Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 10:06:12 -0700 From: Milton Brewster <scribblenopsam.com> Subject: Re: Saab and GMC
In article <9kptv9$igi$1nopsamnews.rcn.net>, Jerem43nopsamnet says... > > "Johannes H Andersen" <johannes.andersennopsamel.ac.uk> wrote in message > news:3B705E78.3F9CA80Cnopsamel.ac.uk... > > > > > > DSJKALLEN wrote: > > > > > > Johannes, give the guy a break. If it were not the assocation with GM, > Saab > > > would have "teamed" - if you wish to use that word" - with someone else. > It > > > was a financial necessity. > > > > Yes, precisely. Money talks. The guy seems to think that Saab gains from > GM's > > knowledge. The technology and quality flows the other way. What has GM to > > offer apart from cost cutting production methods? > > > 1. Economies of Scale. [snip] > 2. Modernization Capital [snip] > 3. Advertising Capital [snip] > 4. R&D Funding [snip] > 5. Expanded Facilities [snip] > 6. GM Technical Knowledge Base. [snip] > 7. Purchasing Support. [snip] > Yes, it has a lot to with money, but that is not all. > And, no, I do not work for GM. --- Thoughtful post, but there is another side. In the United States, General Motors has made a series of horrible design and marketing decisions, that has ruined -- and I mean RUINED -- most of their major domestic brands. Chevrolet used to sell literally half the cars bought in the US. Now, even fleet buyers are skeptical. Oldsmobile is out of business because of a string of arrogant executive-level marketing decisions going back fifteen years that the Oldsmobile Division couldn't control. Cadillac has sunk from 'standard of the world' to becoming something that 14 year old boys laugh at when it goes by: It is beyond saving. I could go on and on. MY point, is that we should probably judge Saab's chances by the points you made, and then continue by seeing how well GM has in fact implemented your points in recent years. Judging from the Domestic US market: I have little hope for Saab. I see that GM has already married Saab to Fiat (No American will buy a Fiat) and to Opel (another tinny market failure here). Oldsmobile died in the US, partly because it was nothing more than a rebadged Chevrolet without the range of options it needed to succeed. The Saab 9-5 is on the way to becoming a rebadged Opel Vectra, with the same body and the same V-6 engine -- already the case with the Saturn LS models. GM tried for 30 years to 'introduce' the Opel to the US, and failed because the Opel was not designed or built very well. Now, GM is trying this same rebadging trick, to try and sell Opels that are just rebadged to be Saturns or Saabs. Why buy a Saab 9-5 for $36K when I can get the SAME CAR from Saturn, for $22K? Why buy either one, if I know it really is an Opel Vectra? Do you see why I am skeptical? I recently bought a 9-3 and I love it. It performs well. It is solidly built. Everything fits and works, but it's because Saab workers built the car -- not because GM managers insisted on thoughtful design or a quality build product. I am rooting for Saab. If they can hold GM at arms' length; they have a chance. If Saab keeps letting GM fuck with their engine and frame design choices and manufacturing standards, they are dead meat. milt b
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