Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:36:27 -0500 From: ma_twain <ma_twainnospamo.com> Subject: Re: 9-3 2003-2005 Safety Rating - Double Pick
Shane Almeida wrote: > On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 22:43:46 -0500, ma_twain wrote: > >> The bad news is GM punished the Saab engineers for modifying the car to >> earn this rating. GM wanted to save money by using the same parts and >> chassis across several GM brands. The Saab engineers modified the >> generic GM chassis for the Saab 9-3 model. GM response: the Saab >> engineering team was broken up and reassigned to other GM units. The GM >> spokesperson said no one will care if the car has generic GM parts or >> parts developed only for Saab. >> > > Do you have a source for this? It was in the Wall Street Journal, maybe about a month ago. I find it unlikely that GM wouldn't have > caught and dealt with the engineers *before* they started mass-producing > the car. It seems like it would be rather difficult to modify the chassis > without anyone from GM realizing or, if they did realize, without them > doing something about until after the car was built. > I don't find it unlikely. Do you really think the accountants in the GM headquarters and GM executives get out and prowl around the design labs of every factory? Once the 9-3 was built and crash tested, it was too late amd too expensive to "roll back" the change. The only thing the GM execs could do was make an example of the Saab engineers who pulled a fast one on them.