The Swedish government has agreed to release funds to help its ailing national car-makers Volvo and Saab and safeguard jobs in the country.
It approved £2.1 billion in credit lines and emergency loans for both manufacturers yesterday but has no plans to exert control over either firm.
"The measures will be taken with the clear assumption that the state does not intend to acquire any of the existing automotive manufacturers," said a Swedish government statement.
Both Volvo and Saab have been put up for sale by their respective parent companies Ford and General Motors, which teeters on the brink of collapse after $14 billion rescue package was rejected in the US.
Sweden also pledged £250 million to set up a government-backed automotive research company aimed at developing green technologies for the future.
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Re: Volvo and Saab loan approved
Got to pick you up on that comment Steve. Saab's are in a near constant state of evolution- 'little but often' I think would be an appropriate phrase. It's a concept VW's design departments understand very well. The difference externally between a '97 900 and a '98 9-3 is barely noticeable but the difference under the skin led to what was, at the time, a considerable improvement in dynamics.
I'm not about to suggest that any Saab is as good as an equivalent Beemer but to imply that Saab's do not evolve is just incorrect. With regard to your comment about poor value for money, surely this is entirely subjective? You should know that? One man's BMW is another man's chav-mobile and all that. Some of us are prepared to give up a little dynamic prowess in order to drive something a little more understated, a little less obvious. That ultimate driving machine is well worth the extra 20% you paid, just to sit in it for hours each month in our seemingly endless traffic jams, if that's what you want.
Value, like styling (on the whole) is intrinsically connected with personal perception. So, yes, you are right, it's our business.
The comment about buying a Vauxhall when you buy a Saab is neither here nor there to be frank given that platform-sharing has been the norm for many decades. It is, however, something I hope can be rectified in the next year when Saab gets 'dumped' by those incompetent idiots at GM. If Saab survives such an event, maybe then it can get on with the business of restoring it's original values without this corruption, dilution & disinterest from Detroit.
Re: Volvo and Saab loan approved
Speak for yourself - you don't speak for the many who'd be very sorry to see such a potentially great alternative to teutonic monotony disappear.
Component and platform sharing with VW, Seat and Skoda doesn't seem to have hurt Audi's growth as a premium brand, so why on earth should Saab be mercilessly castigated for using GM platforms? The Epsilon 2 should be an excellent basis for geneuinely competitive replacements for the current 9-3 and 9-5 - if it happens.
Yes, The 9-5 should have been properly replaced at least four years ago, and it's a damning indictment of GM's "stewardship" that it hasn't been, but Saab's engineers have done a fine job in working with what they've had.
Re: Volvo and Saab loan approved
And your point is???