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yes, GM did abuse SAAB Posted by ryan [Email] (#2222) [Profile/Gallery] (more from ryan) on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:39:47 In Reply to: Re: SAABs Studebakers and other orphans, kkelley, Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:38:05 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
and I (or anyone else) do have the right to this opinion, buddy. :)
I worked at GM for awhile and I know what was going on. For one, they took a lot of SAAB technology and then decimated the technical staff over there. I know personally of some very high-quality engineers that were simply thrown out. This was very shortly after the complete buy-out of the brand in 2000 (and can you imagine it only took GM nine years to bleed them dry??).
I don't buy it that SAAB was doomed without GM. I know that BMW sells many more cars than SAAB, but there was the same bogus talk going on around 10 years ago when the MBAs were saying that the holding family HAD to sell BMW to Ford or GM, and that they were living in the past going it alone. Well, look which company was and is more profitable, and look what happened to our dear Big3.
It wasn't GM that made a bad business decision buying SAAB, the GM mentality is to get its hands on anything it can. They were trying to do that with Fiat/Lancia/Alfa Romeo too. Again, I know what the mentality was INSIDE GM. It was, we are going to eventually suck these brands in.. it was never considered a joint venture! I think how the Fiat Group made GM cough up $2 billion to get out of that put option was one of the best automotive stories in history. What made it more funny is how the Fiat Group is growing and GM went bankrupt.
All GM needed to ever do was put SAAB on par with the appeal of Volvo. That needed some basic investment (not rebadging Chevys and Subarus), and also nurturing of SAAB's Swedish core (not throwing out staff). That was never done; but they sure did enjoy picking the brains of the staff there and then making them redundant.
posted by 76.173.10...
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