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Saab Filling In Product Gaps
General Motors' long-struggling Swedish subsidiary hopes to slash costs, increase its product range, and significantly boost sales over the next few years, Saab officials told TheCarConnection.com. The Scandinavian brand expects to see "significant investment" as the result of a five-year business plan approved by the General Motors Board of Directors late last year, according to Saab Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson.
Much of that money will go to a new range of products, including a new, "global" crossover vehicle. The crossover is an alternative to that which Saab had been developing in partnership with the Japanese automaker, Subaru. That project was scrapped last year, Jonsson noted, when GM sold off its stake in Subaru. Along with the new crossover, Saab is working on a product to fit in below the automaker's current small car, the 9-3. It will go up against premium hatchbacks, such as the Audi A3, according to Jonsson, and the new Volvo C30. Saab's new product offensive will take time to roll out, however: company sources revealed that a replacement for the brand's flagship 9-5 model won't reach market until calendar year 2009, more than a decade after it was first launched.
Such long lifecycles are a real challenge for the company, acknowledged Jay Spenchian, general manager of U.S. operations. And the automaker realizes it needs to speed up model changeovers significantly, he stressed. To get there, Saab needs to boost sales and slash costs, and in an interview in suburban Atlanta, Jonsson said, "Since 2002, we have reduced our structural costs by one-third." That has had a positive impact on Saab's financial condition, he said, adding that if the company can boost its global volume to somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000 - up from around 120,000 in 2005 - "we can have a good return on our business." In the U.S., the automaker scored a four-percent sales gain last year, to 38,343, and Spenchian said, "we think, by the end of the decade, we can double that."
Saab is planning to unveil a high-style concept vehicle at the Geneva Motor show later this month that will serve "as a statement of our future," Jonsson told TheCarConnection. Neither official would discuss specific details, but Jonsson suggested the show car is part of Saab's plan to craft a "more consistent" brand image. "You can't wobble," as the automaker has in the past, he emphasized. Over the years, he added, Saab has vacillated from extreme stuff, like the original 900 Turbo, to the conservative 9-5. Going forward, the Swedish maker intends to emphasize design, safety, the driving experience, and the functionality of its interiors. The message, concluded Jonsson, "is not (about) quirkiness, but uniqueness." -Paul A. Eisenstein
posted by 142.239.25...
http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Daily_Edition/Daily_Edition_Feb_20_2006.S173.A10051.html
, Fri, 3 Mar 2006 10:42:52
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