Saab 80.000 cars sales forecast is no longer feasible,"loss of €79 million

The roller coaster that is Saab has taken another turn, and unfortunately for the Swedish brand, the future doesn’t look so bright. In spite of a tentative agreement to let Russian banker Vladimir Antonov invest 30 million euros in Saab’s parent company Spyker in return for a 29.9 percent stake, the investment still needs to be approved by the European Investment Bank, which means the Swedes are still short on cash and cannot resume full production.

Today, Spyker reported a loss of €79 million before interest and tax for its first quarter earnings, while the company’s CEO, Victor Muller, said that Saab will not meet its sales target this year.

"It is unclear at this time what the consequences of the recent production stoppages and funding issues will be for our full year 2011 forecast but it is realistic to assume that realizing our 80.000 cars sales forecast is no longer feasible," Muller said in a statement.

Production at Saab’s Trollhattan factory in Sweden has ceased since early April after many suppliers stopped delivering parts for not being paid.

Ironically, March 2011 was the best sales month for Saab Automobile since becoming an independent company with the Swedish automaker reporting sales of 9,674 cars in Q1 2011 compared to 3,630 in Q1 2010, an increase of 167%.

Despite the economic setbacks, Muller still believes Saab can be turned into independent premium car manufacturer and is now looking towards China for a backup plan.

“In the mean time we have opened up alternative routes to fund the company mid- and short-term including but not limited to discussions with Chinese car manufacturers, the discussions with some of which had already been ongoing for several months,” said Muller.

“We are hopeful that these discussions will result in a solution very shortly so we can resume production. We will make it our top priority to restore the confidence of our suppliers, dealers and partners and apologize to them as well as to our dedicated employees for the disruptions that occurred”, he added.

Geely GS-CC

Geely has released the first pictures of the Gleagle GS-CC, ahead of its debut at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Like the coupe, the CC has an interesting design with a cheese grater grille, a sweptback windscreen, and a massive rear end. While the exterior styling won't win everyone over, the interior is surprisingly good as it features high quality materials and a sporty design.

Sadly, power comes from a turbocharged 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine that only produces 127 hp (95 kW / 129 PS).

Volvo Teases Mysterious Concept Universe that Could Preview a Flagship Model

Volvo released a teaser video of its upcoming Concept Universe, without giving out any additional information other than that it's a new design study that will be launched shortly. This means it could debut at one of this month's international auto shows, either in New York (April 22 – May 1) or Shanghai (April 21 – 28). Taking into account the fact that Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, the Shanghai show could be the more probable venue of the two for the new Volvo.

The short video is not very revealing, simply showing the car under a cover and a few design sketches. However, we get a glimpse at a drawing showing a sharp front end a rear end that looks more fastback than sedan.

According to some reports, the Universe concept could preview a future S90 production model, a larger sedan than the company current largest, the S80. The new car could signal Volvo's involvement in the luxury vehicle segment, where it would compete against models like the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Audi A8 or Jaguar XJ. A move like this would seem reasonable given Geely’s plans for Volvo to enter the large sedan segment. Expect more details about the Volvo Universe concept in the following days. Until then, take a look at the teaser video below.

By Dan Mihalascu