The Swedish government made it clear earlier this week that it has no intention to acquire a stake in struggling Detroit-owned automakers Saab and Volvo . The government also said that it is done providing emergency aid to the automakers, which are owned by General Motors and Ford Motor Company, respectively.
The government’s decision puts the two automakers’ futures in serious jeopardy. GM has already said that it is struggling to find a buyer for Saab, which would be sold without its essential engineering center, and Ford hasn’t seen much interest lately in Volvo.
“I made it clear to General Motors and Ford that under no circumstances will there be a way that the Swedish government, the Swedish state, will become an owner of either Volvo or Saab ,” Joran Hagglund, state secretary of the Swedish Industry Ministry, told reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
“They [GM and Ford] have to take the full responsibility for the actions that have to be taken to secure good futures for the brands.”
The government provided about $3.1 billion in loans to the automakers last month. Hagglund was in Detroit to discuss the automakers’ plans for the brands, as well as to firm up details about the government’s aid plans.
Both brands are officially up for sale and there has been some industry concern that potential buyers could come from markets not traditionally associated with the higher-end auto industry.
“We don’t have any political or ideological point of view of who will be the new owners,” Hagglund told the media. “We are certainly interested in whether the owners have a knowledge of the industrial sector, manufacturing, do they have a long-term commitment to these brands, questions like that.”
