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And, I've had them for years. I've even shared them on public forums many times. As I saw it, here's what would happen.
1. The SUV era will come to an end.
2. Former Explorer or TrailBlazer buyers will not want to buy any ordinary Ford or Chevy; they will want something with some status. This is a huge opportunity for SAAB. Now, not only is the SUV era over, but people are accustomed to powerful cars, but they want good fuel economy too. Could there possibly be a better scenario in which to push SAAB?
3. Forget about SAAB as a BMW/Audi competitor. Pitch SAAB as a VW competitor. Introduce a Golf/Rabbit sized car, with a turbocharged engine. SAAB does not have the kudos of BMW, such as rear wheel drive, which real driving enthusiasts must have. (The experts in the automotive press have decreed that we're not real enthusiasts, since we, SAAB-ers, like cars that have never been RWD.) The Astra would have been perfect for this, but instead GM decided to make it a Saturn. It appears that after a decade of making SAAB into a down market European car, it's now trying to elevate Saturn to be a down market European car. If they did that with Saturn in the first place, and left SAAB somewhat above that, we'd all be happier.
4. Heresy to some, but it's not cost effective to build cars in Sweden; maybe a 9-5 type car if it's selling for $40-50,000, but not a 9-1/9-2 or 9-3. Build it in Germany if you can, but there have to be decent opportunities to build in countries like Hungary or Czech Republic or Poland. If the thing is Engineered in Trollhattan, I don't care if it's built in Tursk, or Timbuktu, as long as it's built well.
SAAB is pretty integrated into GM Europe at this point, and I think Opel is as good a partner for SAAB as any other European manufacturer would be. The problem is lack of clarity of thought at the top, and lack of direction from them as to what they want SAAB to be in the US, or indeed anywhere else.
posted by 71.248.16...
, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:20:25
, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:18:47, Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:45:00
, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:44:59, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:03:40, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:56:19, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:56:15, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:33:59
, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:44:27
, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:57:57, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:31:51, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:35:05, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:12:25
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