I recall seeing press articles for many years now about what a poor investment SAAB has been for GM, and when GM stepped up to buy 100% of SAAB, it was a close decision as many GM insiders wanted to cut their losses and unload their ownership. But at the time Ford was snapping up Jaguar and Volvo, so GM thought they could turn SAAB around. GM has been reported to have put billions into SAAB, with continuing losses.

Now for my commentary:

I like my SAAB (99 9-5)it's my third SAAB, but it has had far too many quality/reliability issues for a car competing in this market segment. Most I could put behind me, but not the failed DI which left my family and I stranded at night far from home. When I contacted SAAB to relate my experience and feelings, I received a weak reply from their customer service indicating that SAAB was an "innovator" and that like many innovations the DI did have some imperfections. (it's been in production for over 10 yrs. and still continues to fail, how absurd an explanation is that ? )

I noticed that one of the postings made a reference to the article citing SAAB as the "quirky luxury automaker". This is precisely how most people I've spoken to who have never owned a SAAB view the Swedish automaker. Quirky and also some believe heard problematic and high maintenance. There are also a few others I've come across they have owned SAABs and were less than thrilled with the cost of ownership. Based on my 9-5 ownership experience, high maintenance sounds like an appropriate label to me. Carry a spare DI in the trunk, or should it be a throttle body or ECU, or perhaps all three ? I don't care if it was the intial model year, I owned a 86 9000T and it was superbly reliable.

Some postings on this board correctly cite the growing global competition that every automaker is facing. Many analysts predict that some automakers will be bought, consolidated, or simply go out of business. Some as mentioned SAAB as a potential candidate, both prior to and after the GM acquisition. Very few car makers can be profitable unless they are turning decent volumes and making at least some amount of money on most cars sold.

Also stay tuned for the impact on bottom line for those automakers who use attractive lease rates to move product. If the residual assumptions do not hold up, the losses can be quite severe as autos are returned from leases. The Japanese can compete on leases because their residuals tend to hold up much better than most European or US makers, and well they should as their long term reliability is way ahead of their competitors. Last I heard is that depreciation on SAABs is one of the higher out there, and looking at the paper I see ads on SAABs from the dealers with very, very aggressive asking prices on lease returns.

Again, the SAAB is undeniably a great driving experience, but when push come to shove, I'll go with the masses on the highway and choose reliability and low maintenance costs over driving experience, sorry if this perspective offends. It's also been very inconvenient to get the warranty service done, as there are so few dealers in Colorado who are close by, and believe me a whole lot of warranty work was performed.

posted by 198.81.26...

• SAAB in Dire Straits -, Ian Glenday , Mon, 18 Nov 2002 22:02:56
  • Using an Opel Vectra's chasis didn't help things..., Street, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 14:31:15
    • Not an Opel Chassis. Its a global GM chassis., Terraplanem, Thu, 21 Nov 2002 18:16:11
    • I've read that the engine isn't smooth..., Ter(Europe), Wed, 20 Nov 2002 03:11:37
    • Not a British Platform ---, Ian Glenday , Tue, 19 Nov 2002 18:47:45
      • I don't think Top Gear was blowing the Opel horn., Terraplanem, Wed, 20 Nov 2002 17:17:15
    • Re: Using an Opel Vectra's chasis didn't help things..., GM, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 16:44:49
  • Botched 9-3SS Launch, Sieglo, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 12:57:30
    • Yes, sad launch but I think they can pull it together., KB88900T, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 23:00:51
    • True. I wonder what the delay is/was about?, Terraplanem, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:50:23
      • It was planed. you don't launch your high prefomance, OHMSS, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 17:08:48
        • New Audi A4 launched with a 3.0...., Sieglo, Wed, 20 Nov 2002 10:19:32
  • Re: SAAB in Dire Straits -, lowbar, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 12:12:26
  • The news made it sound worse but I seriously doubt, Gary, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:59:55
  • Debra Kelly-Ennis, JBinMD, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:52:04
    • Excellent point JBinMD! n/m, Redmilk, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:51:15
  • Re: SAAB in Dire Straits -, jp, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:37:32
  • New Restructing Plan Called "VIGGEN", Redmilk, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:12:27
    • Re: New Restructing Plan Called "VIGGEN", dtech, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:30:07 <-- Viewing This Message
    • Re: New Restructing Plan Called "VIGGEN", MJP, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:22:52
      • Re: New Restructing Plan Called "VIGGEN", Redmilk, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:52:17
  • Here's Autoweek's article:, Rick, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:38:02
  • The worst part about this is:, Redmilk, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:37:43
    • True that! Saab dealers are awful!, Terraplanem, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 14:01:31
      • Re: True that! Saab dealers are awful!, dtech, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 14:36:16
  • production problems?, Pete Saab 9-5, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:19:18
    • It is difficult to retool, especially when a GM is, Terraplanem, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 14:05:22
  • here is the news link, Rollmo, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 08:41:51
  • When I once read that GM had given SAAB the boot,, StanleyB, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 01:12:19
  • "they are not cutting back on any new models", Rafe, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:51:03
  • Re: SAAB in Dire Straits - another link to story, Rod'899kT, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:28:35
    • Somtimes you guys are like a sewing circle ..., J, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:46:24
      • It's good for Saab to cut out the dead wood., KB88900T, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 01:06:40
        • Bush announced cutting 800,000+ jobs, carneykjnc, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 08:58:55
          • I agree with his privatization of parts of the gov., KB88900T, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 20:49:20
          • But he 'publicized' airport screening right?, saw, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 14:00:53
          • Re: Bush announced cutting 800,000+ jobs, AJRitz, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:11:13
            • Bravo!, RS , Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:27:45
  • SAAB News Release that Tells of Changes --, Ian Glenday , Mon, 18 Nov 2002 23:24:25
  • How can they cut back jobs if they can't meet, KB88900T, Mon, 18 Nov 2002 22:52:32
    • "Non-essential" as in people who were under-qualified, J, Mon, 18 Nov 2002 23:08:37
  • 9-3SS should solve the losses once and for all. n/m, J, Mon, 18 Nov 2002 22:26:49
    • I'm Going to buy an Arc As Soon As I Can n/m, Ian Glenday , Mon, 18 Nov 2002 22:36:57
      • Only if you want a second car. You're not going to ..., J, Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:50:32
        • After Seeing 9-3SS at SOC02 I Just Had to, Ian Glenday , Tue, 19 Nov 2002 01:13:46

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