much too peacful for me but very Swedish
The same day JAJ was replaced by the liquidator I am asahmed to say a BRIT
Today has bee a lot of thinking about plans B,C and whatever.
More on that later
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