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I'm so dissapointed with this peace of news... I read this from autonews. i think this could be the end of the image of Saab, I hope this wouldn't occur but I have a perception that GM doesn't know what it has.
If now a days some people say that a Saab it's only a modified opel....what will happen in the future with this type of projects??
I think GM only thinks in reduce costs and take the money and transform Saab in a car maker as others and this could destroy the image of Saab...
I hope I'm wrong and GM will do good thinks to Saab and make it Saab one of the best in the premium sector.
"""GM combines Saab, Opel operations
General Motors is folding Saab's independent product development and manufacturing operations into Opel's, effectively creating a single European organization for the two GM brands.
The new structure grows out of Saab's emergency turnaround strategy, called Viggen.
"There will be much more cooperation and the two organizations will grow together," said Opel CEO Carl-Peter Forster. "Is it one organization? Things aren't that black and white. There will always be shades of gray. But the direction is clear."
Both Saab and Opel are deep into financial turnarounds. Opel's Project Olympia, launched in mid-2001, is aimed at restoring profits this year. Saab's Viggen plan, implemented in the fall, is modeled on Olympia.
Saab will eliminate about 1,300 jobs - 14 percent of its work force - after suffering a $132 million loss in the first half of 2002. Saab has an engineering staff of about 3,400 people at its assembly plant in Trollhatten, Sweden. About 450 will be cut by next summer, a spokesman said.
Combining Saab's autonomous engineering and production organizations with GM Europe will help bring down costs at the Swedish subsidiary, which sold just 120,000 cars last year.
"We will see a tremendous amount of collaboration," Forster said.
Reducing jobs
GM Europe engineering boss Hans Demant has added responsibility for Saab. GM Europe production chief Timothy Lee now oversees Saab's manufacturing operations as well as Opel's and Vauxhall's.
"There will be engineering benefits because they are reducing the headcount at Saab," Forster said. "Hans is looking at synergies and at joint development projects. For example, he will be working on setting up one electrical network."
GM Europe eventually will be structured similar to General Motors in North America, said outgoing GM Chairman Jack Smith in an interview in Detroit last week.
"What you'll see is what happened here," Smith said. "There'll be one organization. You'll converge it. There will be a Swedish (engineering) operation and an Opel operation. But in Sweden they will not just work on their stuff, they will also do work for Opel and vice versa. And the same with manufacturing."
In North America, GM has in the past decade combined division engineering staffs into a single corporate engineering staff.
Long overdue
Saab's structure is long overdue for a shakeup by GM, said John Lawson, automotive analyst for Schroder Salmon Smith Barney in London.
"I think they've had it with Saab frankly," he said. "They had to bite the bullet and recognize (that) the way Saab is organized it is not going to be successful."
Meanwhile, Saab CEO Peter Augustsson denied rumors that Saab has canceled new-model development projects as a result of Viggen.
"We haven't canceled any projects, but you do modifications in timing," Augustsson said, without elaborating.
Because of the launch of the new Vectra-based 9-3, Augustsson said, Saab would increase global sales from 120,000 in 2002 to about 135,000 this year.
He said Saab must sell 200,000 cars annually to reach "the right level" of profitability. He declined to say when he expected Saab to achieve annual sales of 200,000 vehicles. """"""""""
Bye
posted by 80.224.205...
, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 18:31:16
, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 17:50:05
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