Saab sale: Youngman Auto "withdraws" from the bidding

Days of decisions for the future of Saab. In the last few hours it has been announced that the Chinese group Youngman Auto is withdrawing from the negotiations to buy the brand. It seems the administrators, who are studying all the offers received, concluded that the Chinese brand did not have sufficient guarantees of payment.

But beyond the lack of certainty that the payments would actually be made, distrust of the Chinese government has also taken hold, since it was the government that would actually be responsible for paying. The entrenched bureaucracy of the Chinese government, its slowness in making decisions about debts owed to foreign companies, and the prevailing protectionism in that country have been a key factor in the Swedish government’s administrators leaving the Eastern group out of the conversation. Moreover, let us consider that GM was never going to allow Saab to fall into Chinese hands, so even if the administration had approved it, the future of the purchase was very doubtful.

Those following this sale process closely consider that it is good news. Youngman was only injecting the money needed to keep the Swedish brand alive while the sale negotiations took place, and its operations are not as successful in China as they appear.

As for the other candidates, and with Youngman’s name now removed from the list, Mahindra seems to be the most suitable of the remaining bidders to take over Saab.