It seems Volvo Motorsport are teaming up with AVL to develop their race car for the Swedish Touring Car Championship in 2009.
AVL are a global engineering company based in Graz, Austria.
In October 2008, GM Powertrain Europe sold it's facilities in Södertälje to AVL. The sale included the site, the buildings and the employees working there. These guys were working on the next generation of biofuel and turbocharged four cylinder engines for GM Powertrain Europe, work which moved to Trollhattan after the sale.
Now, less than a year later, they're advancing development of a Volvo C30 biofuel race car.
The Googletrans from Polestar:
Volvo Motorsport Division and AVL have recently entered into a partnership based around Volvo STCC projects. The cooperation covers the 2009 season and is based both on technical and commercial elements.......Our goal is not only to win the STCC but also to develop our C30 DRIVE racing the world's best racing cars in the FIA's Super 2000 regulations. It is AVL with their skills and their products [who are] an ideal partner for us and our ambitions," says Derek Crabb, Motorsport Director of Volvo Car Corporation.
AVL is the world's largest independent company for the development of combustion engines and transmissions. The company was founded in 1948 and is based in Graz, Austria. AVL develops and sells advanced measurement and analytical equipment to the automotive industry. The group consists of nearly 5000 employees as part of a global network of development and test resources.
Operations in Sweden include the testing of engines, vehicles and gearboxes, south of Stockholm and Södertälje.
With a position at the forefront of engine development AVL has a long tradition of cooperating with and helping racing teams to success worldwide, especially in Formula 1.
It's a little sad to see what are essentially ex-Saab guys working with the other side, but I hope they go well and the car comes in a very close second to the Saab Performance 9-3 in the STCC this year.
I'm sure there'll be plenty of friendly banter and backslapping in the pits, whichever way the results go.
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Thanks Jörgen!!!
I know some extremly able Saab enthusists, technicians and racers, including myself, who would work their hearts out to perform well in this series in the States if the funding was provided.
I have been a proponent of this type of advertising for Saab for a long time as a Saab racer myself. We have run and won on the dirt, strip, Ice and pavement with Saab race cars. The rally heritage is strong but way outdated and i do not think this is a strong enough marketing tool as of late. But the touring series is perfect place for Saab to show it strengths in performance and alternate fuels....especially now if finally connected to Koenigsegg...
Now that would make some people stand up and see our product and then cheer for the "Rocky" style comaback we're all aspiring too... D-
I know some extremly able Saab enthusists, technicians and racers, including myself, who would work their hearts out to perform well in this series in the States if the funding was provided.
I have been a proponent of this type of advertising for Saab for a long time as a Saab racer myself. We have run and won on the dirt, strip, Ice and pavement with Saab race cars. The rally heritage is strong but way outdated and i do not think this is a strong enough marketing tool as of late. But the touring series is perfect place for Saab to show it strengths in performance and alternate fuels....especially now if finally connected to Koenigsegg...
Now that would make some people stand up and see our product and then cheer for the "Rocky" style comeback we're all aspiring too... D-
The only problem by now is funding. So if you have the money, they have the car, till then SAAB is struggling quite a lot because of money, so I think motorsports is the last thing they have money for. And I am a motorsports enthusiast.
Here a little taste of their work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSxp3N8_Pxk
This is purely a prospective from my own experience, however as a motorsports enthusist and a race car driver/builder some things come to mind regarding some of the thoughts others have offered regarding Keonigsegg's ability in ownership with Saab.
I beleive there is an additonal personal side to this for the owners of Keonigsegg, as opposed to a large owner like GM, kind of driver of the will so to speak, which could be the greatest advantage to both brands.
We spend a lot of time building and racing cars. That is what I love to do. Aside from the dealership operations, my personal life is filled with items of speed. I got the addiction at a very young age. I beleive the Koenigsegg team have this addiction to speed, as noted in a CvK biography clip, he aspired to build a faster/better cars the Italians as did his partners. Using that drive combined with spirit, intelligence and patience they developed one of the worlds fastest cars along with several additional vehicles and electronics which excel in operation. They are perfectionists on top of that.
Saab is a niche car, I don't believe it will ever be a huge mainstream brand, nor do I want it to be. Saab is special and should remain that way. My prospective would suggest this: Keonigsegg manufactures percision devices, whether it cars or other, mostly related to speed, high speed. They have the addiction. Saab is a perfect venue to fuel that addiction. Remaining a small manufacture controlled by a small manufacture of grandure products of super modern technology and cutting edge materials presents a platform for duel successes; The Saab brand can survive with a positive cash flow of much less time then being tied to GM and their expenses therefore the ability to earn positive cash flow in a short time is real. Keonigsegg would be able to combine forces with some of the worlds leading engineers and bring to a Saab platform a functional hightech and ecologically sound product, which is exactly what the world is looking for. This turns a brand like Saab from a zero to fast selling hero "over night". Keonigsegg and their team get a few things too, but mostly more fuel for the addiction.
