Saab Press Conference Live From New York
July 11, 2010 in Uncategorized
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by Jeff
by Jeff
by Swade
Saturday morning snippets – up, up and away edition
July 10, 2010 in Saabology
We’re off. Sweden, here we come!
“I can has Moosburger!?”
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It’s Saab Festival time in just days from now and I can’t wait to get back ‘home’.
Speaking of the Saab Festival, the full detailed program has just been released online at the Saab Festival website, so attendees should go and check it out. Start here.
Those of you planning to pick up some bargains at the parts sale should note that the venue has changed or this year.
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The Saab 9-5 launch in England has gone very well, with dealers reporting quite enthusiastic crowds and crowd members reporting quite enthusiastic drives!
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My mate from Frankfurt, Olaf Becker, was invited along to one of the Saab 9-5 launch events in order to photograph the new 9-5 being shown to the press.
Those of you who remember his lens work at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year know that this will be worth a look.
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This just came in, via comments. A 9-5 comparison table, featuring a Volvo and some Germans.
Click to enlarge, and thanks to Carl-Henrik.
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Good luck to the Dutch in the World Cup final. I’ll be in the air, unfortunately, so I won’t see it.
See you all soon.
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by Swade
9 things to do in Trollhattan
July 9, 2010 in Saabology
The Saab Festival is coming up and hopefully quite a few of you will be travelling to Trollhattan for the festivities.
I got in touch with the tourism people in THN and asked them what they thought the 9 best things to do in Trollhattan are for the next week or so. Here’s the list they sent me.
- The Waterfall Days (Fallens Dagar) – 16-18 July
- The Waterfalls every day in July at 3 pm.
- The Locks area is fantastic. Guided tours daily
- The Powerstation Olidan – guided tours daily
- The Cableway with transport over Trollhätte canal
- The Plateau mountains Halle- and Hunneberg (must be small as I can’t find a link )
- Outdoor exhibition with stone sculptures in the falls area
- The Canal Museum
- The Summercard with entrances to many sights www.sommarkortet.eu
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by Swade
Interesting 9-5 info for the UK
July 9, 2010 in News
This just in, via comments:
The 160bhp TiD is available now with an automatic box, and according to Saab UK the TTiD auto will be available sometime in MY11. The sat nav/DVD/hard disk ‘juke box’ is available free of charge for all retail orders before the 30th September. This is normally a £1200 option.
That entertainment system is a good one…..
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And while we’re talking diesels, a friend of mine in England named Mike P has just driven one and sent along his impressions…..
It’s very, very quiet for a diesel. The saying “you wouldn’t know it’s a diesel” really does apply here. Although I was only the second person to drive it so the engine is a tight as a ducks it was still really lively.
The driving position is much “sportier” than the old 9-5 in that the seating position is much lower in relation to the surroundings. More BMW like, I would say. This car was fitted with the optional sports seats which were very comfy albeit a bit harder than mine.
The ride was good but on the firm side considering it was shod with 55 series tyres. As far as I know it was the standard suspension. No opportunity or indeed no intention to throw it around so no comments on the handling. Just felt generally really good on the road.
Couldn’t really make any sensible judgements on economy but it was showing mid 50′s at 70 on the motorway!
The boot is just enormous. The passenger leg room in the back was, I think, class leading. The doors felt heavy (as in quality) & shut with a nice solid sound.
I know that there have been problems with the supply of the original dash panel design but the all black one wasn’t too bad although I think it would benefit from some livening up. I am just not an all black dash person!
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Thanks Mike!
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by Swade
Review: Swedish police(man) drives Saab 9-5 2.0T
July 9, 2010 in Saabology
I loved driving the 2.8T V6 Saab 9-5, but I reeeeeeally loved driving the 2.0T four cylinder version.
I received the following today from Henrik N, whose developing love for the 9-5 four-banger seems to be pretty similar to my own.
I enjoyed reading this……
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I write to you for the reason that yesterday I took the new 9-5 for a test drive and would like to tell you about it.
I don’t even own a Saab – I drive a VW Golf, but I love them because I grew up with several of them (the favorite was a Saab 9-3 Aero, 2002, hazelnut metallic). I work as a police officer in central Stockholm, and we have some Saab 9-5s as patrol cars. Unfortanately most of the patrol cars ar Volvo V70s. They are good cars by all means, but they lack the sportiness and “true feeling” of the Saabs.
