Are Saab the biggest beneficiary of the Carpocalypse?
June 19, 2009 in Archive
Consider the following:
- Opel may end up part of a US/Canadian/Russian consortium
- Volvo may well end up in Beijing
- Porsche are going to need a bailout by Qatar
- Saturn lives in name only.
- Hummer has gone to an unknown machinery firm in China.
- Many of Chrysler’s nameplates will disappear.
- Pontiac is flat out dead (the last sign of life, the Vibe, was snuffed out today).
….and there’s probably more that I can’t think of as I write this.
Out of all the car companies being affected by the Carpocalypse (copyright, Jalopnik), could Saab be considered the biggest beneficiary?
It was a good article at Examiner.com that prompted this question.
……if Koenigsegg injects some of its own remarkable automotive insight and engineering prowess into Saab, then I truly believe we will see one of the greatest resurgences of intelligent and progressive automobile manufacturing of the 21st century.
I agree.
Of course, the big IF there is largely dependent upon Saab’s ability to turn their sales around with new models, and the Koenigsegg Group’s ability to invest in developing all-new models, particularly a new 9-3, in the future.
Saab grew an awesome reputation from the 60′s through the early 90′s, only to lose it to a large degree in the last 15 years (despite what were still some pretty good cars).
It’s not often that a company goes through that and had a chance to genuinely return to it’s geographical and technological roots.
Saab could well be the biggest automotive winner in this current crisis.