In the end I don't feel a GM size owner is good for our brand. We need someone who wants to and needs to attend to this brand not add it to a porfolio somewhere. I think Keonigsegg has the drive and will and need to love Saab. Now the cost for a operational manufacture is cheap compared to what it was or may ever be again. I beleive this is a piece of why such a small company would even be a player in the big dog wars of manufacturing. Saab could be the hit that allows Keonigsegg to continue to develope high speed hightech feats of engineering. Because in the end, its not the money, its being able to fuel the things that make you smile. A Keonigsegg Saab marriage has "home run" written all of it. Saab needs to operate like its Dealers, lean and mean. We all do it now and it works.
Darryl
I was just watching Daytona with a bunch of Honda enthusiasts who apparently never even considered that a saab could race. So there seems to be the traditional Saab issue of complete ignorance and unbelievability by most race car fans. But what better car to race than a car that is not only specifically designed for maximum engine/speed/rpm output with its unique turbo charged engine but also a car that would be extremely manueverable and move on the race course? Saab would need to prove itself to the race car industry as a contender, but again that doesn't seem like that is a financial option at the moment.
So what if a driver brought a Saab into some of the big races? Sarah Fisher, Indy driver, is financing her own racing at this point and might be interested in racing a Saab, but she would probably seek sponsorship from Saab if she did that, something Saab financially is not prepared to offer right now. Also, Danica Patrick, though seen by the world only as a sex symbol, did just win the Indy 500 in Japan and beneath the marketing seems to be a very intuitive and serious driver. She's with Honda but if she got into a Saab she might change her mind. I'm mentioning women because they would most likely break form with typical race car ideology and go for the very weird Swedish car over Fords and Hondas and even Saab-designed Volvos.
Also, why doesn't Saab bring back the Talladega edition as a mid-range option coming down from the Turbo X?
And speaking of the Talladega, I lived in Alabama briefly and took my 1990 Saab 900 Turbo out on one of the practice tracks. We killed the competition, not really with speed but with manuevering around other cars -- Beemers and Hondas and whatever.
So yes in the long run Saab deserves the shot as a car that could really outperform (in its uniquely otherworldly ways) Volvos and Hondas, etc.. because inherent in its engineering is race form, an equal balance of speed and maneuvering.
I'm willing to take a vamped out Saab race car to the next Nascar or Indy event and see if we can entice some unsuspecting driver into it to try and sell them on why they should drive Saab in their races from now on.
also beg to question whether extreme condition rally races are so outdated. If there is a market for "Ice Road Truckers" and adventure tourism, why not combine "Globe Trekker" with rally races in extreme geographies?
I was just watching Daytona with a bunch of Honda enthusiasts who apparently never even considered that a saab could race. So there seems to be the traditional Saab issue of complete ignorance and unbelievability by most race car fans. But what better car to race than a car that is not only specifically designed for maximum engine/speed/rpm output with its unique turbo charged engine but also a car that would be extremely manueverable and move on the race course? Saab would need to prove itself to the race car industry as a contender, but again that doesn't seem like that is a financial option at the moment.
So what if a driver brought a Saab into some of the big races? Sarah Fisher, Indy driver, is financing her own racing at this point and might be interested in racing a Saab, but she would probably seek sponsorship from Saab if she did that, something Saab financially is not prepared to offer right now. Also, Danica Patrick, though seen by the world only as a sex symbol, did just win the Indy 500 in Japan and beneath the marketing seems to be a very intuitive and serious driver. She's with Honda but if she got into a Saab she might change her mind. I'm mentioning women because they would most likely break form with typical race car ideology and go for the very weird Swedish car over Fords and Hondas and even Saab-designed Volvos.
Also, why doesn't Saab bring back the Talladega edition as a mid-range option coming down from the Turbo X?
And speaking of the Talladega, I lived in Alabama briefly and took my 1990 Saab 900 Turbo out on one of the practice tracks. We killed the competition, not really with speed but with manuevering around other cars -- Beemers and Hondas and whatever.
So yes in the long run Saab deserves the shot as a car that could really outperform (in its uniquely otherworldly ways) Volvos and Hondas, etc.. because inherent in its engineering is race form, an equal balance of speed and maneuvering.
I'm willing to take a vamped out Saab race car to the next Nascar or Indy event and see if we can entice some unsuspecting driver into it to try and sell them on why they should drive Saab in their races from now on.
And I don't think rallying is outdated. It is just a sport people don't like to enter their beloved cars in for fear the cars (and maybe their owners too) might not survive.
I think Saab would make a brilliant rally car if the bottom was made out of superproof galvanized steel, particularly in ice conditions.
Maybe we can have the Saab touring team meet and greet with the Ice Truckers on some car survivor reality TV Show? Marketing indeed. :)