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, Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:38:58
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and we are all happy that they didn't use Lucas, right? All cars, even the ones made in Japan, are a conglomeration of pieces and parts and many are sourced from speciality manufacturers that are used in competing brands too. whether it be the brakes, the stereo, the seats, tires, glass, ignition, injeciton system, the list goes on... as others have said, it's the design of the car and the history behind the "total package" and not where the pieces were put together and not who owns the company outright, as long as the design and history of the car and it's original makers are left to mature and progress with the available components and technology at the time.
Sometimes when the food is excellent and you've been going to that resturant for years and years with great experiences, you don't want to know what goes on in the kitchen, right? But in the global economy with the global information and the ease of exchanging information we find out things that we *never suspected* that are contrary to our beliefs about *something*. About many things. The one we are all concerned about now is; is a Saab really a Saab if it's not owned, designed, and built by the Trolls in Sweden? Guess what, it's never been a 100% Swedish car no matter what the commercials say. And NOW, in this information age, we are being slapped in the face with that fact! Something that we did not, and could not, find out easily before so we blithely when on our way secure that we were driving a 100% Saab. AND we were happy with the car so why look behind the curtain...
Hummm, is a Toyota a Toyota if it's build in Tennesse?
Saabs have used Lucas, Recaro, Clarion, Harmon Kardon, Bosch, ZF, and many many other components in the *past* and nobody thought twice about it. Some Saabs were put together in Finland, and nobody thought twice about it either. the c900 had a convertible with a top designed outside of Sweden, and had a funky Borg Warner piece of trash three speed automatic, again no-one thought any of this detracted from a "Saab" being a "true Saab" (even though we all wished for a better automatic in the c900).
This is, by the way, no different than any other car manufacturer. The GM family of cars has many of the same GM Delco or some other manufacturer bits and pieces under the skin of all of their cars or truck or Vans. Some of the models are not much more that fancy versions of the others, we've all grown up with the differences being minor between the original Camero and Firebird, but then they diverged to become very different cars. Ford is no different, and all of the European cars are very similar too, outsource the items you can for economies of scale, build the heart of the car yourself.
I think that what all of us "Saab" people are averse to, and worried will happen, is the 9-7 and 9-2 nonsense. It's almost as humorous as the Hummer H-2, ok it's not really a Hummer it's a GM truck chassis with a Hummer like body on it. Again, don't look behind the curtain... Years ago people put fiberglass bodies on VW chassis that looked like... just about anything you wanted.... it was *STILL* a VW... Saab people *will* look behind the curtain, and *do* know that an H-2 is just this generations fiberglass body on a VW chassis, and are not interested in a faux anything. This is, I believe, what will either cause the Saab faithful to either stay with Saab or move on to broader horizons with other makes. GM needs to figure out how to increase SAAB sales, and yet not kill the Goose that used to lay the Golden Saab Eggs. If GM does continue to let Saab be the speciality car it has always been, and incorportate new inovations, and uses new industry standardly available components (Just as SAAB and everyone else has in the past) and introduce new competitive models that appeal to the Saab AND non-Saab owners, then it has a excellent opportunity to prosper and grow. It has the technology already. On the other hand, if GM trys the 9-7 and 9-2 shell game with some badging differences and minor styling cues to try and pass a model off as a Saab, I believe this will have the opposite effect and rather than keep people in the fold by having a more varied model offering cause the Saab owner to recognize "in for a penny is in for a pound..." why not jump ship to another brand altogether that currently has all of the models I might be interested in owning rather than having a mixed bag of cars that say Saab on them? That make or buy point that a manufacturer considers is also a consideration for a consumer too.
The yes the fish is fresh, it was fresh when it was frozen, but since it was frozen when fresh it's really just fresh fish.... won't cut it...
, Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:28:08
, Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:53:19, Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:38:58
, Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:59:49, Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:51:52
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