You are browsing the archive for 2010 May.

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AMS photograph Mille Miglia (incl that crash)

May 21, 2010 in Saabology

The people at Auto Motor and Sport have the absolute best jobs in the world. I’ve been to their offices and whilst they’re not quite…… glamorous (hi guys), they’re full of happy people who get to play with cars and write about it for a living. OK, the fifth Toyota test drive trip might become tedious, but still…..

One of those great jobs would have been heading down to Italy and photographing the Mille Miglia.

Naturally there are plenty of photos of Victor Muller and Jan-Ake Jonsson’s respective vehicles, including one that maybe JAJ would prefer they hadn’t taken….. which is precisely while I’ll feature it here :-)

Make sure you check out the gallery.

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Saabs at Carlisle – this weekend!!

May 21, 2010 in Saabology

My apologies to all interested parties for not getting on to this sooner. I didn’t realise it was coming up so close.

Saabs @ Carlisle is one of the premier events on the US Saab Owner’s calendar and it’s on this weekend – from the 21st to the 23rd May. Saabs @ Carlisle is hosted by the Central Penn Saab Club and is part of the larger Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals show at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.

Some info on the event passed on to me by Allan H:

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Every year the Central Penn SAAB Club hosts North America’s largest regional Saab event as part of Carlisle Events’ Import & Kit Nationals.

index sac2010.jpg It’s called SAABs@Carlisle and for eight years running, owners of new and vintage Saabs have brought home the event Participation Award for the greatest number of any single make of automobile in attendance. Last year, 183 Saabs were present — more than 2nd place Volvo and 3rd place Audi combined. This is quite an achievement when you see just how many cars of all makes are present at this show every year.

2010 marks SAABs@Carlisle’s 10th anniversary, and with Saab now virtually assured of a bright future, the Central Penn SAAB Club is optimistic that even more Saabs will show up than ever before. It looks like the club has set up a great event for this year, with the standard People’s Choice awards, the classic SAABarbecue dinner on Saturday night, and an all-new Drive In Movie Night. Popcorn is even included!

As an added incentive, Carlisle Events is giving away a car on Sunday. Upon entry to the event, you’ll be given a “Giveaway Car” ticket and you must be present on Sunday at 3pm to win. SAABs@Carlisle is also a great place to find parts or even a deal on a whole car.

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Related links:

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The other side of the US leasing story

May 21, 2010 in Saabology

I posted earlier today about concerns with leasing prices in the United States. Some of those lease figures in the post are indeed worrisome for some prospective purchaers, but there’s also some other things to consider.

First, the fact that that story looked only at one model without taking a look at other offers (it was the one that I had brought to my attention).

The following is a clipping of an ad that’s been appearing in some New York newspapers in the last few days. Click to enlarge.

SaabLeaseNYT.JPG

Those numbers look a little closer to what people expect. The 9-3 2.0T is a pretty well equipped car. It’s the volume seller and that looks more like a volume seller price for this market.

Other things:

The zero-down prices offered by some of the premium Euro marques are tempting to many (which is what they’re supposed to be) and they result in a reasonable market share for them. BUT they also result in high default rates when conditions tighten up and the lessee who aspired to something really nice (but risky) can no longer afford what looked like a reasonable risk at the time.

There is a ‘want’ factor with Saabs for many Saab customers. I’m not suggesting that Saab are trying to cash in on that. I don’t think they would dare, nor even dare think they have that luxury. But personally speaking, if I was choosing between a Saab and something else at $100/mo the difference, I’d buy the Saab. If I couldn’t afford it, I’d hold on for another deal if my circumstances allowed.

Like I said in the first post on this issue, there’s a lot of structures in this new life for Saab that have to settle. Leasing, pricing and the market is examples of these. There’s no need to shout.

Thanks to Hugh for the clipping.

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New Saab 9-5 official launch May 28

May 21, 2010 in News

We’ve seen plenty of them and the car has already been shown at plenty of motor shows and customer viewings. Pricing is available in many markets and some dealers have even started taking orders for them.

But the new Saab 9-5 is has not yet been ‘officially’ launched.

I’m not sure what constitues an ‘official’ launch, but Dutch news services reported overnight that the Official Launch of the new Saab 9-5 will take place on Friday, May 28.

What I do know is that shortly thereafter, members of the motoring press will be taking test drives of the car in a media event that will last for several weeks. We heard from Victor Muller at the Saab Canada announcement that Saab have built facilities in the reception area around the factory that will be part of this procedure.

I’m sure it’s going to be pretty special for all involved – and maybe some of those doubters in the Swedish press will change their minds a little about the future of this company.

