(ADDS quotes, background.)
STOCKHOLM (AFP)--Swedish carmaker Saab, trying to survive as an
independent unit after it was cut loose by troubled parent General
Motors Corp. (GM), said Thursday it would lay off 750 of its 4,100
employees in Sweden.
"We announced this morning we would seek to make 750
redundancies in our production facility in Trollhaettan," Saab
spokesman Joe Oliver told AFP.
"This is a necessary action to increase liquidity and the top
priority for Saab at the moment is to reorganize efficiently in
order to attract new investors," he said.
"It will likely be 650 blue-collar and 100 white-collar" workers
who will lose their jobs, Oliver said.
Last month, Saab's beleaguered U.S. owner basically abandoned
the Swedish unit, saying its ownership obligations would lapse at
the end of this year.
Saab Automobile began restructuring after GM warned it could be
pushed into immediate bankruptcy unless it received help from the
Swedish government, which in turn flatly refused to step in and
rescue Saab.
According to Saab and the Swedish government, several potential
buyers have shown interest in the automaker which was once renowned
for its cutting-edge technology and futuristic designs but which in
recent years has suffered from an aging product line and plunging
sales.
Out of Saab's around 4,100 employees in Sweden, 3,700 work at
its hub in the southwestern town of Trollhaettan. A GM factory in
Mexico also makes Saab cars but the jobs there aren't dependent on
the Swedish unit.
Including suppliers, some 15,000 jobs in Sweden are believed to
be at risk if the unit disappears.