I couldn't resist this one, from Magnus in comments:
Todays Dagens Nyheter (The Daily News, which is the biggest paper in Sweden) quoted SAAB's head of marketing Knut Simonsson who made a statement in DI (Dagens Industri) on who's bidding for SAAB:"They have both the financial resorces and management capacity and eat using the right kind of cutlery"
I guess that leaves the Chinese out ...
Maybe it means Knut loves a good Yum Cha?
It's an interesting comment, no matter which way you play it. It's certainly not something you'd expect the marketing boss to come out with. It's more like something you'd expect a blogger to say.
Maybe there's hope for Saab doing a real-world grass roots communications effort after all.
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TTELA are reporting that Saab orders are rising at the moment. They're rising to such an extent that Saab may soon be in a position to reinstate some of the 700 workers they laid off recently.
A doubling of work means that the number of produced cars per day would increase from 100 to 200. And that in turn would, according Åkerlund, permitting Saab needs to "pick the staff" to meet production. How many jobs could be considered, however, he does not want to speculate on at present.
It's still a comparatively low production number, but it's encouraging to see that things are picking up.
Thanks Michael!
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There's a very good chance that General Motors will be forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings next week. GM's time is officially up on June 1, but there are rumours that it could happen as early as Wednesday 27th.
The big question is whether or not GM's Ch11 proceeding will have any significant impact on Saab's sale process.
This from DN.se
- I do not think anyone can say with certainty what is happening with the Saab if it becomes a chapter 11 of the GM. But clearly, if we are very close to a deal with a new owner, so I find it difficult to see that there is something of interest in America to not pursue it, argues Paul Åkerlund, chairman of the IF Metall in the Saab.Gunilla Gustavs at Saab Automobile information indicates, as well as Rolf Åbjörnsson, that much can happen if GM ports in chapter 11.
- It is a process with many variations. We can not speculate on how Saab affected. It is possible that there may be no significance at all. But we must try to prepare ourselves, "says Gustav TT.
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Something to think about when you're concerned about the pockets of our three bidders.
- All have been reviewed by Deutsche Bank
- All have seen and agreed with Saab's business plan - bringing production, design etc back to Sweden and building the 9-3x, 9-4x, 9-5 sedan and wagon.
- All have proven that they have the access to sufficient funding to bring Saab's business plan to fruition.
So in terms helping Saab back on to their feet, all three should be capable. It's whether they can carry Saab if things don't work out, and whether they can bring more new models to Saab's future that may be of some concern.
I guess what Simonsson meant was the best bidders are the two (out of three ?) use the same cutlery he does. If indeed those were his words.
And, from what I know of Knut, I can't believe he supports Renco in any way at all. A poor fit for the brand and ideals.
Interesting to look at each of the speculated candidates through the mission + vision ideas on a previous post to see who fits well.
Or even: it might actually be a hint that some are chinese businessmen who will be able to understand a Swedish brand.
Does anyone know the "normal" output per day?
working every day in year.
But I don't know how many days factory is
closed.
To me, Saab needs the prestige of a dependable, high quality, fun to drive, safe vehicle. The Saab brand is its strength and it doesn't need anyones help here. 99.9% of the people on the planet have no idea what a Koenoigsegg is and it is likely most who do probably ain't buying a mass market Saab.
Saab doesn't need anyone else's prestige, it just needs to be Saab. That is what GM missed. Simple execution.
I trust KjellacBergTorqueStrom and the boys (and girls) at Powertrain to make anyone's engines perform better using Swade's Open Source idea.
Yes it is absurd to appeal to the short attention spans and addiction to shiny objects that governs automotive reporters. But it will be necessary.
Greg - I thought the ng9-5, ng9-4x were the prestige Saabs soon to be "coming out". You make a great point about the automotive press and I am more concerned with the automotive customer. I don't mean to be negative, I just think the fit is overrated and could hurt Saab as much as help.
Actually, I'm not so sure. Saab owners on average seems to have some of the highest income, and you buy neither a Saab nor a Koenigsegg to show off, a Mercedes and a Ferrari is more likely in that case. None of them are afraid of thinking outside the box.
Who would you like to see own Saab? Name names.
anyway, i am still thinking outside the box and willing to be patient.
(it was soooo lonely driving thru Pennsylvania - saw ONE Saab sitting by itself in an auto auction lot. But, Winchester, Virginia brought more Saabs than BMWS to me eyes. Am now in Chevrolet truck area.)
have a happy weekend.
and, what makes you think Manchurians don't use spoons?
Zippy and Lars X There are several people I would like to see own Saab.
I would love to own it with management and let Saab be Saab.
If not me, close to home, I would like to see the Wallenberg or Kamprad families own Saab. Other families which would be cool are John Malone, Bob Hughes, and Bob Ratliff, Lee Iacocca would be cool. Paul Allen too. Or, the Porsche family. After last night, LeBron James makes the cut. Some one along those lines who will give Saab a singular focus.
You want to make the calls?
Car & Driver has nice article about NG 9-5
and what does it mean to SAAB.
Nothing that we don't know but very
positive.
Better not work together with Honda on Hybrids then..
I love the Clarksonian language:
"IT'S TERRIBLE. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It's the first car I've ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I wouldn't have to drive it any more. "
"The Honda's petrol engine is a much-shaved, built for economy, low-friction 1.3 that, at full chat, makes a noise worse than someone else's baby crying on an airliner. So you're sitting there with the engine screaming its head off, and your ears bleeding, and you're only doing 23 mph because that's about the top speed, and you're thinking things can't get any worse, and then they do because you run over a small piece of grit."
Tom
"As the auto industry stops building the kinds of cars Americans like, more will hang onto the cars they have longer, further depressing sales of new cars. They'll have to pry the keys for my 2004 Saab 93 from my cold, dead fingers."
;-)
I like Saab and what it stands for and hope Saab will continue being Saab.
Shows like TopGear would drool if they got their hands on something like that.
The logic of any K-Segg "push and pull" strategy is dubious at best. Ferrari, Maserati, and Fiat are in the same family. Applying the same premise, Fiat, ALfa, Lancia should be killing it with the coolness of Ferrari and Maserati. Not happening at all.
They are completely different products marketed to two distinct customers with no crossover. Same with Bentley and Audi, Rolls + Mimi and BMW, Mayback with MB. Completely different products and markets. I don't know anyone who buys a car except for the brand values of that car. If this wasn't true, we would all own Fiat. If is what K-Segg is thinking, they are making a mistake.
Also, you will never see a "Fiat tuned by Ferrari". It would turn off the Ferrari buyer.
They still list the diesel V6 which was canned by GM, but I liked reading the article. I felt a positive tone on it, which is a good thing.