Saab turmoil won’t affect U.S. vehicle owners

Saab vehicle owners likely won’t be affected by the turmoil that surrounds Saab’s bankruptcy-protection filing and its faltering reorganization talks.

Saab North America is a subsidiary of Swedish Automobile, which owns Saab Automobile. This means that Saab North America isn’t tied financially to its parent company and thus won’t be affected by the reorganization, says Michelle Tinson, who is a spokesperson for Saab North America.

Negotiations with Chinese automobile companies Pang Da Automobile Trade and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile are still being sorted out, Tinson says. But she tells Consumers Digest that Saab Automobile is optimistic that it will receive $70 million in funding from North Street Capital next week. She says further financial backing would jump-start Saab’s automobile and parts production, which it halted in March 2011.

Although Saab parts aren’t being produced, Tinson says parts and service at Saab dealerships throughout the United States haven’t been affected by Saab Automobile’s troubles. She says warranties will be honored.

Arthur Wheaton, who is a director of Cornell University’s Labor and Environmental Program, says that even though parts aren’t being produced, a parts shortage is unlikely because the U.S. government requires automakers to keep a surplus of existing automobile parts. “You can’t sell a vehicle in the U.S. unless you have the parts on hand . . . or arrangements to get those parts made,” he says.

– K. Fanuko