Hi all,
We are now at 2,400 comments on the actual iwontbuyfromgm.com website and there are also 1,000+ members of the Facebook group, too.
Some of these overlap, of course, but I think we can say we’ve realistically engaged 3,000 people in just three days at this point. Twitter has also been fired up and hopefully people are re-tweeting and signing up as we speak (thanks AlAero).
My thanks to all those who have participated. 3,000 people in three days, with one of those days being Christmas Day, is a fantastic achievement.
The purpose of this campaign is to let GM know that people are watching what happens here. If they wish to keep these people as even prospective customers, they should do the right thing and sell Saab rather than close it down. The 3,000 we’ve reached is a small number, but the number that reads the press coverage will be much larger.
The campaign isn’t over, though. We don’t have the luxury of resting on our laurels. The decision comes in days, not weeks, so the news about the campaign has to come out before then.
I’ve written a press release, which I’ll update with the latest numbers some time tomorrow prior to sending off.
In case you’ve missed it, the campaign has already attracted some media attention, with Auto Motor and Sport giving it some space a few days ago.
Please continue to spread the message. Let’s see how far a final push can increase our participation rate. The more the merrier!
——
Hopefully we can get past this business stuff soon and concentrate on Saabs, and the new owner.
No related posts.
That Opel blurb...
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Do linear interpolation up to a full year and send the 364k number to GM instead.
Don’t worry,they wont understand how you managed to get that number,but it’s significant so might affect them =)
Other than that we really need to get a direction next week.
We should do a swedish translation of the press release also,would be a good thing to send it out to the swedish newspapers.
Impressive!
Let’s look at this in dollars. The 3000 people here buy cars. At a rough average of $30000 US for a new car, that’s $100 million dollars of purchasing power that will never even consider a GM car.
Many households own an average of 2 cars, so make that 200 million dollars. Of an average of 30 years consisting of “never” and consider an average new vehicle every 5 years, and that is 1.2 BILLION DOLLARS, just from those who have replied to the campaign, that will never see the inside of a GM showroom… Now extrapolate THAT out to the rest of the globe…
GM. Is it really worth selling SAAB?
IMHO, a waste of time!
Saab Automobile as we know it is dead, and I truly unfortunately believes GM already has decided to kill Saab because it doesn’t want Opel to have the competition.
I hope Saab will go away in what dignity is left!
My 2 cents… As always!
the game isn`t over till it`s over
The problem is there is no competition between OPEL and SAAB .
If SAAB dies Opel has still it´s problems . If SAAB stays alive GM profits from their parts.
I don’t think this is an exercise in futility. Even my father asked me to post a protest on his behalf when he learned of the situation with GM and Saab. My Dad has been buying Chevy pickup trucks for some years now (and has owned Saabs), up to and including the new pickup he purchased last year. He was so furious to learn of this situation that he has vowed never to buy another GM product again unless GM does the honorable thing with Saab. If this campaign spreads in the media (and I believe it’s beginning to), the effect could be far reaching.
Potential buyers of Saabs are totally different from Opel buyers.
No competition there..
SaabsUnited on Google-maps – mark your SAAB!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106261429976295349355.00047b43aead994ac933b
>1350 pins on the map – number still increasing…
Don’t agree. SAAB never was or will be a competitor for OPEL. Opel-buyers don’t buy SAAB or vice versa. (Exceptions prove the rule.)
Such a campaign is NEVER a waste of time because – it provides clarity (even for GM). By the way, internally some people agree.
We hope SAAB will NOT go away … and we hope that SAAB will be given the chance to regain its REAL dignity. That’s what we’re fighting for.
Dan, I respect your opinion. But given critical situations NEVER EVER people would have changed ANYTHING if they would stay passive like you do.
If there only is a LITTLE chance: This would be worth of EVERY effort! Better think twice.
We need to reach out to the greater public.
