Too few people buy Saabs

Sydsvenska Dagbladet dedicates its leading article to the crisis at Swedish car maker Saab, which is menaced as a result of problems at General Motors. "Here at home voices are growing louder in favour of introducing a scrappage premium in an attempt to rescue the Swedish car industry. Germany is seen as the model for such a scheme. There the premium for a scrapped car, which corresponds to around 25,000 crowns, has resulted in a 21-percent increase in new car sales and provided GM subsidiary Opel with a welcome breather. Environmental and climate goals also speak for state subsidies to modernise total car ownership in Sweden, among the oldest and dirtiest in Europe. But in terms of industrial and labour policy such a move could be doomed to failure. Saab's problem doesn't arise from a lack of state support for the car industry, nor is it that that no one is doing anything. The real problem is that so few people actually want to buy a Saab."

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