Saab to restart production after six-week suspension

The automaker had hoped to get production back up and running after it agreed to a deal with Chinese automaker Hawtai Motors, but that plan was scrapped after the agreement failed to materialize.

But now there's a new Chinese suitor in town. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Saab, and a report from Reuters quotes spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs as saying that production ought to restart today (Friday, May 27, 2011).

We've heard this one before, and it has so far failed to materialize. That said, Pang Da has already forwarded Saab 30 million euros to get production restarted, and Pangda Chief Executive Pang Qinghua would like to see the lines humming along in time for his scheduled visit to Trollhättan that same day.

In other Saab news, Sweden's enterprise minister Maud Olofsson met with Russian investor Vladimir Antonov to discuss his interest in continued financial backing for the struggling automaker, which is hoping to receive approval for a 29.1-million-euro draw-down from its open request to the European Investment Bank.

Also Saab has issued a press release indicating that production has indeed restarted in Trollhättan. 

Only time will tell if this Saab story has a happy ending.