18K numbers on the rescue-saab page is not enough. In addition to the other ongoing activities, the page also need to be promoted to non-fanatic car people like me. How to get the Swedes to start to react and not only sit silently still and be sad?
Could we ask the Swedish govenment whether we can do anything?
Swedish mag Nyteknik has also featured the SU-campaign: http://www.nyteknik.se/nyheter/fordon_motor/bilar/article701000.ece
Somehow I don’t think GM cares how many people write a complaint on a website. I would think a company of GM’s size gets that many complaints from current and past customers on a yearly basis. I think they have “fleet” sales to keep their volume up?
Here in the USA on TV about every hour there are a dozen ads for the new Chevy Malibu. At distance it looks similar to a 9-5. I think it would be great
if there were at SAAB ad following showing the new
9-5 blasting past it and then flashing the gas mileage
figures. But TV ads cost money and my government, apparantly, wants me to buy a Malibu….
Carscoop featured iwbfgm.
TOTALLY AGREE !!!
Swade, maybe be you should follow this direction in the press release !
http://www.automotorsport.se/nyheter.asp
SAAB in Stockholm
Trubo 220 hp AWD
my dream-spec, but I hope the 2,0l turbo will come in BioPower version too. Vector and Haldex, mmmmmm
Perhaps you may be right. But a company that ignores clear customer votes of this scale (collected in only four days), is doomed.
And wait what’s going on next week when the campaign gets media coverage. (I hope this can be achieved. Therefore, every voice counts!)
Don’t underestimate the whole thing.
The word is spreading worldwide, this is our effort:
http://www.xcar.com.cn/bbs/attachment.php?aid=18656011&noupdate=yes
and
http://www.xcar.com.cn/bbs/attachment.php?aid=18655990&noupdate=yes
Go Saab!
I was just reading on “www.gminsidenews.com”.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f14/gm-wont-consider-spyker-bid-saab-87386/index4.html
There was an encouraging posting onm the above mentioned webpage:
4) Really, GM wants to fold its new 9-5 design and development into its portfolio…Kind of like Opel…They never really intended to sell it…That was a feint for the U.S. government/ bankers/ competition. GM intended to keep Opel all along and SAAB might be similar. Just this time they will not keep it as an ongoing operation, instead stripping its tech and patents, using them in its own operations (they paid for them!), and shuttering the brand…
There was an encouraging posting on:
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f14/gm-wont-consider-spyker-bid-saab-87386/index4.html
4) Really, GM wants to fold its new 9-5 design and development into its portfolio…Kind of like Opel…They never really intended to sell it…That was a feint for the U.S. government/ bankers/ competition. GM intended to keep Opel all along and SAAB might be similar. Just this time they will not keep it as an ongoing operation, instead stripping its tech and patents, using them in its own operations (they paid for them!), and shuttering the brand…
Aanother thought for publicizing the iwontbuyfromgm site: anyone who sees this should tell the local places where they buy Saab parts, and of course their Saab mechanics. Ask them to sign the petition and to to spread the word, preferably in an obvious place on their home page, just for the week. They should be willing enough; for many, their jobs are at stake.
Dippen, Swedes all learn English in school, so I don’t know if a separate press release in Swedish would make a big difference. On the other hand, this week I have felt at a great disadvantage because I don’t know Swedish! There have been some Swedish articles I wished I could read (and Saab postings on twitter.com in Scandinavian languages).
As usual. Beautiful, isn’t she!
Not that I want to be a wet blanket, but what effect would this petition have?
I bought my Saab despite the GM connection. I had to ignore my deep-seated dislike and distrust of GM. I suspect that any of us who purchased GM-era Saabs felt the same way.
Especially now, I want absolutely nothing associated with Government Motors and their UAW flunkies. The only American vehicles I’d ever consider in the future would be Ford trucks or Jeeps.
Honestly, how many of us would buy any GM product anyway? Saabs were likely our first and only GM purchases.
The effect of this petition is that GM and the way they handled Saab will stay in the media.
Eventualy they will have to explain why they did not want to sell.