I was visiting the Saab dealership in my hometown Växjö last tuesday to take a look at the new car. I spoke to the salesman and for some reason I told the guy that I am a police officer in Stockholm. I was complaining about the fact that we mostly have Ovlovs in my district and that I wanted the new 9-5 as my next patrol car. The Salesman seemed to get excited and offered me a test drive. Unfortunateley I didn’t have time to drive it right then, but we scheduled a test drive for the following Thursday morning.
I was very excited, because I have read so much about this car, and have admired so many pictures of it – finally it was my turn to drive it!
I went there with my girlfriend and told them that I was scheduled to test drive a 9-5. It was a different guy this time, and he didn’t seem to care or bother who I was. He gave me a car key and told me where the car was parked.
I took a seat in the cockpit and was really amazed by how big and comfortable it felt on the inside. It was the 220hp vector model (turbo4) manual transmission. I put the key in the center console and started the car with the start button. I was feeling a rush when I did it, I was finally to drive it!
I put it in first gear and started to move away. It felt very smooth and the gear shift was very solid. Earlier saabs I have driven have had quite a “rubbery” feel of the stick, but this one felt very solid and gave me a fealing of high quality. This is a great refinement compared to older models, the feeling of solid quality.
I think that most of the gadgets in around the driver had a nice feeling of them. They were easy to comprehend and gave me the right feedback when I used them. It’s evident that the Saab engineers have put a lot of work in improving this aspect of the car, compared to the old 9-5.
I took the car for a spin around the medium sized city for about and hour. My impression was that the 220hp engine was very strong, agile and more than sufficient for that big car. I accelerated hard and realized that in the second gear I had reached the speed of 110km/h in practically no time at all, and didn’t realize I was driving so fast.
The car is extremely stable in any speed, quiet and comfortable. It’s a car that you can drive for hours without getting tired. The seats are extremely comfortable and I had a great driving positon even though I’m 199cm tall.
I was driving through the central parts of the city and in the country side on courser roads. Even though the car is so big, it feels much smaller on the road when you are driving it. The steering is very accurate, and you have a good feeling about the front and back end of the car, so I felt confident in parking it and reversing it in a small alley. It was very sporty in the corners and was great in overtaking other cars on the road.
Finally I had to return the car to the dealership (after showing it to my friend who is a Volvo freak and actually was astonished by the car). I was more than satisfied with it. It was better than I expected in most aspects, and looked much better in real life than in pictures.
The only cons with the car according to me are:
- The steering wheel is a bit too thin – I would like a more solid feeling of it.
- The roof line makes the head room in the rear seat too low (I’m almost 2 meters tall though)
- The dash looks a little too cheap with all that gray plastic, I’m hoping that they’ll fix that for the next years’ model.
Those few cons are things that I can definately live with. This is the greatest car I have driven so far, and I hope that it will be a great success for saab. Unfortunately I have to wait for a used one in order to make it suitable for my budget.
by Swade
Friday Snippets – ‘Nobody told me there’d be days like these’ Edition
July 9, 2010 in Saabology
British Saab dealers had their launches yesterday, I believe.
I haven’t heard anything from attendees yet, but I’m sure all went well.
Photo by Robin M.
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It’s a mad day.
Can you believe the cult of celebrity, even in basketball where a man’s image is starting to overshadow the importance of his jump shot or his ability to actually win games, has grown to the stage where a national sports channel will devote an hour to one guy announcing where he’ll play for the next few seasons?
People with an interest in b-b-b-basketball should read Bill Simmons’ column on The LeBrachelor before the announcement comes through.
And can you believe I’m even writing about this here?
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Can you believe that a guy in the motoring industry – one whose company has just floated on the stock exchange – would feel the pressure of public scrutiny so much that he’d decide to address rumours about his personal relationships in the public arena? And then instead of doing it in a big national newspaper, he’d choose Jalopnik?
No smear on Jalopnik there, but I’d just assume that if you want it to be read by the people who are supposedly dogging you, then you’d pick the NYT or something.
Tesla’s Elon Musk: About my divorce.
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Can you believe how much time and money Toyota are spending to tell people how good they really think they are right now?
Autoblog was their servant during the unintended acceleration debacle and it seems they are Toyota’s servants once again.
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For those of you, who like me, still think of the potential Koenigsegg era with some fondness. The Koenigsegg Agera.
Not that I’m unhappy with how things turned out, of course.
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For those of you, who like me, have never lived in the midst of a snowy winter…….
This is what cars look like at that time of year. I found it quite curious. Maybe you will too.
That’s JJ’s Pepper Green SportCombi. Thanks JJ.
