Search the Community

The weather of late has been pretty crazy, with searing temperatures allied with the onset of sudden heavy thunderstorms to make our lives all miserable. (But then again, that's how Singapore's weather has been like forever, so at least it's not a new phenomenon) Despite that though, if there's work to be done, there's work to be done. And the sgCarMart team has been hard at work this week, braving the weather to bring you guys some amazing photos for our articles, just for our readers' pleasure. It can be tough sometimes, as we stand under the hot sun, getting an impromptu tan while we seek the best angles for photoshoots. And if it rains, all our best laid plans we may have would go to waste, as we would then have to source out alternative venues at short notice to capture the best shots. But at the end of the day, we all feel that it's worth the sacrifice, if we do manage to get amazing pictures to go along with our articles. We understand that pictures speak a thousand words, and so we strive our very best to seek out the best locations, and arrange the cars in the best possible pose to get the desired effect. All these, just for you, our readers. You are the motivation for our hard work and efforts. As long as there is continued support from you, we don't mind getting sunburnt, or getting drenched in the rain, a few more times.

Saab is in deep trouble according to its owners Spyker. The Swedish car manufacturer could seriously bite the dust even after the takeover by Spyker early last year. In fact, Spyker had to let go of a major shareholding of its luxury car manufacturing arm to a UK based investment company to inject some extra capital into Saab but even this little maneuver has not stopped the bleeding. Spyker's annual report had stated that Saab's future isn't certain if they do not secure new funding. I think Saab has caused the owners of Spyker to lose out big time. It had to sell off major shares in Spyker cars and now it reveals that Saab is bleeding badly. This statement is surprising as I remember writing about the Spyker-Saab deal in February 2010 where Spyker bought the beleaguered company from General Motors for a sum totaling US$74 million in cash and another US$326 million in deferred shares. Spyker took a 400 million Euro loan for Saab and another hundred million Euro loan elsewhere as backup. 400 million Euros is just part of the operating costs of Saab. Of course at that point of time Spyker wanted Saab to sell 120,000 cars per year and the bad news is Saab only managed around 80,000 or so units. It sold more cars in 2009 and obviously, selling less cars meant that Saab is in a real bad state. There was even an issue at the Saab Trollhattan plant which had to be temporarily shut down for about a day or so due to suppliers stopping the supply of parts. All of this isn't confidence building if you know what I mean. According to the annual report, Saab is losing tons of money due to trying to set up new distribution networks and sales/marketing operations. While this spending of money was necessary and budgeted for in the Saab turnaround cum business plan, Spyker did not anticipate that the actual cash needed was higher than planned. There was also talk that a Russian billionaire is interested in Saab and is willing to invest 500million Euros into Saab. But this is mere speculation and nothing is solid as yet. And why someone is willing to add more money to a sinking ship is beyond me. As if Spyker's foray into Saab isn't a lesson to others already. All this has basically shown that what I said in my earlier article written way, way, way back in December 2009 where I asked a simple question on Saab and its extinction at that point of time and whether it really matter to any of us? I basically asked and said -

[extract] About 10 years ago, we didn

[extract]Harvest Automobiles, Skoda

I wish we had a road like this to cruise on! When was the last time you went for an aimless cruise with no destination in mind; just to enjoy a pleasant drive in your precious car in Singapore? (No, your overseas driving holidays don't count!) Personally, I can't remember exactly the last time I did it. I think it was back in the 1990s when I was still a passenger rather than a driver. Those were the good old days when there were fewer cars on the road and petrol was cheap. Driving around Singapore could still possibly be a pleasant activity. Now, I sit in front of the wheel instead of in the rear seats. And I really enjoy driving my car. But yet, it hasn't ever crossed my mind to go for a long leisurely cruise in it ever. I would drive it to more and further places but I wouldn't go for a drive just for the sake of it. It just seems so ... wasteful. Ignoring the implications it would have on wasted petrol and correspondingly my monthly petrol bill, such an activity is so extravagant because so much time is consumed. With the hectic lifestyles that we lead to support our cars during the week, any down time in the weekends tends to run out with the gamut of activities that just crop up. A quick survey of my driver friends (the "rounding" crowd excluded) reveals that most of them have stopped indulging in such an activity; even if they used to do it before. And another quick survey of my biker friends (unfortunately, few and far between) reveals the exact opposite picture. So what exactly is the difference? Is biking more pleasurable? Is it easier on the wallet? Or does biking attract folks with a more relaxed attitude to life? Meanwhile, excuse me while I punch an entry into my to-do list on my phone - go for a long pleasant drive. Any suggested routes, people?

Transfer Gossips Its is Jan and time for clubs to buy n sell. Pennant for Real Madrid This show how good Ramos is. Rafa, grab the cash fast