First cars roll off
Trollhattan production line since April 6
Order bank of over 6,500 cars
for Trollhattan factory, over 8,000 cars worldwide
TROLLHATTAN, Sweden - Saab
Automobile restarted production at its production facility in
Trollhattan. A first batch of around 100 cars is planned for
this first day of production since April 6 and Saab Automobile
plans to increase the daily production rate in the coming weeks
in parallel with the full re-establishment of the supply chain.
Attending the restart of
production were Victor Muller, CEO and Chairman of Saab
Automobile, Mr. Pang Qinghua, Chairman and CEO of Pang Da
Automobile, and Gunnar Brunius, Saab Automobile's Vice President
Purchasing & Manufacturing. The first cars to roll off the
assembly line were a silver Saab 9-5 Aero XWD and an orange Saab
9-3 Convertible Independence Edition.
With production restarted, Saab
Automobile will now focus on building and delivering the
thousands of cars ordered by customers around the globe. As the
assembly line was fired up again, the total number of
outstanding orders from markets worldwide for the Trollhattan
factory amounted to over 6,500 cars. The total order bank,
including around 1,600 Saab 9-4X orders, amounts to over 8,100
cars. This number includes the almost 1,300 cars that were
ordered by Pang Da Automobile and for which it paid EUR 30
million up front.
Watching the first car roll off
the line, Victor Muller said: "This is a great day for our
company and it is great to see the plant running again. We have
gone through a rough patch in recent weeks, but Saab is back in
action again. I would like to express my deep gratitude to our
fantastic suppliers who have worked so hard with us to make this
happen, and to our loyal employees who have constantly stood by
our side."
"We will work hard in the coming
period to regain confidence and show our ability to become a
successful car maker. We are fortunate that we are in the middle
of the largest-ever product offensive in the company's history.
Last year we launched the all-new Saab 9-5 Sedan, while the 9-3
Griffin range went on sale earlier this year. The new Saab 9-4X,
our first crossover, has enjoyed raving reviews from motoring
media and we already sold all 9-4X cars for model year 2011.
After the summer, we start delivering the much-awaited Saab 9-5
SportCombi to customers."
Gunnar Brunius added: "I am very
happy to see our plant in operation again. This is a highly
important moment for everyone at Saab Automobile, especially for
our loyal people here in the plant who have eagerly waited for
this day. Given the complexity of re-establishing our supply
chain there will most likely be some hiccups during this
start-up phase, but we will work hard together with our
suppliers to minimize any disruptions to production in the
coming weeks."
