Analysis of Saab

Saab is an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebola fail. The bon ton was founded in Sweden in 1937 for the purpose of construction aircrafts for the Swedish Air phalanx during World War II. After the war ended, Saab entered the automobile industry and relocate to Trollhattan where they ar still located today. Saab is hygienic diversified producing products in quintuplet different business units Aeronautics, Dynamics, Electronic Defense Systems, Security and Defense Solutions, and give birth and Services. Saab was acquired by General Motors in 1990 who then sold the rights to Spyker Cars in 2010. prey Consumer Saabs target market is labeled as postmodern individualists who give their consume style rather than following others. These individuals are considered well-educated and usually lodge in urban areas. They research a car that is simple, delivers quality performance, and get outs large(p) safety. The car driving experience is built around the idea of providing joy for the driver. Saabs main markets include Sweden, United States, and the United Kingdom. Competitors Saab competes with many well established brands and companies in each of its main markets.The Volkswagen Group which owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda, and of course Volkswagen is cardinal of Saabs numerous competitors. They too compete with BMW, Volvo and Daimler AG who makes Mercedes. Saab has been struggling to revive slumping gross sales in the US market for some time. Their lack of ability to create a distinctive design and finding the right price tags are some of the reasons they claim found it tall(prenominal) to compete as a luxury brand. Industry Analysis The automobile industry as a whole has taken a hit since the global economic downswing and has created an uphill battle for Saab ever since.In 2008 the Swedish government had to provide financial assistance to both Volvo and Saab due to the automotive industry crisis. These events have taken a toll on Saabs output and performance in spite of appearance the industry. In February of 2009 General Motors, Saabs owners at the time warned that Saab may fail should the Swedish government not intervene again. Struggling to maintain a still financial intake Saab was forced to close down its manufacturing plants and again seek financial aid outside of the gild.Saabs capacity to preserve a stable imagine as it moves forward is critical to future victory in the competitive automobile industry. SWOT Analysis After taking a notion at Saabs strengths, hotshot of its strongest is its ability to innovate. As stated earlier, Saab offers a variety of products ranging from military defense, aeronautics, civil security products, and automobiles. Saab has show several first mover advantages throughout its history. For instance, Saab created the first car exchangeable with fitted seatbelts in 1958. More recently, they introduced cross-wheel drive in 2008.In general, Saab emphasizes safety in t he production of its cars, satisfying its customers by creating a safe vehicle is one of Saabs key strengths. A few other strengths include brand inscription as well as foreign brand strength. With strengths also comes weaknesses, and one of Saabs biggest weakness is its small market share. Its automobiles are only marketed in contract countries and to a certain consumer. This is probably a key reason why the political party has been losing sales, causing them to recently halt production due to deficient funds owed to their suppliers.This has been leading to work stoppages along with Saab missing sales targets. This arouse drastically yen the companys brand image and notwithstanding damage sales in the future. Saab is also caught in the middle of prices with competition. bulk of its cars are not priced towards the lower or upper bounds in the market. Forecasting Saabs opportunities in the future all does not come along to be lost. If Saab is able to establish a form of cred it and coronation from outside resources, the company can get back on its feet. Saabs main focus now should be to move into bran-new-sprung(prenominal) markets and try to capture market share.With recent news and talks of securing money from Chinese investors, Saab should act on this opportunity. By partnering with the Chinese, Saab will have access to the Asian markets which can potentially generate new market share and sales. They also have the potential to gain manufacturing innovations which can lead to cost savings as well as technological advancements. Saab is still a company with many threats however. If Saab is unable to capture market share, it will be difficult for them to recover. Key IssuesAs mentioned earlier, Saab Automobile was forced to stop making cars because of a dispute with their suppliers about payment. The vice president of global sales at Saab hoped the issue would be resolved within a week so the carmaker could get the needed parts and resume vehicle ass embly. This ensuant was the result of Saabs component makers halting deliveries and filling payment. Saab did not have the silver to pay their suppliers, so a loan was needed. It is important for a manufacturing company to maintain a good relationship with their suppliers. Saab was unable to do that and it hurt the production of their cars.Innovation is also important for Saab, they should continue to innovate new safety features and improve the performance of their vehicles to achieve a competitive edge. Recommendations Since the study issue for Saab right now is lack of liquidity, the first recommendation for Saab is to get more funding from the European Investment Bank. Bringing a new Russian bank could be a good idea and building authority to enhance investment. Unfortunately, Saabs financial plan is quite restricted on the government policy which makes it more difficult for Saab to be elastic in its decision making.It is very important that Saab maintains better communic ation and trust with its suppliers to increase a good reputation and a basis to demand longer deadlines for payment. In addition, there might be some operational issues or supply chain unbalance, which could be the cause of lack of leadership. This could be the result of their illiquidity. In this case, this is now high time for Saab to actually look over its operation and whole procurement process, apply lean manufacturing, and guess out the root of the problem.