D-Day for Saab today

[bpsorrel]

So, this is it - Saab owners and lovers are having the day from hell today as in just a few hours the GM board will announce it's decision as to keep, sell or kill Saab! Educated opinion is they'll kill it off or sell rights to BAIC and scrap the rest.

I spoke to my local dealer this morning and to be honest the staff were almost in tears! Very sad! No-one believes Saab will be around tomorrow.

Shame about my remaining warranty and the ever decreasing value of my Saab, but I guess that's nothing really compared to the possible (probable?) loss of thousands of jobs!

So, good luck Saab!

Sorry to take up a MB forum with this, it's just a moment that I wanted to share.

 

[vincenz]

Blame gm, they didn't give it the investment it deserves, they're not the products they once were.

 

[hawk20]

I agree. Very sad if it goes. The choice for those who like larger, luxury cars, especially saloons and estates, gets smaller and smaller. Jaguar losing buckets and sold to India. Volvo losing buckets and Ford trying to sell to China (or has that happened yet?).

The head says there are too many car makers with too much capacity; but the heart is sad to lose choice.

 

[bpsorrel]

I agree, but in their defence, I have to say my Convertible IS a great car. OK, the interior quality is no where near as good as my S211, but then would you expect it to be? It looks nice, drives wel, is very safe and does have a real feel good factor, roof down in the nice weather! And, it cost way less than a CLK, BMW or Audi. True, it's worth the price of a packet of cornflakes now, but that's life! (my wife can keep it 'till it falls apart - and no quips about that being soon please!!!)

 

[hawk20]

Always reminds me of that wonderful film Sideways where two mid-life men drive a Saab convertible round the wine areas of California sampling the wine (and the women). A car with quite a bit of character.

 

[hawk20]

Volvo going going .......
Geely taps China banks to back $1.8 billion Volvo deal - Yahoo! News

 

[rossyl]

GM haven't exactly helped i don't think.

See the commenst towards the end of this paragraph:
This date in deal history: GM buys the rest of Saab (Dealscape)

It will be a sad day if Saab go, a brand known for ingenuity in safety was turned into another GM owned logo and may now be thrown onto the scrap heap.

 

[Ted]

I have no great liking for the current SAAB range.
But as Hawk says, the cars still retain a character that few modern cars have, and they also have a great history.

Another once great motoring name thrown on the scrapheap of business myopia.


Hmmm..... not sure if that metaphor actually works.....

 

[Deleted member 11979]

I had no idea that Saab were in so much difficulty, I have owned over the years 2 classic 900's (one a T16S cabrio which was gorgeously different) and a 98 900 which was a good car. The best thing about Saab I found were the dealers, the Exeter one was first class, could never do enough for you. I think the new 9-5 looks like a good car, and their other new products also look interesting, it will be very sad if they go, but as previous posters have said, their current range is not what Saab should be about. It's like Citroen too, no room for quirkyness in todays market it would seem.

 

[C240Sport97]

businesses come and go ..

 

[rossyl]

businesses come and go ..

Few with the heritage of SAAB.

IMHO, GM stifled the research and development that went into Saab cars that made them the industry name they were, such as putting seatbelts in cars, or pollen filters.


Taken from http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2008/12/saab-are-swedish-reprise.html:

