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V6's and hatchbacks.
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Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Tue, 21 Oct 2003 12:41:40 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: 9-5 Arc V6 gone?, Rodney, Tue, 21 Oct 2003 09:21:28
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Saab first inclueded a V6 in the 9000 only for marketing reasons. As Saab moved upmarket, many folks would never consider a Saab because it didn't have a V6. It didn't matter if the turbo 4 was a better engine - some folks just figure a four is too small for a 'near luxury' car. So to go after that portion of the market, a V6 it is.

I can't argue - anything that increases Saab sales is good for Saab, and as long as they kept the turbo 4, fine by me. Personally, I wouldn't buy the V6, but that's my opinion, and the V6 isn't marketed to me.

In my opinion, getting rid of the V6 is no loss for Saab. Is this a marketing mistake? Yes, we can say so, just like we can question the decisions of football coaches last Sunday. And just the same, we don't have the same information that the Saab marketing folks have. I'm sure they spent a lot of time and money determining the loss of market share for giving up a V6. It still may be a bonehead decision, but it's theirs to make.

Remember, keeping a V6 in the lineup cost Saab A LOT of money. Yes, the engineering has been done. But now Saab has to stock more models, meaning a better chance of getting the production mix wrong and having unsold cars on the lot. There are probably EPA certification costs. It means more parts in the parts bin, and a more complex assembly line, with more suppliers. The mechanics of keep up many options seems easy to us consumers, but to the folks that have to keep track of all this, there are many costs we don't see.

So, where do hatchbacks come in? The 9000 was a fantastically practical car, but everybody knows hatchbacks aren't 'luxury' cars, at least in the US. That's why Saab came out with the 9000 CD - a trunked 9000. As almost all 95 owners know, there are no 95 hatchbacks. Until the Wagon came out, the only hatch was the 93. And the wagon isn't the same as a hatchback.

Saab's large hatchback was killed for marketing reasons - hatchbacks aren't upmarket enough. I don't happen to think so, but I and folks like me are enough in the minority that it wasn't worth creating a model just for us.

I love the argument that Saab 'needs' a AWD V8 whatever to compete. Despite GM standing behind it, Saab is a very small company. It sells a niche car. It takes literally billions of dollars to engineer a new vehicle, and I'd rather Saab spend that money on making its existing cars really, really, good, than to create just another Envoy/Tahoe/ clone, to compete in a very competitive market. The only approach Saab has is to stick a Saab logo on an existing GM SUV. Big deal - if I want a GMC whatever with a Saab logo, I'll buy the GMC and a Saab decal. It ain't a Saab.

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