Sweden and Saab Form Joint Venture for Building Transmissions

Saab continues its restructuring process, this time with a more significant step backed by the Swedish government. Saab Automobile and state-backed venture capital investor Fouriertransform will jointly form a new entity that will be called VICURA and will be responsible for the production of transmission technology for the international vehicle industry. This means that the joint venture will not only work for Saab, but for numerous other companies interested in signing deals with the Swedish entity.

VICURA will officially see daylight on January 1 and will be operated by 50 former Saab Automobile Powetrain Engineers, with headquarters to be based in Trollhättan.

“I am delighted to reach this agreement with Fouriertransform. This step, together with other initiatives, will drive down our break-even point and improve operational efficiency as we work towards becoming a profitable, independent company," Saab Automobile CEO Jan Åke Jonsson said in a statement.

Spyker, the new owner of the Swedish carmaker, intends to turn Saab into a profitable company in the short term and intends to deliver around 120,000 vehicles per year starting 2012. With the help of Fouriertransform, the company that was granted 3 billion kronor ($440 million) in 2009 from the Swedish authorities to help the auto industry, Saab intends to focus on some other areas, not only on car production per se, that could bring the company closer to becoming profitable.

“The trend of outsourcing of transmission development is definitively increasing. For Sweden and the Swedish automotive industry as a whole, it is vital to maintain and further develop high competence within this field and that is exactly what these skilled former Saab engineers will offer as consultants in this competitive vehicle market," Per Nordberg, CEO at Fouriertransform, added.