SAAB....not just a Vauxhall ;)

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lotusmark2

MB Enthusiast
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Fiat 500, Mercedes B200
* 2005 saw the second consecutive year of record sales for Saab in the UK
* Arrival of 9-3 SportWagon, 9-3 Aero V6 and refreshed 9-5 range boosts market share to all-time high of 1.14 per cent.
* Demand for the 1.9TiD turbo diesel engine remains very buoyant
* Saab retains its position as the UK’s fastest-growing premium car brand for two years on the trot

For the second consecutive year, Saab enjoyed its highest ever sales and market share in the United Kingdom in 2005, enabling the Swedish premium car maker to maintain its title as the UK’s fastest growing premium car brand. Never in Saab’s 45-year history in Britain have sales soared so high.

Whilst the overall UK new car market limped through 2005, seeing total registrations decline by over 6 per cent compared to the previous year, with a 3 per cent drop in the premium segment, Saab continued to make enormous strides, enjoying a year-on-year sales growth of over 35 per cent. In volume terms, this equated to a total of 27,465 new Saabs sold in 2005, compared to 20,292 in 2004, taking its slice of the UK new car market to a record 1.14 per cent. This achievement becomes even more impressive, considering that that 2004 was itself a record year for Saab, with sales growing by 39 per cent compared to 2003.

A sterling performance from Saab’s established model range, as well as the more recent introduction of new models such as the 9-3 SportWagon and revised 9-5 has contributed to this growth. For example, the 9-3 Sport Saloon enjoyed a massive 43 per cent growth in 2005 compared to 2004, with over 14,000 of those cars sold during the last 12 months.

Demand for the enduringly-popular 9-3 Convertible, meanwhile, zoomed upwards by 16 per cent to 5,900 cars, whilst sales of the 9-5 range grew by over 1 per cent year-on-year, despite the phasing out of the previous-generation 9-5 towards the tail end of the year.

The September arrival of the acclaimed 9-3 SportWagon brought several thousand incremental sales for Saab in 2005, whilst demand exceeded supply all year for the sought-after 9-3 1.9 TiD turbo diesel models. The October introduction of the award-winning new 2.8 litre V6 turbo engine has also seen demand for the performance 9-3 Aero outstrip availability.

A jubilant Jonathan Nash, Managing Director of Saab Great Britain remarked: "2005 was the year of Swedish design, and judging by Saab’s success during the year, the Great British public is as enamoured as ever with great Swedish design. This, together with Saab’s celebrated aircraft heritage has proven to be an unmissable combination for those car buyers wanting something highly competitive and a little different."

Nash went on to bullishly forecast yet another record year for Saab sale in 2006: "With the introduction of yet more new engine variants in key models, such as the forthcoming new Convertible 1.9 TiD and innovative 9-5 BioPower, I have no doubt that 2006 will be the third consecutive year of record growth for Saab," he said.

Nash added: "The new Saab 9-3 Convertible Cerulean edition, which will soon be launched to celebrate two decades of success for our iconic soft-top, is another example of the type of car that will drive our growth this year. Saab’s first full year of sales for new models such as the 9-3 SportWagon and revised 2006 9-5 will also see more premium car buyers choosing Saab over more commonplace premium brands."
 
moved to the unclean marque section...


p.s. sabb , once driven .. forever smiten :p
 
lotusmark2 said:
*. This, together with Saab’s celebrated aircraft heritage has proven to be an unmissable combination for those car buyers wanting something highly competitive and a little different."


And how many parts from Saab's "aircraft heritage" have made it into their cars? - hmmmmmm, let's see.........none :)

it's a Vauxhall with a fancy badge :(

Andy
 
I agree andy, it is a Vauxhall.
apart from the engine, running gear, bodyshell, electrics and interior......
apart from that you could be in a Vectra :D
 
Yet to drive one.. and have been tempted a few times.. but i wish they would change their design.. the 900 seems to have existed since the ice age.. with subtle changes every so often :)
 
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Sits back, waiting for the resultant flack that I have a feeling is imminant :devil:
 
LotusMark2

I am not going to do down your SAAB because they are a nice, well put together car, however they are manufactured from parts taken from the GM parts bin.
The 9-5 I believe is based on the Signum platform and know that it's predecessor the 9000 shared it's floorpan and structure with three other cars, Alfa 164, Lancia Thema, (notice the common link yet?) and the Fiat Croma.

SAAB are too small a company to create cars from scratch so borrow from others, and despite the marketing blurb they have not had a connection to the aircraft manufacturer for all the time they have made mass produced cars.

The article you have quoted makes great clams about percentage of increased sales, but they are a drop in the Ocean in reality. When a Manufacturer has a really low showing it is easy to increase the sales percentage, for example if they sold ten cars one year and 20 the next, they have achieved a 100% increase. 27,465 is a very low number for a complete Manufacturers range.

I seriously do hope you enjoy your car and intend to keep it because depreciation is chronic on SAAB models, if you look on Autotrader you will find Vectras are worth more second hand. If purchasing secon hand then fair enough but if new then this will be a hard pill to swallow.
My BiL has had three SAAB cars 900, 9000, 9-5. His coment is that you cannot get anyone but the dealer to buy them when it comes time to sell.
 
lotusmark2 said:
I agree andy, it is a Vauxhall.
apart from the engine
The engine is definitely derived from a GM unit, otherwise we'd not be seeing 2.x litre turbo vauxhall models like astras and vectras. Equally it is no surprise that MB are going to move to turbos for some models over superchargers because the Mitsu-sourced engines already have turbos designed for them ;)

Don't believe the shell story either, panels are different, the shell is probably the same ;)

WTF am I doing reading this defector propaganda? :rolleyes:
 
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Dieselman said:
I seriously do hope you enjoy your car and intend to keep it because depreciation is chronic on SAAB models, if you look on Autotrader you will find Vectras are worth more second hand. If purchasing secon hand then fair enough but if new then this will be a hard pill to swallow.
My BiL has had three SAAB cars 900, 9000, 9-5. His coment is that you cannot get anyone but the dealer to buy them when it comes time to sell.

