Saab production halted as supplier problems continue

Saab production at their Trollhättan plant has been stopped for the second time in two weeks due to an apparent non-payment issue with unnamed suppliers who are, in turn, refusing to deliver items needed for production.

The news of Saab suppliers holding back new shipments, thus effectively halting production, originally broke last week as the company sat out a few days’ work due to a lack of parts from the angry suppliers. This set into motion a great many discussions about the security of the Saab brand and the ability of the company to survive. Saab’s parent company Spyker quickly spoke up, pointing out that this was not a sign of a financial issue but instead, it was simply a “glitch” caused by a cash flow issue.

However, as the sun came up over Saab’s Trollhättan facility, the assembly lines are once again dormant for the second day in a row as suppliers are once again holding out on new shipments – again for non-payment issues. According to multiple sources, Saab officials have stated that this “financial dispute” could keep production stopped for several more days while they attempt to resolve the payment issues. You would think that ‘paying their bills’ would be the company’s best means of quickly resolving the dispute with their suppliers but perhaps there is more to this problem than we are hearing. However, even though Spyker insists that there are no concerns of the Saab brand’s success, you have to wonder how good things can really be if they are forced to stop production over and over due to the inability to pay their suppliers.

This supplier issue comes after Spyker sold off their Spyker brand of supercars to focus on Saab in February, which initiated the early questions about the company’s financial status. Spyker passed that decision off as a simple business decision made to allow them to focus more time on the Saab brand, claiming that they have proper resources to keep the newly-acquired brand up and running until 2012…but that is only 8 months away at this point.

TorqueNews.com will continue covering the unfolding supplier drama in Trollhättan, bringing you any news as it becomes available.

Source: Automotive News, Autoblog

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