[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos Re: For SAAB, It has come to this buyer or shut-down Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board Posted by MattWiltse [Email] (#263) [Profile/Gallery] (more from MattWiltse) on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:42:55 In Reply to: For SAAB, It has come to this buyer or shut-down, TG, Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:46:12 Alert me when someone posts in this thread: Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

Consider the question once again as: "what should a buyer hope to find in SAAB"? At it's best SAAB is a "boutique" automaker, of innovative, unconventional, and practical vehicles, to me. Although this appeals greatly to the subset who enjoy them, any company hoping to expand that appeal to the mass market will face an uphill battle.
For reaching high sales figures, the best one can hope is to become the "Fashionista" (aka "the Douch-bag) car. SAAB at one time had this attraction, BMW has been the brand du jour for years now, although Audi seems to be eclipsing it of late. Buy SAAB like GM did & try to make it into something it is not, a premium brand to compete with Lexus & Mercedes, and you better have a great marketing plan and alot of $$ to get from point a to b.
Frankly, I believe your luxury marque money would be better spent on Volvo. Not that the cars are better, but Ford did better by Volvo than GM has done by SAAB (starving SAAB for product, badge engineered V-6 "just because", no 4wd until YEARS after everybody else, thinly badge engineered products like the 9-2, and expensive vehicles that neither appeal to the brand's base or to the mass market- that of course, the 9-7x). But GM's ability to mismanage and devalue a brand is the stuff of legend. Consider another, happier story.
Jaguar faced likely bankruptcy, when privatized after the Iron Lady put Leyland out of our misery. John Egan did a truly commendable job of fishing Jag's reputation from the toilet (the loo?), nixing vendors that wouldn't construct a quality parts, imparting some amount of traditional Jag character to the anonymous XJ-40 project (itself 10 years behind schedule), and after economics made independence financially unsustainable, negotiated a sale to Ford that was overall successful.
And although Ford has benefited far more than Volvo from corporate marriage (for Ford at least, that would be a success, no?), at least they haven't murdered the brand (ala Range Rover), but Ford's brand manager actually appreciated enthusiastically Jaguar's history, and had the clout to get money to develop Jaguar's ideas well (the end run XJ-S was far better than anyone could have hoped the car would EVER be when introduced in '75, the x-300 revamp of the XJ6 also proved very successful. The XK8's. The X-Type notwithstanding- a Mondeo with a perm, and not a high point.) And so far, Tata has acted at least as generously... but time will tell, there.
My point is this- occasionaly, things can work out. Not often (especially in business), and usually with mind-boggling missteps along the way. But even with the best business school planning leading the way, not ALL ventures can result in complete failure. =-)
Success can be found in unusual places and ways, hopefully there is enough of the old SAAB spirit remaining in its leadership to guide the company towards a brighter future. Now that GM's hatchet man is gone, SAAB just MAY have a chance.
May Fritz's career lay in the same graveyard as the makes he destroyed without the vision to see the value they contained, and use them to redevelop GM as guardian of so many vital, independent, and lucrative brands.

Matt
'88 c900 Turbo 'vert auto 188k

• For SAAB, It has come to this buyer or shut-down, TG, Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:46:12
  • Re: For SAAB, It has come to this buyer or shut-down, MattWiltse , Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:42:55 <-- Viewing This Message
    • thanks for the insight, JohnA , Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:05:52
  • "Bad Letter" Dealers if Spyker deal is successful?, MI-Roger , Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:33:21
    • Dealer contract with GM, Aero'ed, Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:59:09
    • It ain't over till the fat lady sings...., billie, Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:51:05
      • I disagree, JohnA , Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:01:03
        • Re: I disagree, B, Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:02:27
          • no need for EIB money, JohnA , Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:37:22
          • appears you were right, JohnA , Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:04:08
          • If you know something about the EIB decision on Saab, JohnA , Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:19:08
            • Re: If you know something about the EIB decision on Saab, Mark from Toronto, Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:14:28
              • Re: If you know something about the EIB decision on Saab, JohnA , Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:01:40
          • This is a brutal business enviroment...., K-Saab , Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:09:49
            • but Saab does have cashflow. GM was playing funny, Trev, Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:51:57

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