Four months mobilize billions of funds to help Saab domestically

“As soon as possible, establish a joint venture with Qingdao and apply for the qualification of auto production from relevant ministries and commissions.” On January 14, Jiang Dalong revealed the next move when he was interviewed by this reporter.

As the owner of the new Saab, Jiang Dalong always keeps a low profile before officially finalizing the project. Even if he is faced with the most familiar journalist, he will not reveal the slightest hurrah. After the signing of the cooperation agreement with the Qingdao government on January 7 with a total investment of up to 10 billion yuan, the local "Qingdao Daily" issued a brief message the next day. Jiang has always believed that prior confidentiality is more conducive to the success of the project.

According to the agreement, the Swedish national electric company (NEVS), the parent company of Saab Automobile, and Qingdao Qingbo Investment Co., Ltd. will jointly establish an automobile plant in Qingdao to produce Saab branded traditional fuel and new energy vehicles.

From the success of the acquisition of Saab to the determination of home-made addresses and investment plans in China, Jiang Dalong only spent four months. In the meantime, Jiang Dalong needed to deal with Saab’s reorganization of the team, restoration of production, development strategy formulation, adjustments, and inspections of home-made site selection, and contact with local governments.

However, Jiang Dalong believes that the progress is very smooth, because all the actions have only one purpose, that is, "integrate the resources of all parties, and do the best choice for Saab brand development." Starting from Jiang Dalong’s Guoneng Bio-Power Generation Group, he is proud of “National Energy Speed”. The expansion model is based on the government's support for the new energy industry and has achieved acceleration. New Saab's rapid domestic production also draws on this model.

On the second day of signing the cooperation agreement with Qingdao, Guoneng Bio Power Group officially started production at the 30th domestic biomass power plant, which was only 7 years after its establishment. "Saab has formulated a set of development plans, and there will be greater pace in the future." Jiang Dalong said.

Qingdao has staked 22%

Jiang Dalong returned to China after the acquisition of Saab on August 31, 2012, and he fell into a sweet trouble. The PR team of more than a dozen city governments in China successively found Jiang Dalong to compete for Saab-made projects.

After the initial intention to cooperate with Qingdao in October 2012, Jiang Dalong accompanied the Mayor of Qingdao Zhang Xinqi to inspect the NEVS and Saab vehicles. The government public relations teams in other cities gradually left. On January 7, Jiang Dalong signed a cooperation agreement with local government officials in Qingdao. The Saab Qingdao project has a total investment of 10 billion yuan, a designed annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles, a first-phase investment of 4 billion yuan, and production of 200,000 cars. It will produce traditional energy vehicles and electric vehicles. After the project is put into production, the annual output value will reach 120 billion yuan.

When Jiang Dalong explained the reasons for choosing Qingdao, he explained: “The first consideration is not the supporting conditions given by the government, but the capabilities of the city’s management team, and they are very supportive of technological innovation companies. In contact with relevant leaders of Qingdao, let I feel very confident."

The new energy industry and the automotive industry that has a pulling effect on the ultra-long industrial chain are highly concerned by the government in various countries around the world. During the expansion and acquisition of Saab by Guoneng Bio Power Generation Group, Jiang Dalong, who had worked in government departments in the past, already knew this well. In Saab's domestic process, Chiang understood that integrating government resources more effectively would have a multiplier effect.

After signing an agreement with Qingdao Qingbo Investment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Qingdao Municipal Government, NEVS obtained a capital injection of up to RMB 1.9 billion and transferred 22% of its shares to Qingdao. This amount exceeds the amount of NEVS's acquisition of Saab Automobile and its affiliated assets. According to information not confirmed by NEVS, NEVS’s offer for acquiring Saab assets was SEK 1.8 billion (equivalent to RMB 1.73 billion).

Jiang Dalong said that the capital injection did not mean that Saab had established a joint venture with Qingdao. "In the future, the joint venture company will surely have at least 50% of the shares according to the relevant national policies."

NEVS is a foreign-funded company. A few years ago, the relevant state management department has already established that it will no longer issue new auto production qualifications, which means that New Saab domestically can only acquire "shell resources" or cooperate with vehicle companies in some way. Jiang Dalong believes that Saab has a different advantage from other international brands. "More sincerely, China will be Saab's only overseas market."

Because of the integration of local government resources, with its joint venture, Saab's domestic qualifications are also more clear. According to Jiang Dalong, the foreign side will give the Chinese (local government) more favorable conditions to win the favor of the relevant state departments. "More dares to open up than other car companies that want to obtain production qualifications, and the relevant state departments will see this."

Chiang did not disclose what the specific conditions would be, but very confident about the acquisition of qualifications. However, he also hinted at the advantages of Saab's technology, a good brand effect in China, and the concept of development of electric vehicles, and many large car companies hope to get in touch with Saab, which means that they do not rule out obtaining qualifications through cooperation with other car companies.

Integration of the supply chain Four months ago, Jiang Dalong was eager to resume production at the Swedish factory, releasing 200,000 units of production capacity. He did not have a clear domestic plan, but also said that he would not be involved in traditional energy vehicles and the new Saab would only be an electric car.

Nowadays, the development path of New Saab is basically determined: the Swedish factory is mainly based on electric vehicles, and the Chinese joint venture company will produce traditional energy vehicles and electric vehicles, positioning them at the mid-to-high end.

According to Saab sources, the Saab 9-3 platform that was put into production in 2005 has maintained uninterrupted R&D investment to maintain the upgrading of production models on this platform. It is expected that a new generation of products will be released in the second half of next year after production resumes. Model. The Phoenix platform has also been basically developed. Because of its flexibility, it can produce traditional energy vehicles and electric vehicles.

According to Jiang Dalong's consideration, one of the reasons that Saab quickly finalized domestic production is that New Saab can reintegrate its supplier chain and screen more than 500 original suppliers. Saab had faced a supplier’s collective expulsion before bankruptcy in 2011, demanding debt repayment and not leaving room for Saab to breathe.

Some people think that the unreasonable Saab supplier system is one of the reasons why the original Sabo was caught in the quagmire. Jiang Dalong hopes that by increasing the number of Chinese suppliers, he will reduce the cost of production with the low cost of China's supply and solve the puzzles of the original Sabo.

At present, the world's best suppliers are all produced in China. The original Saab purchases only 3% in China, which will greatly increase the ratio after domestic production. "Resumption of production and localization through Saab will make adjustments to Saab's parts supply system. Saab will have a major increase in cost, quality and management," said Jiang Dalong.

Qingdao has tried to build the automotive industry for many years, but it has not been successful in the introduction of complete vehicle production lines, but the auto parts industry that was born as a result has gained development. However, it was previously reported that Saab will establish a Chinese R&D center in Qingdao and Jiang Dalong denied it: “Saab’s R&D center is still better in Sweden because it is easier for Europe to retain R&D talent. However, Saab will independently develop models for the Chinese market. ”