SaabsUnited.com

It’ll come as no surprise that I’ve been annoyed with the knives the Swedish press corps has been aiming at Saab and Koenigsegg in recent weeks.

Earlier tonight, I shared an article from Allt om Motor (via dn.se, I believe) where the writer aimed his latest criticism at the new Saab 9-5. Blogo sent through the translation to that article, and he’s followed that up by sending through some of the comments that readers have left on the article.

It’s really heartening to see some of the Swedish Saab fans (and maybe some aren’t Saab fans, just fair-minded readers) taking the writer – Lasse Swörd – to task over his article.

Here are some of the comments as translated and sent in by Blogo.

I’d like to encourage any Swedes that see negative press reports to evaluate those reports, and where you see something that’s wrong, to write comments or even write a letter to the journalist concerned. It really does work.

Thanks again to Blogo!

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Håkan 25 minutes ago

Lasse, Lasse!
You do what most other journalists in Sweden do. Running with the pack, oddly enough. Ans none of you seem to do background checks. The important thing is to put a sensational headline to the blog/article/leader and then to argue for the title so that it will seem to be close to the truth.

What if someone instead were to try seeking the truth instead of trying to create your own and then day after day make the case for it? Then perhaps we readers could form our own view on things.

Many of these observations have revealed the facts to compare with. And of course, a four-wheel drive automatic transmission with a strong engine and heavy car will use more gasoline, but that can not be unique to Saab, I guess?

Should a small car be profitable for a manufacturer, several hundred thousand must be manufactured. And it’s not mass-produced cars that individualists want, I suppose?

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B 2 hours ago

The correct question is “Who is looking for a green car?”. Not the purchaser of an A6, 5 Series or E-Class anyway.

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ll0606 3 hours ago

Saab have to start somewhere to make money, and it can not be done with a small car in small volumes where the competition is pure murder. Saab must make lots of money on each car sold and I think we do best with a larger and more exclusive car. Saab is in need of a small car and a successor to the Saab 9-3. This is of course entirely clear but it must also have money and capacity to do so.

Saab has its new Saab 9-5 has a very attractive car that is bound to sell well enough that the model will provide a profit if it only comes into production, which we really hope. That the government with all its incompetent and totally senseless statements about Saab strongly contributed to Saab’s drop in sales is just too sad. That most of the government, including Maud Olofsson, the head chooses to discard both Saab and Volvo shows of course also to care very little about the Swedish car industry and all its employees. Saab and all employees in the automotive industry needs all the help available to them to succeed, even from you motor journalists.

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Emil 4 hours ago

Hello Lasse!

Now I have been looking for info about Volvo, Audi or a VW, which according to you has lower CO2 emissions than Saabs 139gr/km (160hk 2.0 tid).

Unfortunately, I can find very few comparable models. To compare a Volvo S80 with only 110 hp and Saab’s engine, I think is not fair.

Volvo S80:
1.6 D/109hk (?) 129g/km 10g lower emissions is not enough for green car class …
2.0 D/136hk 151g/km
2.4 D/175hk 155g/km

Audi A6:
2.0 tdi/170hk 149g/km
2.0 tdi/136hk 139g/km (same as Saab but less power)

VW Passat CC:
2.0 tdi/170hk 146g/km

VW Passat
2.0 TDI BlueMotion 110hk 129g/km … 110hk …
2.0 tdi/140hk 148g/km
2.0 tdi/170hk 163g/km (automatic transmission)

BMW (which you do not refer to) have a model (520D/177hk) emitting 136g/km …

If you start to compare the figures are not so bad for gasoline engines, so I do not understand your argument. Or do you have any other facts that I can not find on the manufacturers’ websites? One might wonder who buys a S80 or Passat BlueMotion with 110hp which still is not classed as clean…

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Arne Svensson 18 hours ago

Lasse Swärd is way out of line!

Talk about seeing things in black and white and even quite unfair criticism. Go back to sleep or wake up in real life maybe … and see what kind of cars people buy today. For example, how many of today’s Biopower cars are sold with automatic transmission? That’s right … out of line, yes.

Best wishes, Arne

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Daniel 20 hours ago

Lasse Swärd does it again (unfortunately). Talk about being negative. I would happily buy the diesel variant, which is quite competitive compared to similar sized cars. Just hope that they can get the estate version as soon as next year, which seems likely.

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Mikael Lindberg 20 hours ago

It’s really sad with all these negative analysis of Saab’s future. It makes you almost believe that the government and the media is stuck in a downward spiral, which always penalizes SAAB.

