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Saab was for a long time an innovator, but during a time when it had similarly small, underfunded rivals (BMW, Volvo, any Brit) and major competitors that were in a funk (US carmakers) or weren't in the same markets yet (VW, Japanese econocars). Saab continued to churn out logical cars that put the US carmakers and Euro name plates to shame in terms of "ease of use", while doling out healthy chunks of uniqueness.
When the 1980's hit, economic booms in the US led to a run on Euro cars as an expression of yuppiedom, which boosted Saab sales beyond the stereotypical "tweed pipe" set. Saab had a winning formula. Turbo engines with 6 or 8 cylinder power that got 4 cylinder MPG.
But while others expanded lineups, made big capital investments, and used increasing market shares and awareness to build for the future, Saab remained small and was devoted slavishly to its tradition, no matter how hoary it was getting.
Soon, as competitiveness from similarly "logical" cars like Honda, Toyota, etc. began increasing, everybody had the same easy to use AC controls, FWD, turbo power, and fuel economy. And Volvo and Saab together popularized safety, made it a sellable feature of a car, to such an extent that they no longer monopolized the safety market because everyone else had to sell it. And soon even the legendary durability of Saab and Volvo engines and cars were less unique, as carmakers figured you made more money selling people a new car every few years instead of selling people one car every 10 years, and they sought to trim weight from cars with heavy iron block engines. Hondas ran for 200K miles before overhauls.
In the early 1990's, Saab was stuck with an aged, now out-classed product in the 900, a promising luxury product in the 9000, and no other real prospects, and its traditional values of utility, FWD traction, performance, economy, safety and durability were no longer things you had to come to Saab for.
Saab adjusted poorly to this sea change, and due to its small change, it was probably never able to adjust properly.
The 99 and 900 were in many ways ahead of their time. The NG900 was solid, competent, and still a Saab through and through, but it was already a mid-pack performer. The 9-3 was a mistake -- Saab shold have redone the 900 from the ground up. The 9-3SS is a great car but, unlike 20 years ago, there are a ton of great cars out there.
Saan risks getting lost in the shuffle.
posted by 208.200.1...
, Thu, 25 Sep 2003 12:56:03
, Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:45:12, Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:58:41, Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:47:05
, Fri, 26 Sep 2003 05:43:04
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