Even if there’s no effect at all, it only takes a minute to contribute.
Well guys, it seems IWBFGM has reached the Dutch TopGear-Magazine. Keep it up!
http://www.topgearmagazine.nl/autonieuws/artikel/saab-voortbestaan/
Have you ever voted?
Assuming you are a US taxpayer, you own 60% of GM. Consider the IWBFGM effort a referendum on government ownership of GM and GM’s handling of SAAB. The petition draws attention to GM. GM can’t snuff SAAB like a twice lit cigarette and steal away in the night. You seem to dislike GM’s status as a government entity. Why the wet blanket over IWBFGM?
Please don’t assume. Several of us here don’t wear a tweed jacket and buy only 4 cars in a lifetime. I have owned over a dozen GM vehicles that weren’t SAAB. Pontiac, Chevy, GMC. I lucked into SAAB because I was *TIRED* of driving the same dull GM fleet midsize vehicle when traveling for work 40+ weeks/year and then facing one at home. Now, after SAAB Aero Academy, 6 SAABs, and getting engaged with the SAAB community, I have trouble considering much else. It’s much more than “a car.”
OK, yeah, I seriously shopped Audi once. I’ll just hit backspace to spare the details other than to say “what a mess of a car maker and dealership system.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-jUir7ypPU
Thanks for the link, that’s fun to watch.
Off topic!
Onto this he is clever GM. Pathetic! Chevy Volt Dance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwTMZNWGuk&feature=player_embedded
Urgggrr … I can’t believe it … (these guys really know ALL about CLEVER car marketing …)
we first had a Suzuki swift, which we upgraded for a Opel Corsa some years later, then we bought an Opel Astra to replace our old other car, then added a second Corsa to the collection, and then had a MY08 9-3 2.0T BioPower FULL options, and when I say FULL, I mean it… I will definitely by another Saab in the future, but if GM isn’t fair, i will DEFINITELY never by another GM car in my whole life!
There we see GM’s new strategy: it’s not about selling cars, no, it’s about winning American Idol! Go GM go
“Hopefully we can get past this business stuff soon and concentrate on Saabs, and the new owner.”
Indeed, a huge load of 9-5 reviews would be ahead if all goes well.
In general I think Saab has to move more into Internet marketing. Newspaper and tv ads are expensive, spreading information and material over Internet is more cost effective. I’m sure many would buy Saab’s XWD models if they knew about it.
Great vid Troll! That AeroX is still stunning to see. And 9x. And 9-3 Air!
OOPS…. They did it again….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBde3geBILg
and again…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MWQU4kdrrk
and they dance again for the chevy groove…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzYebG61AMM
swade, maybe you should think about http://www.gmpleasestopdancing.com too
Jesus!!!!!! That’s terrible or fearful. I don’t know what is the best word.
You know I have changed my mind, I hope GM sticks around if they keep making these hilarious, god awful, dance routines.
Chris
don`t let GM dance again.
the only thing GM didn`t the last 20 years what we could thank for. they didn`t a SAAb dance
Too late GM. Those who are going to buy those subcompact already gone to Honda Fit, Kia Soul, Nissan Cube and soon Mazda2 and Ford Fiesta. Those disasterous dance is just going to scare their Gen-Y customers away.
Either that or lead to the follow up advertisement “we can’t dance but we build good cars”.
or for GM see yor taxes dancing
“swade, maybe you should think about http://www.gmpleasestopdancing.com too
” — now that is funny.
As if some Gen Y is going to buy those vehicles anyways, or bug their moms to buy one. Keep wasting your money GM. Keep having no clue about your market. Just please sell Saab to someone who cares before you go completely bust.
hey no dirty talks.
this was marketing from the former biggest car company of the world. formerly known as GM
Nice article about iwontbuyfromgm.com on the nitrobahn.com website:
http://www.nitrobahn.com/news/saab-enthusiast-launches-i-wont-buy-from-gm-campaign-to-deter-gm-from-shutting-saab/
For those of you who are hopping mad, here’s some comic relief I thought you might enjoy. I did a Google search for “iwontbuyfromgm.com” to see how many links there were. There are almost 500 other pages with links to that site now.
