#VictorMuller

Despite the tragic demise of the Saab brand, former Saab CEO Victor Muller isn’t going to quit just yet.

Bold and ambitious, Victor Muller founded Spyker Swedish exotic sports cars before purchasing Saab, believing in its return to past glory under his leadership. Confident in his abilities, Muller’s gamble on Saab put Spyker in danger as well.

Another week and another sob story regarding Saab. The troubled automaker has just applied for protection from creditors, and is trying to avoid the bankruptcy petition made by the unions.

Having just signed a deal with two Chinese partners, Saab chief Victor Muller has immediately shown he knows how to work the media. Rather than sit quietly, Muller has already announced plans to build three new models, while a new joint-venture arrangement secures medium-term funding for the production of Saabs current lineup.

Saab appears to have yet again found a savior in China, announcing a joint venture with Pangda Automobile Trade Co., the largest distributor of vehicles in the world’s largest car market.

It might start to be a real sob story over at Saab, if the Swedish automaker can’t find a partner to help finance operations and help get production restarted. News of a most recent deal with Chinese automaker Great Wall might be little more than a rumor, with the Associated Press now reporting a Great Wall representative is denying any talks between the two automakers.

Saab’s partnership with Chinese automaker Hawtai could see the ill-fated Swedish luxury brand use its dealer network to sell cheap Chinese cars in America, with some priced at the magic $10,000 mark.

Saab is hitting the road in an effort to promote its new financial backers, but the road show will have to wait for approval from several authorities who must approve Saab’s transactions with China’s Hawtai Motor Group and Russian financier Vladimir Antonov.

Saab has halted production yet again amid another dispute with suppliers. Saab representatives declined to say how long the production stoppage would last, but said that they were in discussions with their suppliers to resolve the matter. Saab’s parent company Spyker said that last week’s production stoppage was related to unpaid bills.

After a tiff with suppliers who had halted their parts deliveries, Saab has now resumed production at its main factory.

Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson will retire from Saab on May 19th, with the 59 year old executive leaving Saab during a tumultuous time. Saab Chairman Victor Muller will act as interim CEO as a search for a replacement gets underway.

Russian billionaire Vladamir Antanov isn’t done with Saab yet. Forced out of the Saab deal when General Motors sold off the Swedish automaker to Spyker, he recently re-acquired the Spkyer brand from the combined Saab Spyker Automobiles through a British coachbuilder he’s heavily invested in.

Saab‘s proposed 92 small premium model could ride on a BMW platform say recent reports. According to Swedish outlet Dagens Industri BMW and Saab are holding talks on sharing both platforms and engines.

Saab will decide within the next 100 days if it will move ahead with plans to introduce a small premium 92 model to compete with vehicles like the MINI Cooper, Audi A1, BMW 1 Series and Mercedes B Class.

Saab/Spyker CEO Victor Muller has confirmed that select Saab dealerships will sell exotic models from the Dutch sports car maker. In an interview with Bloomberg, Muller commented that Spyker will look to expand its dealership network (made mostly of exotic car dealerships like Bentley) from 35 to 60 this year. The plan is to then increase that number to 90 Spyker dealerships worldwide by the end of 2011.