After all of that travel, our host, Swade, is likely comatose for a few more hours yet.
Snippet #1: Penske purchases Saturn.
This really only indirectly effects the majority of Saab owners, but Penske seems to like to be a “virtual” OEM — distributing and servicing cars without actually manufacturing them. They are the folks behind the Smart car in North America, which is, of course, designed and manufactured by Daimler. Of late, Saturn has been essentially the same thing: they’ve been re-badging Opels to sell in North America. According to several sources, Penske is interested in choosing from vehicles manufactured by any auto OEM that will sell in substantial volume here in the US and Canada.
Since Saab and Saturn are distributed in the same channel in Canada, I suspect that Penske would gladly sign up to be the Saab dealer network in that country, and it would be an easy fit for Saab, too. Fair enough. EDIT: Per Bruce in comments, I did not realize that Penske had decided to ax the Canadian market once they assume ownership of Saturn, which naturally poses a question of exactly who will serve the Canadian market for Saabs? Ouch. And all this time I felt good about it because the Canadians were “taken care of”. Not so. This begs the question then for both the US and Canada: Will Saab build the infrastructure to support these dealers, or will someone else fill the void?
I suppose that one could make a good argument for a similar deal in the United States: let the Penske-owned Saturn dealers handle Saabs as well. If we had no other existing dealer network, that would be fine. However, we do have a cadre of well-versed Saab dealers that presumably would prefer to continue the relationship with Saab. Perhaps here in the United States, Penske could serve as a distributor to the existing dealer network? It would relieve Saab of the pressures and logistics of distribution — a business that isn’t necessarily Saab’s forte.
I can also see that many of Saab’s designs could be built in China, Korea or the US and distributed as Saturns through a company like Penske. We Saabisti would win because the Saab-designed cars would be more readily available and presumably less expensive.
I’ve stated before that I’d like Saab to pursue non-traditional distribution schemes to maximize the footprint with as little investment in time and resources as possible. Either option would certainly work towards that goal.
Side bar:
On a very sad note for those of us in my local area, the GM Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, originally built in the middle and late 1980′s to manufacture Saturn automobiles, will close in November after just completing a 14-month renovation to produce the Chevrolet Traverse and sister vehicles.
Snippet #2: What does this picture tell you about the way that I drive?
According to this article in the Daily Mail, plenty.
You see, it seems that my hands tell tales that I’m not willing to admit!
In a recent series of studies, science has determined that the length of a man’s ring finger corresponds to several traits, one of which is aggressive driving. They asked several men to catalog their various traffic offenses and one of the strongest correlations was to ring finger length. The longer the fourth finger, the more aggressive the driver.
As you can see from the photograph, my fourth finger is longer by about one-quarter to three-eights inch (8 mm to 10 mm) than my index (second) finger.
I could tell this tale in many ways, but I’ll say this: I had to apply for a waiver to be commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force because I had accumulated eight traffic offenses before graduation from college at age 22. During the four-year span that I owned my first Saab, I was cited five times in four US states (Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Colorado). I’ve been to traffic court in at least ten jurisdictions across the country (fifteen would be my best guess).
You could say that I’m a case-in-point. Are you?
Age has mellowed me; I’ve not been pulled over by the cops in at least three years. I’m trying to continue that trend. I may start some kind of syndrome to help other guys get out of their tickets — “Quad Phalange Syndrome (QPS)” or “Long Fourth Malady (L4M)”. It just might work…Abbott, check the precedents!
Snippet # 3: Is it just me, or does the “baby Rangie” look like a Saab 9x SUV?
I saw this announcement on Top Gear and immediately thought that it had the same basic silhouette as the Saab 9x, only in beef cake SUV form. Maybe it’s the white color, wrap-around windows and clam-shell hood, but, wow, I think that it’s got a lot of 9x in it. Your thoughts?
