Saab gets major Chinese order

Saab has received a 13-million-euro order from a Chinese company and the pre-payment expected in this week will enable the firm to pay staff and partially pay suppliers, its parent company said on Monday. "A Chinese company placed an order to purchase 582 Saab vehicles with a total value of 13 million euro (18 million dollars) ... the full pre-payment is expected to be received this week, providing Saab Automobile with short-term funding to pay the wages to its employees and make partial supplier payments," Swedish Automobile said in a statement. It did not specify who was the Chinese buyer. The cash-strapped company said it was still looking for more short-term funding to secure its future and that the funds to be received this week would not be enough to restart production. "I am pleased to announce this agreement, as it secures part of the necessary short-term funding for Saab Automobile and allows us to pay our employees' wages before the end of this month," Swedish Automobile head Victor Muller said in a statement. "Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile continue their discussions with several parties to secure additional short-term funding to restart production," it said. "There can, however, be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that additional short-term funding will be obtained," it warned. Swedish Automobile, formerly known as Spyker, announced Thursday that Saab had run out of cash and did not have enough money to pay its staff.