Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 23:57:32 GMT From: grumpy <grrnopsamcom> Subject: Re: Saab or GM?
In article <3E0330AA.1070200nopsamnline.net>, tlr244nopsamnline.net says... > > > Bart Boer wrote: > > In article <3E023781.D303F2D2nopsame.org>, woodsidenopsame.org says... > > > >>So are Saabs made in Sweden or the US? > >> > > > > Last time i looked the factory was still in Trollhattan. That's probably > > not in the US ;-) > > > > > > > > By the way, ever seen a decent built american car? Except for the Hummer > > that is... > > There are several. For instance, Saturn owners are largely satisfied > with their cars. I'm not sure if Saturn exports the cars to other > countries. It's a new division of GM, around eight years old. As far > as I know, they don't use standard GM parts, are not influenced by GM > management, and don't use GM labor. The first models competed with > lower end cars like the Honda Civic. Now they make midrange cars, too. > Saturn is a good experiment, but it has some problems. This is important to Saab, because the Saab 9-5 and the midsize Saturn use many of the same components. Both use the Opel V6. Both use the Opel midsize station wagon and sedan bodies. In the US, the Saturn midsize wagon is a "smart man's" Saab 9-5 Estate Wagon. I am almost certain that the forthcoming Saab SUV will be almost the same vehicle as the current Saturn SUV. Saturn's smaller cars compare well with Saab's 9-3 series. Both are good cars which are still bit behind the times today -- and neither car is a style leader in its class. Saab has reasons; Saturn doesn't. With the Saab 9-3, you get much better running gear and build quality. With Saturn; you get a twelve-year-old car with a cast iron engine block. Saturn sells for just over half of what Saabs sell for in the US. Still; Saturns have not kept up with design or manufacturing advances over the last six years or so. Saturn build quality (although reasonable) has suffered, as have their economy and performance ratings in the last five years or so. Saturn has bobbled the ball but not dropped it yet. Saturn does use Union Labor -- they simply have a unique agreement with the American Auto Workers. Saturn comes out way ahead in terms of marketing and service, compared to other economy cars. They sell cars without as much haggling, and they really do service their cars as well as any Japanese company does these days. They are comparable to Saab in terms of service, which is pretty good. --- If Saab's US sales don't improve, I would expect GM to assign what is left of Saab to Saturn's tender mercies. We'd wind up driving around rebadged Saturn 9-5s and 9-3s. Saturn would paint racing stripes on rebadged cars and stuff V6s into them, and then wonder where the old Saab ownerbase went when it didn't work out. grumpy
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