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Additional note: My indy Saab shop (now working on many makes) needs a manager for their second location. If you are interested and have some management experience, they want to talk to you. This location has been open only one month but has exploded with business in an under served area. I know that jobs may be tough to come by these days, so I’m spreading the word. Naturally, you’ll have to live or move here.
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{ 18 comments }
Not sure about that ring finger thing. My ring finger situation is very similar to yours, but I’ve been largely ticket/points free for most of my driving years. Well, mostly. There was that 90 day suspension for trying unsuccessfully to outrun the West Middlesex, PA chief of police in my 63 Studebaker (when I was much younger). Then, of course, there were several successful evasions (also years ago). Several road rage incidents … hmm, maybe there is something to it.
@ Ted: You’re in the club. Confess.
My ring finger’s length is much longer than my index finger. My friends, and even myself, can vouch for that study, I am a very aggressive driver (much less now than I was my first year of college). I think it has something to do with Saabs ;] .
But the thing is, I’ve never received a ticket nor been in a traffic collision. I do believe I am a fantastically skilled driver but I know I do have some luck. Plus, Saab’s have such great handling. I know a lot of people knock it but I love FWD.
Aggressive doesn’t mean reckless, however. I know when to pass, when I can go fast, I use turning signals, am mindful of other traffic, and such. A lot of people reckless drivers neglect responsibility.
My ring finger is also longer than my index finger, even more so than EnG’s.
I had a phase in the early 90′s where I drove fast and got a bunch of tickets. But I got married and moved to a state smaller than Texas, so I slowed down.
Posting this on a car enthusiast site is a perfect example of self-selection bias — car enthusiasts being highly likely to drive more aggressively than the norm.
My ring finger is longer than my index finger and I have never had a speeding ticket in my life (touch wood) but I must say that I am somewhat agressive behind the wheel. I turn into a pussy cat when I am not driving though.
@Greg: Agreed w/self selection.
Thanks Eggs – a couple of clarifications on the Saturn and Canada situation. I think you idea is a good one, BUT Penske has announced that he will not continue to market Saturns in Canada. That pretty well strands all SAAB dealers: Nothing being heard from the new SAAB NA and virtually no new cars on any lots. They WERE a good pairing. Also, I am not aware of any Hummers being sold in Saturn-SAAB stores; H’s tended to be added on to selected Chevy or Pontiac dealers, including a few that handled Cadillac, too. Essentially Saturn-SAAB was the Euro-GM store. If SAAB NA moves quickly they could get these stores and maybe that’s where BAIC comes in with some new product, or Suzuki (in scattered suburban neighborhoods), or Peugeot (not presently in the market).
Thanks Eggs – a couple of clarifications on the Saturn and Canada situation. I think you idea is a good one, BUT Penske has announced that he will not continue to market Saturns in Canada. That pretty well strands all SAAB dealers: Nothing being heard from the new SAAB NA and virtually no new cars on any lots. They WERE a good pairing. Also, I am not aware of any Hummers being sold in Saturn-SAAB stores; H’s tended to be added on to selected Chevy or Pontiac dealers, including a few that handled Cadillac, too. Essentially Saturn-SAAB was the Euro-GM store. If SAAB NA moves quickly they could get these stores and maybe that’s where BAIC comes in with some new product, or Suzuki (in scattered suburban neighborhoods), or Peugeot (not presently in the market).
Eggs, guess you used to be a reckless, not an aggressive driver.
In the U.S., where radar detectors are legal, I really don’t see how one could get eight speeding tickets in just a few years!
In all seriousness, there’s a big difference between aggressive driving and speeding. NYC cabbies are aggressive drivers, but they are not necessarily racing through the city at 90 mph.
Oh, and as for my ring finger, it’s just about as long as my middle finger. I guess that makes me an aggressive driver? Next time I will flash my ring finger instead of my middle: “Get this, stupid minivan-driving woman: I’m taken!”
BAIC cars sold alongside Saab. Good god I hope not.
@Kroum: I’d expect judgmental comments from you.
