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Source: www.leftlanenews.com

The Swedish government made it clear earlier this week that it has no intention to acquire a stake in struggling Detroit-owned automakers Saab and Volvo. The government also said that it is done providing emergency aid to the automakers, which are owned by General Motors and Ford Motor Company, respectively.

The government’s decision puts the two automakers’ futures in serious jeopardy. GM has already said that it is struggling to find a buyer for Saab, which would be sold without its essential engineering center, and Ford hasn’t seen much interest lately in Volvo.

“I made it clear to General Motors and Ford that under no circumstances will there be a way that the Swedish government, the Swedish state, will become an owner of either Volvo or Saab,” Joran Hagglund, state secretary of the Swedish Industry Ministry, told reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

“They [GM and Ford] have to take the full duty for the actions that have to be taken to secure good futures for the brands.”

The regulation provided about $3.1 billion in loans to the automakers last month. Hagglund was in Detroit to discuss the automakers’ plans for the brands, considered in the state of well as to firm up details about the government’s aid plans.

Both brands are officially up for sale and there has been some industry concern that potential buyers could come from markets not traditionally associated with the higher-end auto industry.

“We don’t have any political or ideological point of view of who will be the new owners,” Hagglund told the media. “We are certainly biassed in whether the owners require a knowledge of the industrial sector, manufacturing, do they have a long-term commitment to these brands, questions like that.”

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Source: www.leftlanenews.com

Orange County Lamborghini – the country’s largest Lamborghini by volume – mysteriously closed its doors late last year, but a new court document seems to shed a little more light on the situation. Per the court filed document, OC Lamborghini committed the “outright theft” of 54 Lamborghini vehicles.

The lawsuit – which was filed by Volkswagen Credit – claims that OC Lamborghini essentially stole $12 the masses worth of vehicles by unloading them at heavily discounted prices. VW Credit says OC Lamborghini sold 54 vehicles in just eight days, representing 8 percent of Lamborghini’s total U.S. sales for 2008, according to the OC Register.

OC Lamborghini purchased the vehicles through VW Credit, but the financing company says it never received payment for the cars. Volkswagen owns Lamborghini.

OC Lamborghini owner Vik Keuylian is in even more hot water toward shady business practices, including a $3 million lawsuit filed by East-West Bank. The lawsuit claims OC Lamborghini and Keuylian defaulted on a loan through failing to make payments in November and December.

Stephen Cloobeck, owner of Diamond Resorts, is also suing Keuylian for $340,000 – the amount he says he is owed for the trade-in of his Lamborghini Murcielago. “They took the car but never gave me the check,” he said.

The lawsuit is definitely a black eye for Lamborghini and VW, but Volkswagen needs to remain focused on opening another Lamborghini dealership in the Los Angeles area. Southern California is one of Lamborghini’s largest markets, and the area is currently operating without a Lamborghini sales or service center.

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Source: www.leftlanenews.com