Every month as we approach a Trend deadline, Swedish Automobiles NV, better known as Saab (not SANV) seems to have inched ever closer to death, only to find a last-minute hero. The victories tend to be much smaller than the defeats, though.Saab stopped Trollhätten production lines in April after a payment dispute with suppliers (Trend, July), and then restarted in late May after dealer Pang Da Automobile Trade Company paid a cash advance for an order of cars. Less than two weeks later, it shut down, again.

By mid-June, Saab was pressing Chinese regulators to approve sale of more than 50 percent of Swedish Automobiles to Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile and Pang Da Automobile, which would provide an urgently needed 245 million euro ($350 million U.S.) short-term financing.

In late June, Saab announced that an unnamed Chinese dealership provided 13 million euros, about $18.56 million, up front to purchase 582 cars, presumably 9-3s and the new 9-5 and 9-4x. Much like 1960 Edsels in Dearborn in their time, a handful of Saab 9-4xs could be seen being driven in and around General Motors' Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. The latest Chinese sale averages a $31,890 wholesale price, based on recent exchange rates.

By now, Swedish Automobile's entire board has resigned, except for CEO and chairman Victor Muller. In addition to awaiting approval for the Chinese automakers' purchase of more than 50 percent, the company was waiting for the European central bank to approve Russian investor Vladimir Antonov to buy Saab's factory and land and lease it back. After weeks of waiting in vain for the Antonov deal, Saab finally announced it had sold 50.1 percent of its property unit, which includes the real estate and factory, to a Swedish real estate firm for the equivalent of $39.5 million.

Saab had proposed, following the mysterious Chinese dealership arrangement, to pay its 3800 workers and to pay suppliers 10 percent. Under the deal, the suppliers would get full payment by September, plus 6 percent interest.

And so at press time, the only certainty regarding Saab remained the automotive passion and the resilience of its erstwhile saviour, Victor Muller.