First: in the early and mid 1980′s, the radar detectors were not very good devices unless you were on the open road — and even then they weren’t all that useful. They’d alert on automatic doors, other radar detectors, etc. For every time it was really a cop, the detector would go off twenty times that weren’t cops. Moreover, without good range, many times you got tickets because by the time the dang detector went off, the cop had already nailed you. “Instant on” radar made it even harder. Sure, my detector saved me a few times, but once the laser speed detectors came on the scene, they were worthless.
Second: You don’t understand our system and how certain jurisdictions, particularly in the American South, write inordinately high numbers of tickets to create revenue or to “crack down” on speeding. It’s well documented. Crazy stuff like posted speed limits on open roads going down 20 mph and the cops hanging out right at that point, getting a ticket for going ONE mph over the limit (that happened to me in Texas), and I once got a ticket in Huntsville, Alabama for a supposed “failure to stop” at a stop sign when the road was completely blocked by an accident just ahead of the sign — everyone stopped to navigate around and didn’t stop RIGHT AT THE SIGN but a few feet before — the policeman handed out probably 50 tickets in the space of two hours. The kicker — the judge probably dismissed them all because they were crap, but since I was moving to Texas the very next week I had to pay it since I couldn’t show up in court.
Third: And, that’s 8 tickets in 6 years (16 to 22). Not way out of whack, really. Especially considering that two or three were, as stated above, more about revenue than enforcement.
Now, I won’t run away from the fact that I’ve gotten more than my share of speeding tickets. I certainly have. However, I’ve never been a reckless driver.
@ Zippy – I actually agree with you re BAIC–we do not need such vehicles here (remember Ladas?–Russian Fiats, Romanian Renault 12s, and other horror stories), but do you think SAAB dealers in Canada can exist without an entry level line of cars on the showroom floor? Maybe we need to stop thinking about SAAB dealers here and about SAAB as an add-on line for something else? What is that something else? I hope we hear more soon from the new SAAB NA, and I hope it is not just NA in NAme only.
My ring finger is quite similar to EnG’s… And nearly the same story about being a too fast in my early years. At age of 22 I had to to my driving test again because I had quite a bunch of tickets, though some were quite ridiculous.
Now that was fifteen years ago and I’m not much slower but wiser (got married, became father twice). I think most is about the ability to spot spped traps before I run into them. I do a lot of cruise control driving on longer trips and I realized that it is quite dangerous for I payed much more attention on speed limits when I did full throttle than when driving in cruise control lullaby.
I think I’ve never been reckless but little unexpreienced in my first years. I still like to go fast but maybe I choose better places for doing so.
on the baby Rangie: I even see a bit of 9-4x in it. Maybe it’s because of the black hidden a-pillars. But it really looks Saaby to me….
i actually think Penske is making a huge mistake pulling Saturn out of Canada but then again I think Saab deserves better than Saturn. I reckon Saab could set up shop with very trendy small, boutique style showrooms in all major cities in the country.
Failing that, I expect a pairing with Jaguar could be a good idea. I am tinking MCL Motors here in Vancouver would work as well.
My 4th is almost same length as my 3rd, but I am serenity behind wheels. Now, that does not mean I am a natural born slomo…
In my young days I spent a lot of time on snowmobiles, and one can get plenty a speed rush with those machines.
I have never received a speeding ticket, but that must be luck…
Penske owns hundreds of dealers all over the world, but none in Canada. It still seems wrong to pull out from the Canadian market. I would think that Saturn is more popular here (per capita) than in the US. Call me a cynic, but I think GM made Penske an offer he could refuse. He’s a smart businessman.
Ah Eggs, I was just pulling your leg, of course.
I only have one speeding ticket ever – from New York State. And btw., Canadian cops have similar “fundraising” tactics when it comes to issuign tickets – illegal left turns between certain hours of the day et al. minor offenses are their favourite.
As a child you sucked on your little finger (pinky).
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