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Concerns about Saab leasing in the US

May 21, 2010 in Uncategorized

This might be the first bad news post of the new Saab age.

Concerns with Saab leasing first popped up on my radar a few weeks ago when one of our regular readers here, Jose N, sent me a scan of a lease ad from a newspaper in Florida.

Saab Lease Florida We don’t do a lot of leasing here in Australia so I’m not totally up to speed on the structure or value, so here are Jose’s thoughts about this in an email to me…..

I wanted to bring your attention towards the 9-3 Convertible lease offer. $599/month plus tax. This is on a $45k sticker vehicle, so its pretty well equipped. The fine print reads 48 months, 12k miles a year, with $4880 total out of pocket at signing.

As sweet as this vehicle is, its NOT competitively priced.

The Collection Audi is offering a A5 convertible for $499/month, 12k/year, 36 months with ZERO down. South Motors BMW is offering a 328 convertible for $459/month, 12k year, 36 months with $3400 out of pocket and free maintenance. Lexus is the least competitive with their IS250 convertible lease, which is offered at $499/month, 12k year, 48 months and $5k down.

Jose’s a potential customer, but he’s not the only one writing to me about this. There are a number of Saab dealers very concerned about leasing as well.

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New Saab app on Facebook.

May 20, 2010 in Saabology

The Saab Cars Official facebook page has a new app on it – How Big a Saab Fan Are You?

The app will analyse your postings and formulate how big a Saab fan you are based on your content. You then get to create a groovy picture with a few mix and match options available.

I don’t have many pictures of myself on Facebook, so I let Charli take the honors :-)

im_a_saab_fan.jpg

Hit the link above to go check it out for yourself.

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Thursday Snippets – fired up edition

May 20, 2010 in Saabology

Sometimes you’ve got to bite your lip, but I’d love to burst a few boilers today. Unfortunately, I can’t do that without burning a few bridges that must stay intact. But I’ll be watching.

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My adversarial frame of mine is not helped by the Saab 9000 running on only three cylinders that currently occupies our driveway. If it was the Monte I could sweat it out as I have a spare car. But it’s the car that’s driven by the Mrs – the only auto transmission in the fleet – so we have to hope for a cheap fix or consider our options.

We were really hoping this car would see us through the next 18 months, during which we hope to pay off our home and thereby expand our options a bit.

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Toyota executive blasts Formula One, calling it ‘elitist’. Hmph. Tell us something we don’t already know. It has to be elitist. That’s what being the premiere racing formula in the world is all about.

I bet he wouldn’t be so down on it IF TOYOTA ACTUALLY MANAGED TO WIN SOMETHING during their lame duck tilt at the sport.

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A few may get annoyed at me for saying this, but this article at Jalopnik is wrong in so many ways. It’s talking about one guy and rallying:

It is 2003, and a 19-year-old named Travis is about to climb into a rally car for his first real test. What follows will change the sport forever.

Change the sport forever? Talk about premature congratulions.

What happened might have changed American rallying for some time (we’ll see) but it ain’t a pimple on the hairy buttock of world rallying.

Kudos to Ken Block for having at least having a crack at the big time, but all the marketing savvy in the world hasn’t amounted to a single championship point for him in the 2010 WRC so far, which goes to show that just because you look good in print or on video, it doesn’t mean you are good.

This guy being the fresh face of American rallying and thereby changing the sport forever? Get over yourselves.

Thankfully, people in comments see things the same way.

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Is it just me, or are Volkswagen aiming to be the 1950′s GM of the German market for the teenies (i.e the 2000-and-teens)?

They’re swallowing up everything. They recently bought Porsche, who were trying to buy them. And now they’re thinking of buying out the Guigiaro design house, Italdesign.

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I don’t want to be an “I told you so” type of guy, but I started ranting about the lack of a Saab diesel option in the US market back around 2006. They still don’t have one, largely because GM didn’t have access to an emissions-acceptable diesel engine program (mainly because they didn’t see it as worthwhile).

Audi see things differently, and as you’ll see here, they pose a few good reasons why Saab should be looking to get diesels into the US right now.

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In a happier tone, Spyker are opening a new showroom in London.

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A video about Tassie. May offend. Funny.

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It’s about to happen again. The fourth major change to a website run by me. I could go AWOL for a few days whilst the mechanicals are sorted out, so please don’t be alarmed.

This is all aimed at adding more features that can make the site more pleasurable for you to use and more integrated with other forms of media you might be likely to make use of.

Add your wishes in comments.

I’m off to have a Bex and a good lie down.