It’s no big revelation that Saab’s distinctiveness has faded in recent years. A quick look back at the “GM years” so far should give you a pretty good idea as to where things are headed if the custody of Saab remains the same.
–> GM killed the new product wave developed by Michael Mauer, the theory being that the Saab 9-3x that was under development, based on the concept car with the same name, would not be suited to the American market.
–> GM killed a new 9-5 back around 2005, resulting in the refresh and the ageing model that we have today. It’s still a solid car, just way too old. The one consolation that we can take from this is that the new 9-5 we’ll see next year is supposed to be an absolute ball-burster, but what’s to say the killed-off version wouldn’t have been, too?
–> GM have neglected to promote Saab anywhere near to the degree they should have. SaabUSA’s marketing budget was roughly the same in 2008 as it was in 2006, a decision that was made before 2008 became the year from automotive hell.
–> At the same time, GM have poured a small country’s GDP into building up Cadillac (and Cadillacs themselves) in Europe – an excercise that’s gained no traction and by any measure, has been an abject failure.
–> GM made Saab the center of excellence for Turbocharging yet haven’t promoted Saab’s turbocharging expertise in the marketplace. Instead, all manufacturers are ‘going turbo’ at an increasing rate, including GM’s other brands with expertise gained from Saab, while Saab languishes in the dust.
–> Even the unique Swedish design traits that were engineered into the 9-5 and 9-3 have slowly been reverse-engineered out of them. Comments from Saab dealers in posts here at TS have highlighted the addition of more generic GM switchgear in the 2009 models, following on from a massive GM-isation back in 2006 and 2007.

 

[bpsorrel]

Anyone interested in the ongoing saga, go here for the latest in news and comments, as it happens. The posters here really have their ears to the ground! (except yours trully - posting as Sorrel - who just observes!)

Saabs United

 

[Dryce]

The head says there are too many car makers with too much capacity; but the heart is sad to lose choice.

The problem I suspect is three-fold.

1) Cost of platform design means that technology has to be shared.

2) The market is fragmented more with SUV/softroaders eating into mainstream saloon.

3) The likes of MB and BMW have very successfully increased volume by intruding into upper middle area of the market.

The likes of Volvo and Jaguar and Saab get squeezed all ways.

Landrover is also at risk.

Jaguar in particular shows how difficult it is for a large manufacturer to sustain a premium or niche marque based on platform sharing.

 

[jaymanek]

the quality just took a massive nose dive when GM took over and the days were numbered since then... They could have pulled it back but the damage is now well and truly done and its probably best that they dont carry on.

 

[grober]

I wasn't up to speed about the Koenigsegg fiasco. Great shame if SAAB go under. I would wager that a lot of GM cars are now much safer from the lessons they learned from SAAB's accident research. The VAUXHALL Insignia being one that comes to mind. It was bit like BMW buying the Rover Group to get their hands on Honda's production techniques-----allegedly.

 

[Michael G]

It seems a shame to see Saab go. They were designed for people who wern't really 'mainstream' if you know what I mean. But when the idiots at GM swallowed them up in 1989 they haven't made a profit since.

I feel that Saab's days are numbered. They have been ever since GM bought them. They slowly killed them, they gave them big V6's and not turbo'd four pots like they did in the 900. They ruined their build quality and sucked out the soul the made Saabs Saabs.

Goodbye Saab you will be missed.

 

[tromppost]

better get your brochure requests in online quick!! they will be worth a mint on ebay in 20 years time.

 

[Mudster]

I didn't choose my Saab for what it was, it was chosen for financial reasons alone for one of my ex employees.

He went and I was left with the car on a contract hire agreement.

Considering we got a deal on two of these that made them cheaper than Vectra's these are cracking cars. They are no Audi, BMW or Mercedes though...sort of somewhere in between ford, Vauxhall and ze Germans.

It will be sad to see them go if they don't make it. GM didn't help but I have to say I do like the design of the Sportwagon I have.

 

[bpsorrel]

GM just announced Saab have a stay of execution for 30 days, in order to sort out the sale to interested parties! So, another 30 days of waiting! Merbanco look to be the favourite right now, with a sale of old Saab models to BAIC for a couple of billion...phew, what a day!

 

[Michael G]

GM just announced Saab have a stay of execution for 30 days, in order to sort out the sale to interested parties! So, another 30 days of waiting! Merbanco look to be the favourite right now, with a sale of old Saab models to BAIC for a couple of billion...phew, what a day!

Thank god! I thought Saab would be gonners.