Outstanding Customs Fees Halt Saab production
January 1, 2009
On the verge of gaining independence from parent holder General Motors, Saab was faced with new trouble. The Swedish car manufacturer was forced to stop production for an entire day at its Trollhattan factory because of outstanding custom fees that the company had failed to pay.
The work stoppage happened because Swedish Customs held back some important parts that were needed for assembling the company’s automobiles. The parts were held because Saab owed quite a “considerable” amount of money. Most likely, the outstanding debt is part of the fallout when Customs removed Saab’s 30-day credit facility after filing for bankruptcy protection a week ago.
While Saab got around to paying for the outstanding fees, the retained parts were stored in two warehouses. The parts came from General Motor production facilities away from Europe.
Saab is set to be independent the day 2010 takes over from 2009. It’s still a long way until then, and Saab has a lot of work to do to get back in the game, what with all the financial setbacks experienced by GM and Saab itself.
Source: Autocar
martin and lewis download download rocknrolla
Melbourne 2009: Holden Reveals Volt
January 1, 2009
In perhaps one of the odder unveilings at the 2009 Melbourne Show, Holden revealed its localized version of the Volt plug-in electric car—with only photoshopped images of the multi-awarded Chevrolet Volt from which Holden derived its model.
The Holden Volt takes the same plug-in hybrid power supply from the Chevrolet, allowing it to go 40 miles just on battery power, after which the conventional 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine starts to power a generator that feeds further electrical power to the batteries or to the electric motor. This setup disqualifies the Volt from being a hybrid, since electric power drives the wheels at all times. GM refers to it as an E-REV, or Extended-Range Electric Vehicle.
Mark Reuss, GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, said that the company believes the car “will play an incredibly important role in (Holden’s) efforts to make motoring better for the environment.”
The image of the Holden variant shows a right-hand drive with Holden badges on the grille and at the rear. The Australian variant of the Volt is not expected to see release until 2012. With such positive interest in the car, however, look for GM to get the Holden Volt off the production lines sooner rather than later.
Source: Holden
Recent Comments