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And speaking of how things turned out, here’s a Spyker being featured in a FedEx ad in this month’s Hemmings.
Word to the doubters who might think this ad is a little fanciful: We know that FedEx deliver Spykers because we saw one being delivered to Just Saab in the back of a FedEx truck
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Less than 24 hours to go……..
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by Swade
Thursday Night Quick Links
July 8, 2010 in Saabology
Even shorter than snippets……
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GM Inside News reportedly has the US specs for the 2011 Saab 9-5. I haven’t checked them out as I can’t print at home. Thanks John.
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An interesting, and I believe accurate, perspective on Saab’s break-even. Making a margin is one thing. Making enough to develop new cars is something else.
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I’ve had some emails come in about problems with spare parts availability. Enquiries are being made.
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Magnificence. Click here. Thanks Bengt!
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by Swade
Re-posted: Hirsch Performance Open Day
July 8, 2010 in sponsors
I’ve been quite busy this evening organising the last minute bits of the upcoming trip to Sweden. This time next week the Saab Festival will be on!!!
I thought it’d be good to post a reminder of this upcoming event for those of you who might be in the area.
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There’s a new Hirsch ad in the left sidebar and it’s advertising their open day on August 13th, 2010.
The open day is timed to coincide with the IntSaab meeting in Interlaken, also in Switzerland the same weekend.
For one day, Hirsch Performance AG opens the door to the development centre in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Saab enthusiasts will have the chance to look behind the scenes of the official performance partner of Saab. Take the opportunity to visit on your way to the International Saab Club meeting in Interlaken, and learn more about the company and experience the products from Hirsch Performance.
Guided tours are available on August 13th 2010 from 9:00 till 13:00.
Registration under info@hirsch-performance.ch is required, with information on the number of participating vehicles and persons.
Hirsch are still working with Saab to develop performance packages and I’m sure anyone who stops by will enjoy their tour of the facility.
It’d be worth stopping in just to see Hirsch’s collection of restored Saabs alone, including Saab Sonett #4.
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by Swade
Saab possible return to WRC in 2014
July 8, 2010 in Saabology
OK, you’d need a big, long term diary to mark this one down. And it’s only a possibility at this point, not a plan.
It’s still nice to see a Saaby return to motorsport is occupying a small place in Victor Muller’s mind, however.
TV4 spoke to him at Almedalen Week and he had this to say (Googletrans):
When TV4′s financial news met Spykers CEO Victor Muller in Almedalen, he revealed that he wants to resurrect Saab’s rally history. The rally racing series that Muller would like to aim for in the future is the World Rally Championship.
- First we have to get the company profitable, then it could be considered, at the earliest, around 2014, “said Victor Muller.
As one of the sponsors behind the Saabs United Historic Rally Team, all I can say is BRING IT ON!!!
Motorsport is the test lab of the automotive world and it’d be great to see Saab back in the dirt some time in the future.
by Swade
Saab sales data – Germany – June 2010
July 8, 2010 in News
Till72 has been kind enough to send through June sales figures for the German market.
Once again, year on year sales figures are rather pointless at the moment, but the good news is that June saw some slow month-on-month growth from May to June.
We’re still talking about miniscule numbers for Europe’s biggest single car market, but these numbers would be related to dealer registered stock or deliveries being made on orders taken a few months ago.
From Till:
Saab sold 84 cars in Germany in June (52 in May).
79 of them were 9-3s.
37 of them were diesels and 38 of them Convertibles, 5 had XWD.It will be interesting to see how things go once the 9-5 is introduced but at least numbers are increasing.
Any increase is a good increase. Soon we will see the effect of the 9-5 introduction, the dealer launches and any advertising Saab are doing there.
Thanks Till!
by Swade
Saab O The Week (x 2)
July 8, 2010 in Saabology
It’s been a while since I did a Saab O The Week entry, but Ron sent through these images of what’s a pretty rare car around his neck of the woods, so I figured what the heck.
Ron lives near Aberdeen, Scotland and sightings of older Saabs around there are pretty rare to start with. Much rarer still with Dutch number plates!
Maybe the owner of this car is an SU reader?
If so, Ron and I both hope you’re enjoying your holiday in Scotland
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This second Saab O The Week photo is one that’s just a little freaky.
The caption for this photo on Flickr reads as follows:
A trip to Hobart around 1998 or 1999 Parked next to this old Saab 99 which just happened to be there at the same time – Note the number plates.
As you can see, there’s a Saab 99 Turbo with the plate SB 0099 parked next to a Saab 95 wagon, with a couple of kids in the back, with the plate SB 0095.
