Date: 06 Nov 2000 02:19:26 GMT From: Jack B <jacknopsamh.net> Subject: Re: 2001 9-3 cup holder
You know, I wonder how long it will be until we have more or less the following setup - Basic Car Semi-Luxury Luxury Ford Thunderbird Lincoln LS Jag S-Type Opel/Vaux Vectra Saab 9-3 Saab 9-5 Small Chrysler Stretched Chrysler C-Class Skoda Octavia VW Jetta/Bora Audi A3 Toyota Camry Toyota Avalon Lexus ES300 Honda Accord Acura 3.2TL except ALL cars will be designed from scratch to serve at least two markets, possibly three. Thoughts: 1. Most cars today are reasonably well-engineered and not too different from one another in their market segments; therefore, badge-engineering makes sense. 2. The value of brands like Audi, Saab, and Jaguar will decline as people come to recognize the basic common engineering. 3. Of the three Devouring Car Companies (Ford, VW, GM), WHY, OH WHY, did we have to get fscked up with GM??? Imagine what a GREAT Saab Dr. Piech could have created from the Passat platform. Think of how well the Mondeo ST200/Contour SVT could have served as the underpinning for a 900-sized car. 4. A certain number of people out there, myself included, would pay what we paid for a 9-3 to get a perfected, smoothed-out Classic 900. Maybe it's time for Saab to do what TVR did in England - bring the old car back and save money for a comprehensively engineered new one. I was car shopping with my wife the other day and I saw a 93 900 Turbo. Beautiful car. How Saab could have killed it for the NG900 is beyond me. I like my 9-3 a lot, but when I think of a Classic 900 with eight more years of development and the 205hp HOT motor - Sign Me Up!