Saab was already before the reconstruction unfairly reviewed as automakers. Let Saab at least get a chance, now that they seem to be on the right track in developing new cars, or people think it is more profitable to send out 10 000-15 000 car worker in unemployment

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max 20 hours ago

Poor show DN. The aging Saab 9-5 was still in Sweden 4th best selling car 2008. Does DN believe that Saab would abandon the segment of the market? Demand for large cars in the premium segment are intact both in Sweden and the United States. It is mid-range and large cars that have margins and opportunities to make money. Small cars have to be made in huge volumes in order for them to become profitable.

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SType_R 20 hours ago

Another interesting question is whether it is true that they get out 180hp from a 1.6a. Awesome that the Haldex system is finally coming to 9-5 incl eLSD. But where is the V8? Certainly the environmental issue is valid, but there is a demand for larger engines still, especially in the United States. But perhaps it fits awkwardly with a Swedish environmental profile. However, the images are great. Sporty, stylish and hot. This will carry all the way!

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bossese 20 hours ago

Worse than the Volvo and Audi? S80 155g/km and 149g/km Audi with equivalent diesel engine! And 139 g / km on Saab. As usual, no know-how from DN so called. motor journalists. It will be fun to see what you will write when the deal is complete and everything has been delivered. ………………………

I receive every comment that comes through this site via email. Consequently, I get a feel for who’s who, who knows what’s going on and who likes a good theory.
One person I’ve come to the highest respect for in terms of real-world knowledge about the products Saab are dealing with is a commenter named “Saabjohan”. I haven’t had any communication with Saabjohan personally, but I can tell from the depth of knowledge he displays whenever he chimes in here that he most likely works pretty closely with the cars we all know and love.
Saabjohan has just left a comment on the My 2 cents article and it’s a comment that addresses some of the questions and doubts expressed by other commenters in that thread.
As I read it, I figured it would be good to move it here to the front page for everyone to see.
I don’t have time to dig up the questions/comments he’s responding to, but I have a feeling they should be pretty self explanatory from the answers anyway.
My thanks to Saabjohan for his time and expertise.
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Quijote: Keep in mind that Saab lists the 0-62 mph times, not 0-60 times as Cadillac does. I would also expect the numbers to be on the conservative side, and if you actually run a 9-3 Viggen or an old 9-5 Aero against the new 9-5 Aero with the 300 hp V6 the latter would most likely provide the quickest acceleration in most situations. However, I
don’t know why they have not selected the 325 hp version instead of this 300 hp vesion of that engine. They are most likely almost identical, perhaps the 325 hp version can’t pass emissions for sale on the US market?
As for the Cadillac, it does use a direct injected engine with dual cam phasing something GM still haven’t offered on turbocharged versions. Also, as already have been mentioned, you can’t compare US fuel economy numbers with EU numbers.
raquettelaker2: Why not dig up the old Saab V4 engine too? No seriously, the old B235 is today outdated, it does not have the features you want and need in a modern car engine, and the development work required to update it to a more modern standard, well, it’s not worth it.
Markac: General Motors does not have any 2.2 to 2.4 litre engines that are adapted for turbocharging. The engines that they have in this range are essentially larger capacity versions of the same 2 litre engine found in the new 9-5, and the current 9-3, but without the reinforcements required for turbocharging. The most powerful four cylinder engine GM currently have is the 2.0 litre LNF engine which produce 260 hp, an engine that also feature direct injection and variable cam phasing on both the inlet and exhaust cam. If there was any GM four cylinder engine that is missing in the current engine line
up in 9-5, that’s the one. Imagine a BioPower version of that engine!
Börjesson: The emissions from the 1.6T 180 hp version are very similar to the 170 hp Audi A6, the A6 is a few g/km better, but on the other hand the diesel with it’s 160 hp is quite a bit better than comparable Audi A6 and Audi have no trouble selling these because they are large or consume a lot of fuel. Opel Insignia have also sold quite well in Europe using basically the same engines that Saab is using.
As for a more powerful engine, a lot of people may want a more powerful engine, but not that many actually buy them. In the United States, Audi does for instance only offer one of it’s A6 models with more power, that’s the 350 hp version. But if Saab can introduce the 325 hp engine they are not far behind in terms of power. If you want a more powerful Audi than that you have to buy an S6 and due to their much higher price, they don’t sell in the same type of numbers, and if only say 5% of the customers want such a model and the 9-5 sells 50,000 cars a year you would be forced to share the development costs of those cars over just 2500 vehicles a year. In other words, it’s unlikely that an S6 competitor would pay off.
Sarah: No, Opel engineers was not responsible for the design, but Saab had during the time this car was designed their design office in Germany at the same location as the Opel design office where the head of design was responsible for both Opel and Saab. The Audi A6 was probably a benchmark, but not in terms of design.