Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:31:24 -0400 From: Michael <michaelnopsamhens.com> Subject: Re: Please, Saab is not a "GM car"
Anyone loyal to the marquee will shiver at the notion that SAAB is a GM brand.... It's no more a brand than Lamborgini is a VW, or Aston Martin a Ford....... Lets not start to think that these big characterless car companies take the character out of our favorite cars just because they put money in.... Michael Jason Porter wrote: > AAH, IT PAINS ME > > SAAB IS NOT A GM BRAND in the same sense that Chevrolet, Opel, Pontiac, and > Cadillac are. Please, GM may have a large financial investment in Saab (50% > of stock I believe), but I hate to hear Saab termed "a GM car." Saab is not > a GM car in any sense other than the financial. Daimler-Benz now owns the > Chrysler Corporation, but I would hesitate to call the Chrysler Concorde or > Dodge Durango "Daimler-Benz cars." I would be as hesitant to call Ferarri a > "Fiat car." GM has very limited influence on the engineering of Saab > automobiles, and even less influence over the parts with which the new cars > are made. True, the mid-90s era V6 engines were built on a GM block, but > that trend has ended for the new ('99) cars. The sheet on the 9-5 shows its > US parts percentage as less than 2% of the finished car. > Saab has maintained the independence of its engineering and its image, > regardless of the source of funding. In the US at least, GM cars are > characterized by their general inferiority to other brands, especially when > viewed from an engineering standpoint (i.e. Chevrolet, which is IMHO > generally a piece of shit - remember the Corsica?). If Saab were truly a GM > car, or a GM company, wouldn't GM be putting that Saab engineering prowess > to work, and turn out a truly decent (world-class) Chevy or Pontiac for the > first time in 25 years? One more thing - while I'm on the subject, why do > we as Americans continue to purchase Chevrolets and their ilk at a furious > rate, when GM actually makes a *quality* automobile in Europe - the Opel? > Can someone explain to me why I can't go to my local GM dealer and buy an > Opel Vectra? Is it that GM feels that Americans are too stupid to know the > difference? Are their profit margins not high enough? Must we stand and > watch GM reclothe an Opel Omega in cheap plastic, take out the good parts of > the suspension, and resell it for 20 grand more as the Cadillac Catera? > What do they take us for? > Thank God Saab is free from that kind of GM management. > > -J.P. > > Mark Orr wrote in message <6pjiqu$on$3nopsamurst.ccs.yorku.ca>... > >Yeah!! I'm using $2500 in GM points towards my Saab 3 year lease. Make a > BIG > >diff in a 3 year lease. I doubt I would buy ANY other GM car. > > > >Mark > > > >
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