Absolutely. Whether or not the cars have anything related to a parent Chinese company in them, the perception will kill the brands. GM + Ford were bad enough. This will be an order of magnitude worse. The existing customers will run from the brand. Any future customers will be in China. But, perhaps that is where the market is?

That said, philosophically, I disagree that Hyundai/Kia is much better. Look at the Amante: it sure isn't the Jag or Merc it's imitating. The veneer is very thin! Sure, the cars are better than Chery (I've seen the youtube videos - yikes!), but they weren't in the early days. The Chinese are new at it and will progress in much the same way as the Koreans - copy as much as possible, do the minimum to meet the safety specs needed for advertising purposes, + undercut on price. Not Saab or Volvo values...

On a positive note, the comments re potential Chinese ownership came from the independent analyst, not from Jan Ake Jonsson, so her opinion may be irrelevant. Many of his comments were reassuring, in particular the last bit about going back to traditional Saab values and:

"In today's auto industry, there are many more cooperative projects between manufacturers without ownership,"

Imho, the best thing for both Saab + Volvo is for them to work together in Sweden and find local economies of scale (R+D, testing, automation, etc). Their values are substantially the same. A scaled back approach with fewer but better differentiated models is imho the way to go to keep the costs down + enable less invasive investment options... and if that requires platform sharing, so be it. I'd rather buy a Saab that shares a common platform with Volvo, than with GM or Ford. I really want to see a Saab based on the Volvo Recharge concept (on which Saab collaborated). I think it will be insane!

James...

posted by 69.63.6...

• Saab owners rejoice, Liam, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 06:06:13
  • I'd be pulling for the Russians...., JohnA , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 20:41:01
    • could be epic, dcb, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 12:27:15
      • LoL! Pls google for Alexander Nevsky, Siegfried, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 12:40:24
        • Re: LoL! Pls google for Alexander Nevsky, dcb, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 13:03:08
    • not the best way to go (greetings from RU) n/m, Siegfried, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:28:13
      • greetings from RU)......thanks remember this?, JohnA , Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:39:03
        • not too much, they're more shomen then car guys (n/m), Siegfried, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:54:03
          • shoWmen, Siegfried, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 12:01:01
      • Re: not the best way to go (greetings from RU) n/m, JohnA , Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:36:52
        • one have to learn to be rich, Siegfried, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:50:06
          • Re: one have to learn to be rich, JohnA , Thu, 5 Mar 2009 11:58:51
  • Can't wait for an independent Saab, Red93SEInBrklyn, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:26:31
  • Be careful what you wish for, Noel, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:15:36
    • perception is everything, James, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 09:40:52 <-- Viewing This Message
      • Speaking of Chinese Copies, Joe D., Thu, 5 Mar 2009 10:57:22
        • they need to compare them crashed! /nm, James, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 13:13:19
    • Re: Be careful what you wish for, Erik919kt, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:21:45
      • Re: Be careful what you wish for, EGD , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 11:36:55
  • I hope its Peugeot-Citroen, not China...n/m, Savary , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 09:51:23
  • Does Saab have any control over who buys them? -nm, BAAB , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 08:39:18
  • Re: Saab owners rejoice, B Millar , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 07:08:58
  • Hope not the Chinese's..., caukinh, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 06:48:35
    • Re: Hope not the Chinese's..., Florent Nunes, Thu, 5 Mar 2009 09:14:55
    • Re: Hope not the Chinese's..., RobsSaab, Wed, 4 Mar 2009 14:25:50
    • communist bastards, good article...n/m, Savary , Wed, 4 Mar 2009 10:28:14

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