Sounds a bit like mitsubishi and subuaru used to be
 
Dieselman said:
I am not going to do down your SAAB because they are a nice, well put together car, however they are manufactured from parts taken from the GM parts bin.
The 9-5 I believe is based on the Signum platform and know that it's predecessor the 9000 shared it's floorpan and structure with three other cars, Alfa 164, Lancia Thema, (notice the common link yet?) and the Fiat Croma.

The 9-3 does indeed share more than just the platform - most of the things you don't touch, including the engines, are shared with Vauxhall/Opel and other GM cars.

Must say though that's not a bad thing. I've had many Vauxhalls and the only real fault I've ever had was a faulty Air Mass Meter, but hot-wire AMMs are un-reliable in just about every car they're fitted in!!

Certainly in 12 months of MB ownership, it's fair to say that I've visited the dealer in more than 12 YEARS of Vauxhall ownership, by some margin, and I'm not joking!!

The current 9-5 is an evolution of the 9000, and doesn't share the platform with the Signum. The Signum is however an evolution of the Vectra platform.

I am a bit of a Vauxhall egg-head I'm afraid!!
 
Bobby Dazzler said:
The current 9-5 is an evolution of the 9000, and doesn't share the platform with the Signum. The Signum is however an evolution of the Vectra platform.
Thanks for this, I did not think the 9-5 shared the platform, good to here someone else share my thoughts on that.
I am also sure that the 2.3 LPT engine is a pure SAAB engine, the 3.0 is GM sourced.
On the devaluation point, thats why I bought a used one ;) :D ...... well that and the fact that it is the hack that I use for company mile bashing so would de-value like a stone what ever I bought due to high milage.
 
Going back to the sales issue, I have to say, even though I live just a short walk from our dealer, I do see quite a lot of SportWagons around. They appear therefore to selling like the proverbial heated foodstuffs.
 
all other points aside, i wonder where all the older ones have gone?

I used to see loads of 900s and 9000s but they've all "dissappeared".

Are the running costs just too prohibitive so they end up getting scrapped (like my 9000 carlsson) or are they all in the hands of collectors?

Although I'm sure things are better these days with improved durability and hopefully cheaper parts/servicing as others have said getting rid of them once they are more than a couple of years old is challenging so as far as I'm concerned with Saabs, it's once (very expensively) bitten twice shy.

Andy
 
... and Saab customer care is extremely good... and Saab's don't rust.

I always thought that the 9-5 was based on a slightly stretched Vectra chassis? It's no bad thing though - ours (a 2000 Aero estate) handles extremely well. Sadly the gearbox is crap and the brakes are rubbish.
 
andy_k said:
I used to see loads of 900s and 9000s but they've all "dissappeared". (like my 9000 carlsson)

Andy


Oh, now top marks to you Andy, that was some car, i remember having a poster of one on my wall when i was younger....... :bannana:

Was it red or black ? i loved the small Carlsson signature on the back.....
 
neither it was a sort of very dark metallic grey and it was one of those cars that just cost more to keep on the road than the fun factor it provided.

After replacing the turbo, water pump, cylinder head gasket and cam chains, sorting out loads of electrical problems and other little niggles I finally lost interest when the gearbox started playing up. Even with loads of receipts and almost a full service history the car was almost worthless so I ended up scrapping it to get it out of my life :)

As I said, once bitten, twice shy :(

Andy
 
996jimbo said:
... and Saab customer care is extremely good... and Saab's don't rust.

I always thought that the 9-5 was based on a slightly stretched Vectra chassis? It's no bad thing though - ours (a 2000 Aero estate) handles extremely well. Sadly the gearbox is crap and the brakes are rubbish.
Thats one thing I do agree with Jimbo, the brake really need a good looking at. they have that "oh cr*p am I going to stop before the back of that car" feel to them. Easy enough to overcome though.
Did you have a manual or auto box?
 
We have a 98 Saab 9-3 and I would add these comments:
1. Dealer support is superb - but expensive.
2. No rust.
3. Gigantic, practical boot.
4. Extremely comfortable.
5. Goes like a rocket.
6. Economical.
7. Unfortunately the inside veers towards cheap, plasticky GM.
8. Irritatingly, there is a fault which, Saab half-acknowledge with the air-con. Apparently a cable becomes twisted over time and locks the heater on. This occurs about every two years. the last time the dealer did it for free but previously it cost €700 to fix it.
9. There are also several other minor irritations with sensors and so on but probably no more than any other make.
My conclusion is that it is an all round excellent car. Ours has 130K kms on it and shows no signs of any problems whatsoever, other than those mentioned. There are shades of GM but this is outweighed by its Saabness.
My wife uses this most of the time and we are considering replacing it with a B Series.
 
I have kinda half-heartedly been looking at a used SAAB, can anyone suggest a good forum or web-based resource. I have seen a nice 9-3 Aero 2.0t, would like to find some info on these models (not just what SAAB says!)

Thanks, Rob
 

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