I read this recently and it makes sense. Ford wanted to buy some Euro brands and was able to scoop up Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo, so GM for competitive reasons tried to buy something similar. At the time, all that was left were Lotus and Saab. So they bought them, but quickly dumped Lotus.

They never knew what to do with Saab, that's obvious. After a period of benign neglect they started to get involved and were horrified by what they found. Not that it was bad for a small company in a small market, but they thought they had a world-beating brand in Saab. The bozos bought a niche player and somehow thought they could shove them out onto the world stage to compete with BMW/Merc/Audi and the upscale Japanese without any backup.

As has been pointed out, the only reason they're moving more metal at the moment is 0-0-0. Apparently the 9-3 is a very good car, but it may be too little, too late. Poor Saab, now it's been forced into a shotgun marriage with Opel in which Opel will call almost all the shots. I predict a lot of Saab insiders are going to start bailing and trying to move over to Volvo, which will only increase the number of non-Saabistas in the company.

posted by 216.205.22...

• This could be the end of Saab exclusivity??, Eduard, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 17:42:59
  • This is not ALL bad IF...., g00 se, Tue, 14 Jan 2003 06:33:45
    • You're right., Allan, Tue, 14 Jan 2003 09:15:07
  • I feel vindicated..., Dave D, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 22:55:53
  • I feel your pain, Allan, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 21:57:11
  • Re: This could be the end of Saab exclusivity??, CWilson, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:38:02
  • The irony here is too much... Viggen?!?!?, Allen K, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:33:31
  • Re: This could be the end of Saab exclusivity??, pursang, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 17:55:31
    • How GM ended up with Saab, phred, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:02:34 <-- Viewing This Message
      • About rebadged Opels, Eli5, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:38:53
        • When did they do that?, Hood, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 21:32:02
          • Caddy Catera was a rebadged Vauxhall/Opel omega. n/m, Dave Westlake, Tue, 14 Jan 2003 09:53:50
            • Bingo. Forgot about that disaster. (n.m), Hood, Tue, 14 Jan 2003 10:31:15
        • Corporate memory?, phred, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:49:49
          • They also have FIAT to play with....., derek, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:47:20
            • According to Auto News, phred, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 21:02:46
          • More good news for GM, phred, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 19:53:46
    • Re: This could be the end of Saab exclusivity??, Paul , Mon, 13 Jan 2003 18:31:16
  • This was inevitable, Ian Glenday , Mon, 13 Jan 2003 17:50:05
    • it was inevitable, but for different reasons..., Eli5, Mon, 13 Jan 2003 18:10:47

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