One of them was a tennis site. I thought, okay, tennis players and Saabs are definitely a good demographic fit…let’s see what the site says.
Someone on the site has posted repeated links to iwontbuyfromgm.com, but there’s something very creative on that particular thread. People got near post #1000 and started posting pictures with increasing numbers in them (they’re well past 1000, so it’s too late to post a picture of a Saab 900 there):
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=4221978
Tennis, anyone?
Dippen,
I just saw on the Saabs United Google map that you were in Sweden (for the heck of it, I looked to see who was in Sweden). I didn’t realize that when you suggested a Swedish translation of swade’s press release.
I used to work for someone who was Swedish by birth. His family immigrated to the US, but his father sent him back to Sweden for schooling when he was still a kid. He mentioned that proficiency in English was a mandatory requirement for his graduation, and that he had to sit for the English examination even though at that point he was an American citizen and spoke fluent English. He told me that everyone in school had to study English.
Is English a mandatory subject for kids in Sweden today? If not, sorry, I must have been living under a rock.
A good Article at ntv, a german news-tv-station:
http://www.n-tv.de/auto/reportagen/Saab-Freunde-kaempfen-article655866.html
In Italy they have seen us…
http://www.motorionline.com/2009/12/27/petizione-dei-fan-di-saab-per-boicottare-la-general-motors/
They’ve noticed our campaign in Hungary.
http://www.a5.hu/cikkek/52/37799.shtml
The director of the most important
italian car magazine put on its
online blog the email I sent.
http://viamazzocchi1.quattroruote.it/gm/sicuri-che-la-saab-debba-vivere/
He put it as a question,
(“Are you sure Saab should survive?”),
but it’s anyway important websites links
and the new itself is visible.
Hi. Good work.
Sad to see all the promise of SAAB go.
Keep up the good work.
Sorry guys, but if all the big Saab enthusiasts hadn’t hated on Saab under GM (sure GM let it rot on the vine) and instead bought more Saab’s this wouldn’t be happening.
Saab gets killed for a simple reason, the 9-5 is a Buick LaCrosse and the 9-4X is a Cadillac SRX, the next Gen 9-3 would either be a Malibu/Regal/Insignia or a Cruze/Astra derivative, so again there is no independent work here.
So you can all cry and have hissy fits about this but the simple reason the brand is going to go away is that it is redundant in theory and since no one buys the cars also in practice.
Think to yourself how many Saab fans only buy used cars, who does that help? Not Saab.
All this you won’t buy a GM car is a bunch of bunk too, because 60-70% of you wouldn’t buy a GM car to begin with (outside of a Saab). So why should they care? As a person who wants to see GM do better the last thing I want is for them to sell cars off to someone that directly compete with the ones they sell (Which these Saabs would).
If you are lucky the 9-4X and the 9-5 will be rebadged as Opels and sold outside the US.
Swade advisory – do NOT feed the troll.
I owned a 9-3 and loved the car, so not really trolling just trying to get people to think about it realistically.
Fanboyism tends to lead to strange theorys, take a look at the Pontiac fans on the internet for an example, those guys are a little extreme. Don’t be like them.
Anyway, I am feeding myself it seems.
If gm kills SAAB, I will never consider buying or renting a gm product….please sell it.
Wendy from Rural Hall, NC
I am the proud owner of a SAAB 95 SW TiD (2007) and hereunder I confirm that should gm let die SAAB I will not buy a car of that brand (opel for instance) in my whole life. My intention is to boycott gm always and everywhere: It was not a bad business market which led to this heavy situation but a sharp and stupid will of gm management.
And furtherly: but what is doing the Sweden government in order to solve this matter in the interest of 3000 + 5000 workers ? absolutely nothing, really incredible…
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