I live in Hobart, and a few years ago I owned a marble white Saab 99 Turbo with the plate SB 0099 on it! That’s my car! The funny thing is, though, that I bought it maybe a year or so after this photo was taken.
The Saab 95 that you see there was owned at that time by a guy named Jim S. It’s now owned by a friend of mine and frequent contributor to the site over the years, Drew B. It’s a little strange that they’re parked together, though, as I’m pretty sure Jim didn’t know the previous owner of the 99T. This was before there was any Saab Car Club here in Tasmania.
Maybe they just happened to be parked next to one another that day (sometimes I choose to park next to other Saabs, too).
I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s just strange to see a part of your life turn up in someone else’s snapshots
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by Swade
Saab launch Events and Clubs app on Facebook
July 8, 2010 in Saabology
All of you Saab Club officials ought to check out Saab’s new Clubs and Events app on Facebook.
You can register your club on the page and you can register future club events there as well. Visitors to the page will be able to see what’s on around the world and who knows, you might get a couple of travellers coming along to your event, too!
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by Swade
Wednesday Night Snippets
July 7, 2010 in News
Just a few days to go now until we jump on a plane.
Do we need to nominate an nightly SU meeting point for people who’ll be at the Festival to gather together for a beverage and the putting of names to faces? Butlers? Swania?
To the news…..
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SVD are reporting that one of Saab’s suppliers will be cutting short its annual vacation in order to ensure continued supply to the factory.
The IAC Group factory in Färgelanda, Dalsland, which delivers parts to Saab Automobile, is producing at full speed. The factory managament breaks the industry holiday for the employees. Especially in week 29 Saab has requested quick deliveries for parts both for the new 9-5 and the 9-3. Many employees have to accept three weeks of continous summer holiday.
Knowing how much Swedes treasure their summer break it really is welcome news to see Saab’s suppliers so supportive in this critical period.
Saab’s workers will be taking the same shortened break this year, IIRC.
Thanks to Carl-Henrik for the tip.
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Victor Muller’s plans for a dual stock listing could come to fruition before the end of the year. They will look to have the company stock listed both in Amsterdam and Stockholm.
From Reuters
“It depends on the outcome of our inventory … how much work needs to be done. If we have to go through a full due diligence, it will take much more time than if we can do … limited due diligence. I would say a minimum of three to four months.”….
….He said on Tuesday the dual listing plan is not designed to raise more cash. “Maybe in order to facilitate, we will do a small issue, but I don’t think so actually,” Muller said.
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The same report gives some indication as to the continuing rollout of the new Saab 9-5:
Jonsson added the company has already launched the 9-5 in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands and cars will be sent to Spain, Denmark and Finland next week.
“By the end of July we will have done all countries, including the U.S., except for Asia and the Pacific,” he said.
I don’t know how much that will help our anxious friends in Russia or Canada, but it’s more than we had a few days ago.
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“So Swedish So Saab”
That will a tagline used in some UK advertising, being handled by McCann Erickson Birmingham.
Featuring an Elk, the campaign will promote the Saab 9-5 model, created by Swedish agency Lowe Brindfors. The campaign will highlight the Swedish heritage of the brand through the use of the Elk and the tagline ‘So Swedish So Saab’.
Running across TV, outdoor, print, digital and DM, the campaign will also feature a series of idents on Sky.
Interesting.
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Saab Italy will be moving from Rome, back to it’s original home in Bologna.
The new CEO of the company, Gianni Costantini, a veteran of the Saab brand, and since 2004 responsible for all the southern European region, in an interview to Ansa gave some details of plans for the future: “The company was incorporated on June the 16th but for the sale of the business from General Motors, the Saab Italy branch will not be officially operational until July the 1st”.
“The objective is to achieve again the record sales reached in 2008: We will be happy if next year we will sell around 3000-3500 cars, and than reach 4500 cars in 2012. Thanks to a very lean and innovative business model: in Italy we will manage the network, while all the other activities we’ll be done directly from Sweden”.
Those who read Italian may have already seen a fuller report over Saabnews.it If not, now you can
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Thanks Ade!
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by Swade
More old Saab Advertising
July 7, 2010 in Saabology
I posted a couple of Saab advertising posters from Sweden the other day. They were kindly sent over by New Salem Saab.
If you liked those, you might want to check out Wulf’s archive of old Saab advertising.
Wulf has a very nice collection of Saab Media, including brochures, press releases and of course, older Saab advertising.
Thanks Wulf!
