Torque,
I think you have made the essential "link" in this discusssion thus far and nailed it!!
Prior to the press release confirming the "advanced design team study", Saab Aircraft Leasing were planning to retire from the leasing business and had advised the market accordingly.
Does this study initiative indicate S.A.L. may change their mind if production does re-commences in order to continue providing this essential element between the factory and many aircraft operators?
Saab had been doing some work with Hindustani Aviation and a few years back Saab also announced they had invested in some production capability in a former eastern bloc state (possibly Lithuania?). Either location would afford access to cheap labour for any future production initiative, with Saab controlling both the process and product quality to guarantee the result.
Perhaps a combination of the above elements and updated systems and powerplants might translate into a low risk business plan for an aircraft that will find favour within a limited market and be an acceptable commercal risk to the Saab Board!
As Saab AB seems to currently have a very healthy balance sheet with a surplus of funds to invest, an arrangement such as described, would provide the means to both conservatively manage a new production venture and mitigate some of the high end risks associated with such a capital intensive and speculative project.
To do otherwise would be folly and almost inevitably result in a situation such as Bombardier's aircraft production at the moment with several "open" and 'partially open' production lines and one developmental line ("C" Series), all of which are bleeding cash, while the business searches for new orders in what seems a crowded market. The very situation Saab was in for an extended period prior to closing production in 1996.
Last edited by THE ORACLE; 12th Jun 2012 at 22:24.