Beleaguered Swedish car maker Saab Automobile was to take steps Thursday toward restructuring to stave off bankruptcy after it was abandoned by its owner General Motors, media reported.
Saab’s board of directors met to request that an administrator be appointed by a court to restructure the cash-strapped unit and determine if any parts of it can survive without its US parent company, Swedish public radio reported.
Showing the high degree of public sensitivity over the fate of Saab, Annette Hellgren, head of the Unionen union at Saab’s factory in Trollhaettan, told Swedish news agency TT that the meeting was later “adjourned indefinitely.”
She refused to disclose whether any decision had been taken at the talks. Meanwhile Saab chief executive Jan-Aake Jonsson declined to confirm reports that the meeting was even taking place.
“I don’t want to speculate on the different alternatives that Saab has when it comes to running our operations going forward,” he told the radio.
The reports came after GM warned that Saab could file for bankruptcy protection “as early as this month” unless it received help from the Swedish government, which in turn flatly refused to step in and rescue the auto maker.
Observers say the company’s only chance of surviving in its current form is to find a buyer — a difficult feat in today’s global economic climate.
Restructuring could allow parts of Saab to survive and could enable suppliers, who would lose all the money owed them by the company if it filed for bankruptcy, to get some money back by agreeing to accept partial repayment.
Saab employs about 4,100 people in Sweden, 3,700 of whom work at its hub in the southwestern town of Trollhaettan.
Including suppliers, some 15,000 jobs in Sweden are believed to be at risk if the unit disappears.
