Dropped by GM, Saab files for bankruptcy

被通用抛弃后，萨博申请破产保护。

FRANKFURT: Saab, the Swedish automaker owned by General Motors, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday and asked the Swedish government for help in making it an independent car company again.

萨博这个通用汽车拥有的瑞典品牌 。在周五向法院递交了破产保护申请，同时向瑞典政府求援，希望能将其变回一家独立的汽车企业。

But it was unclear whether the government would step in to help Saab, in which GM bought a half interest two decades ago and assumed full ownership in the 1990s.

但是，还不清楚政府是否会出手相助这个通用20年前买了一半资产，后又在90年代全权控股的瑞典企业。

Earlier this week, GM said that it wanted to cut Saab loose by 2010, as it tries to restructure in order to qualify for more federal assistance. GM said in a report to the U.S. Treasury Department that it planned to end financial support for Saab by next year.

Saab went to a Swedish court for protection from its creditors, and said the company would — with assistance from the Swedish government — reorganize to pave the way for private investors to buy all or part of the company.

"We explored and will continue to explore all available options for funding and/or selling Saab, and it was determined a formal reorganization would be the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment," the managing director of Saab, Jan-Ake Jonsson, said in a statement.

Saab also said that the company "would continue to operate as usual."

萨博说明本申请保护对公司日常运营并无影响。 

But government assistance is not a certainty. Swedish officials have repeatedly resisted efforts to nationalize Saab, which came to life as part of the Svenska Aeroplan AB, a company founded in 1937 to build military planes. The first Saab cars were built after World War II. GM has used the slogan, "Built from Jets" in its recent advertisements for the Swedish brand, although its most recent ad campaign features the tagline, "Move Your Mind."

Swedish government officials seemed Friday to rule out financial assistance as part of what Saab said would be a three-month process of retrenchment.

"Support in the form of money is not on the agenda," a spokesman for the industry ministry, Hakan Lind said, according to Reuters.

Saab lost about 3 billion Swedish crowns or $343 million in 2008 and said it would lose a similar amount this year. It has about 4,000 employees in Sweden.

GM executives have struggled to make a profit on Saab almost from the start. It bought Saab in the wake of Ford Motor's purchase of the British luxury car maker Jaguar, and once considered selling the cars alongside those in its Saturn division.

Saab, long known for quirky looking cars with an ignition in the floor and a griffin insignia, became a more conventional brand under GM. It borrowed the underpinnings from some of GM's Opel cars for its lineup, which includes sedans, wagons and a sport utility vehicle.

Given its Swedish roots, and ability to maneuver in snow. Saabs have traditionally been popular in the northeastern United States. But Saab is GM's worst-selling brand in the United States, selling 21,383 vehicles in 2008, down 34.7 percent from 2007. Its best-selling vehicle is the 9-3, of which GM sold just over 10,000 cars last year.

得益于它的瑞典血统，萨博有良好的雪中操控性，而且在美国北部也比较流行。但是，萨博还是成为了通用汽车在美销售量最低的品牌。08年共售出21383辆。比07下降了34.7个百分点。萨博卖的最好的车型是93，但通用去年只卖出了一万辆。

Opel will need €3.3 billion, board member says

欧宝需要三十三亿欧元援助

A member of the supervisory board of Opel, GM's German unit, says the company needs at least €3.3 billion, or $4.2 billion, if it is to weather the global financial crisis, The Associated Press reported from Wiesbaden, Germany.

Armin Schild, a senior member of the IG Metall union and who sits on Adam Opel's supervisory board — the equivalent of a U.S. board of directors — said that the figure is much higher than the €1 billion in guarantees Opel initially sought from the German government in November.

Schild said Friday that if the German government were to provide the money — through guarantees or some other way — Opel would be able to reduce its reliance on its troubled U.S. parent, GM.

萨博，我还是蛮喜欢的。随没开过，但是也做过。而且标志又那么酷。又是一个被美国人玩了一把扔了的可怜孩子。想想福特和通用买回来了一堆废铁不说，本想使Volvo，Saab，Land Rover这些品牌发扬光大，没想到最后弄得一团糟。