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It's an old saying that comes to mind when I hear mention of a Saab SUV. Seems like every automobile company on the planet wants a piece of the currently profitable SUV market. Trouble is, just about every auto company has one or more offerings, or is planning to enter the market with one. In my view, SUV demand is peaking, and as that happens, competition is bound to heat up. Pity the "Jonny-come-lately to market" when that happens and the number of SUV manufacturers diminish as the market moves from growth to maturity.
Personally, I think we're reaching the point where the novelty of driving huge trucks will wear off and the practicality of more affordable, better handling cars will will be remembered. Maybe it's already happening given that so many of the new generation SUVs are being built on car platforms. It may well be that SUV's don't go away. They'll just morph into cars.
Personally, I've got nothing against SUVs; I like them. I just think the car companies are over-reaching. Already, friends of mine at GM are switching back to cars and mini-vans because the resale value on their employee purchases/drive & buy SUVs have gone to hell in a handbasket. Used to be, a GMer could buy a Suburban through the company vehicle program, drive it for 6 months, and sell it at a profit.
Those days are long gone. Now the Suburban that once cost $16-22K now costs $32-50K. As prices went higher, low rate leasing programs made them affordable as long as resale values held. Those resale values are plummeting, and GM, or GMAC is losing money on them. Not surprisingly lease rates have gone waaay up. Meanwhile, a ton of these vehicles coming off lease are flooding the market making it even harder for owners to trade for new ones.
Saab's got a good product, and a great story to tell. They could do so much more to market their current products than they have. For instance, when was the last time you saw Saab advertise on television? Rather than invest a $Billion in developing an SUV that might flop, they ought to spend their resources positioning the product against the more well known, upscale competitors such as M-B, Audi, Volvo, and BMW.
Your thoughts?
posted by 216.40.165...
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