Re: In the eighties BMW and Audi had - Saab General Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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Re: In the eighties BMW and Audi had
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Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:44:38 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Re: In the eighties BMW and Audi had, SI, Tue, 5 Apr 2011 21:52:19
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For most of the '80s in the US BMW had 3.5 platforms (3, 5, 7 - the 6 was a shrunken 7) and three basic engines (the 4cyl, the small 6 in displacements from 2.3l to 2.7l, and the big six in displacements from 3.2l to 3.5l). There were variations, but most of them were made with the same parts. At the end of the '80s they added the 8-series (dropping the 6) and added the V8 and V12 engines.

Audi had two platforms (the 4000/80/90 and 5000/100) and two basic engines (the 5cyl and 8cyl).

Saab had two platforms (900 and 9000) and one basic engine (B-series).

Saab has always been plagued by low sales and high costs, and has never had NEARLY the domestic market the Germans have had to help spread out costs. Audi and BMW made gobs of cheap cars we never got here, and all Saab had was the 90 for a short time.

The thing that really put it in perspective for me was looking at Audi's sales. Audi sold 100,000 cars in the US last year against 1,000,000 cars sold worldwide. Saab has struggled to sell 90,000 cars worldwide, with a relatively larger percentage of cars (versus Audi) being sold here. Point being, they aren't selling piles of cars in their home market.

IME, GM kept Saab from tanking in the early '90s - when they couldn't afford new product development - but probably just put them on life support rather than breathing new life. IME, the NG900 did NOTHING for Saab - it alienated a lot of loyal buyers, and did very little to bring new people into the fold. It was arguably better technologically than the outgoing 900, but did not stand up well against the E36 or A4 that came out very shortly thereafter. I think that damage was long-lasting - once you have lost a buyer to another car, winning them back is hard. If you looked at a '94 900 and a '94 325i and chose the 325i, there is every likelihood you're going to go see the BMW dealer next time you need a car. And let's face it, the 3-series continuously is very, very good.

More IME, Saab right now is in the unfortunate position of needing to establish itself and attract new buyers altogether. Yeah, some people like Saab and buy Saab because it's Saab, but most people need the value proposition explained to them again. I don't think you are going to get many, if any, people to jump into a new $50,000 Saab no matter how good it is. That market is extremely saturated with very good cars, that are very well known. The 9-5 may be quite good, but is it better than a 5-series. No. As good? Maybe. But I don't think anyone can demonstrate clear superiority.

Saab - IME - has two choices to become successful: Build less expensive, less risky cars. Put a $25,000 whateveritis out on the market. LOTS of people will look at a $25,000 car versus the number of people shopping for a $50,000 car. People will probably even take a risk on a $25,000 car if its defensible. Or, actually build the Aero X, charge $100k for it - maybe more. You may not sell a single one, but plenty of stupid rich folks will buy an Aero X because it looks amazing, because the neighbors don't have one, and because people who drop $100k on a car can afford the risk. I am SHOCKED that this late in the game we haven't seen a Spyker with Aero X bodywork. SHOCKED. A nutty fast Saab with a huge sticker would get LOTS of attention sitting out front of dealerships. Magazines would race to test them. And PILES of free publicity would result.

Meh. My $0.02.



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