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by Swade

SOTW: The wheels (and the wine) maketh the car

May 20, 2010 in Saabology

I received a few photos from one of my German mates, Olaf B. You’ve seen his expert photographic work before, both from the Frankfurt Saab Support Convoy and the Frankfurt Auto Show.

I thought these were pretty good in terms of showing another Saab O The Week.

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Hey Steven

When you’re on a trip in Italy you are forced to buy excellent red wine and olive oil. The result is a 9-5 Lowrider next to a classic 9000 at Riva del Garda.

And again: how old is the design of this 9-5? 13 Years. I can’t see it. Saab must stick to its timeless designs.

Wish you the best, Olaf

OL_1004TOSC_163_fin.jpg

OL_1004TOSC_167fin.jpg

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Shaw Saab get on front foot – create their own Saab ads

May 19, 2010 in Saabology

This is some nice initiative by Shaw Saab, a dealer in Norwell, MA. I’m not sure what context they’re planning on using these, if at all, but I like the creativity and forward thinking.
Click to enlarge.
Shaw Saab ad
More of this in their gallery on Facebook.
Thanks to David for the tip.

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Selling Saabs: the test drive is the key

May 19, 2010 in Saabology

We’ve talked a lot in the last 24 hours about what could help Saab dealers to get customers in the door again – and what could help sell the cars.
This has mainly been in relation to the US market, but I think the ideas translate to any country.
One of the big themes that’s coming through in comments to those posts is that it’s the test drive that’s the key. This is something we’ve known for a while, of course. It’s long been said that a person who test drives a Saab usually buys a Saab.
So it seems like putting bums on seats is going to be a key to Saab’s success. How, then, can the dealers get people in to test drive the cars?
A sales marathon?
A nation-wide party to celebrate the re-launch of Saab under new ownership?
Some sort of community sponsorship or activity to get the dealer’s name out and about again?
Offer a free gun with every car (nah, that one’s been done before).
There’s got to be some sort of event that can help out in the two-fold mission of getting Saab’s name out there, and getting people to come down to dealerships and have a look around.
Personally, I like the idea of a co-ordinated nationwide event. It lets the dealers feel like they’re part of something big, gives the company something to report back to customers about later on (extending the event beyond the date it actually happens) and most importantly, it gets people down to check things out.
Throw a BBQ and let people hear the story about how Saab was saved. Have a slideshow of images from the convoys. Have some of the new 2010 models there for customers to see – the 9-5 and the 9-3x especially.
Maybe some time in late June or early July, when 9-5s are present on dealer lots. Use the whole darn fleet for test drives if you have to and sell them as demonstrators – at least it’ll create some momentum.
Get people through the doors and then once they’re there, get them into the cars. The test drive is the most important thing.
It’s only my 2cents worth, but I think it has potential.

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On owning a Saab and getting Saab owners back to dealerships

May 19, 2010 in Saabology

Last night I asked US readers to talk about why they love their Saabs and answer the question: What do Saab need to do in the US to get someone like you back in the showroom?
Melissa A was concerned about the length of here answer so she mailed it in. I think it’s just fine. It probably tells the Saab story of many people on here.
Here it is.
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Hi, Swade–
I am responding to today’s request for thoughts on developing Saab’s market in the US. I live in a suburb of Washington D.C. This is long, so I didn’t want to submit as a comment. Once I get talking about my Saab, I can’t help but get carried away, for which I apologize.
I bought my first Saab in January 2008–a 2008 9-3 2.0T SportCombi. After 23 years of driving a much-loved 1985 Honda Prelude that succumbed to rust, I needed a smallish wagon, but not a (sub)compact wagon. I had four nonnegotiable requirements–stick shift, sunroof, electronic stability/traction control, and fun to drive. Bonus if the car was red. Double bonus if red with a black interior.

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Victor Muller: Saab finances better than first thought

May 19, 2010 in News

Victor Muller did an interview on Dutch Business News Radio (BNR) today. It’s a brief piece, but in it he expresses some measure of pleasant surprise at the financial health of the company.
Thanks to Tim for the translated transcript:
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Introduction: Saab recovers faster than expected, says Spyker’s CEO Victor Muller, which took over the Swedish car manufacturer in February. Critics said it was impossible what Muller did when he took Saab over from General Motors, but the CEO of the combined Saab Spyker company said after three months the company is performing better than expected.
VM: We see a clear increase in order intake. We see confidence in Saab increasing after a rather dramatic eighteen months. People are ordering Saab again, dealers have ordered in large numbers. And they do so because they expect that they can sell again. So we see a clear recovery of the business.
BNR: Following the takeover have you encountered any financial setbacks?
VM: No, we haven’t encountered any setbacks. The remarkable thing about this transaction is that you usually anticipate some setbacks but at Saab we have seen the opposite. So far we have actually only found that things were better than we thought.
BNR: Like what?
VM: Improved cash position for example. Less cost of warranty than we thought. There are quite a number of things that were better and together those count for substantial amounts of money which we can keep in our pocket. So we see a better Saab than we thought.
BNR: Saab itself as a car, has somewhat gone to the middle. You said during the acquisition Saab should be more Saab-Saab, an almost new brand. What’s Saab-Saab after three months?
VM: Well, I’ve said that before, we are extremely lucky GM realized in 2005 Saab went the wrong way. It allowed Saab to develop a completely new brand DNA, which we have seen as the Saab Aero-X. In March 2006 this car was shown to the public. That car is the Saab DNA. The real Saab DNA, what I mean by Saab Saab. That car has been reflected in the new Saab 9-5, which now runs on the production lines. So we do not need three or four years between when we took over the company to build Saab-Saabs, we already do it. And for the new 9-4x which is on the market in April 2011 we will see the same. Fully developed and modeled on the Saab brand DNA.
BNR: Saab should be more exclusive.
VM: It should definitely be more premium and I think that Spyker has so much to add. The gap between Saab and Audi and BMW must be reduced quickly and that is already done with the 9-5 and that happens especially with the 9-4X, the crossover model like the Audi Q5. And in 2012 we see the new Saab 9-3 which will go one notch further as far as DNA is concerned so people will say it’s unmistakably a Saab.

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US readers – your input on developing Saab’s market, please

May 18, 2010 in Saabology

Ever wanted to get in the ear of management? Here’s your opportunity.
I’ve received the following queries from a dealer in the US who’s working with a group to plan how Saab are going to get back on the map with the average consumer (read: Saab customer) in that market.
They’re interested in who you are, maybe your history with the brand and what they need to do to get someone like you back in the showroom.

  • What are your thoughts about Saab right now?
  • How can US Saab dealers get you in to start buying cars again?
  • Who should be Saab’s spokesperson be (if any) as they begin to grow the company again?
  • What do you think would be helpful in getting Saab back on the map?

Many of you will represent the typical customer so your thoughts could be quite handy as they map out the future of the company.
I’d ask you to keep your answers and ideas well thought out and achievable. We’re dealing with budgets and other resource constraints here. Things have to be on target. Exotic fingersnap solutions that look good on the printed screen but aren’t particularly executable won’t float too many boats, I’m afraid.
Put your thinking caps on and fire away…….

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by Swade

Saab take four-pronged attack to UK fleet market – incl Saab 9-3 update

May 18, 2010 in News

Fleet News has an article where they speak with Paul Adler, Saab’s fleet sales manager in the UK, who is tasked with reviving fleet sales that have sagged from a high of 10,000+ a few years ago to just 185 so far this year.
Adler plans to:

  • re-establish confidence in the brand after to uncertainty over ownership
  • regain the confidence of the pricing guides and end users.
  • provide an enhanced range of vehicles, starting with the 9-5 but also an enhanced 9-3
  • focus on his new department’s skills. He is recruiting at the moment

It’s that third one that might be of most interest to us here….

The 9-3 will undergo some enhancements, including engines, before a new model is launched. Within a couple of years, the company will also launch an all-new model, widely touted to be the 9-4X mid-size crossover seen at a number of motor shows.

There has been talk about enhancing the Saab 9-3 before an all-new model comes out in 2012. Whilst it’s been mentioned in an anecdotal fashion, this is the first glimpse into this from a Saab executive that I can recall in print.
Bravada agrees, and I thank him for sending through the link.

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by Swade

Saab execs inspire confidence

May 18, 2010 in Saabology

Do you think Saab’s senior executives could be starting to feel a little like this?
StuckOnYou.jpg
Peter Brown from Automotive News shared a breakfast with Jan-Ake Jonsson and Victor Muller whilst they were in Detroit recently and the two joked that they have been doing their “dog and pony show” for some time now, but they’re not sure which one’s the dog and which one’s the pony.
The Automotive News piece is a short article only and there’s no news in it at all. What there is, though, is another member of the automotive press coming to understand what’s going on with Saab and by his own admission, gaining more confidence from having met VM and JAJ.
I guess that’s why they’re doing it, and it’s also why I’d love to see VM in a series of “we’re back” or “we’re still here” advertisements to kick things off before the product advertising. but that’s just me.
Thanks the Chris for the link.

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