by Red J
January 18, 2011 in Saabology
I love my dame redna, but often when I drive in the dark I get the impression that something is wrong.
First of all, the speedo has no low speed and high speed section with different scaling, but maybe the most annoying is that it is an all white speedo.
Read the rest of this entry →
by Swade
January 18, 2011 in News
UPDATE below.
There have been several good stories coming out of Sweden in the last few days. Here’s a round-up.
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The Swedish press made a pretty big fuss last November over the fact that Saab had to pass on renewing 200 temporary workers’ employment contracts just before Christmas. Saab were managing their workforce according to their expected production rate, though it was implied to some extent in the press that these people were laid off.
Anyway, DN.se reported today that 55 of those workers will be employed again, and whilst the article doesn’t say when, one could guess that it’ll be pretty quickly. Saab need the extra hands on deck “to cope with production”.
30 of those 55 will be on new temporary contracts and the remainder will be permanently employed.
UPDATE: I received an email from Swedish Radio today, telling me that the employment arrangements were made before Christmas, so these employees are quite possibly already back on the job!
Great news.
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I wrote a few days ago about a large Swedish employer, NCC, who had placed Saab back amongst choices on their company car list. This was a great show of faith and a tremendous boost to Saab’s potential corporate sales in Sweden.
Another large employer in Sweden, Alfa Laval, has joined them. From DI.se:
These days, it is [certain] that Alfa Laval make Saab into a selectable [brand] for their 1700 car drivers.
“I forbade employees to buy the Saab when only ethanol car was available, then it would [eventually] not count as a green car,” said Peter Bunke, global manager for Alfa Laval’s official vehicles in 56 countries.
With the new Saab models that [have come to] market, the Trollhätten brand is again an option for employees. The residual value guarantee that Saab dealers exhibited is crucial to Saab being an option for Alfa Laval.
“Of course, it is important, the residual value is the most important parameter, it is much more important than the purchase price, as we look at total cost,” he says.
I think there’s something in that for Saab and a few other markets as well.
1) Supply what the market wants. And 2) Everyone who has some skin in the game should take some measures to support it.
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Teknikens Varld conducted an interview with Jan-Ake Jonsson late last year and the resulting article has recently come online.
Swedes can read it here. The rest of can benefit from one particular website that seems to take Googletranslations and pass them off as their own.
It’s a great background piece on a wonderful Saab guy.
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by Swade
January 17, 2011 in Saabology
Jorrit doesn’t live in Belgium, but that didn’t stop him from heading on over to Brussels anyway, to be one of the first Euro-dwellers to get a peek at the Saab 9-4x.
This is what he saw, and what he thought of it.
My thanks to Jorrit for sending it along…..
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Saab has a truly great stand. It supports the Scandinavian feel that Saab is all about. It’s very clean looking and a nice place to be. The curved LED wall stands out and gives the stand a modern and technical advanced image. Also, I got the impression that the Saab employees were proud to be there and enjoyed the show. Of course, it’s very exciting to present a new Saab to (potential) customers after all that Saab has come through during the last months.
Although Belgium is a relatively small country, it’s responsible for a lot of Saab sales. So it was not strange to see many people checking out the Saab stand, especially the 9-4X and 9-5 of course. I got the impression that people were positively surprised by the 9-4X. I heard people saying that they liked what they saw.
This is the first time we got to see the real life 9-4X. At the last AutoRAI (2009), the Dutch motor show, we saw the concept car of the 9-4X. It’s great to see that there are a lot of similarities between the concept car and the production model. Something that struck us were the green/blue tinted head lights. They look quite good, but perhaps due to the lighting at the stand, they seemed to be more colored than the head lights of the 9-5. As this is the US version of the car, I think the orange part of the head lights won’t be there in the European version which makes it look more clean.
The 9-4X features a typical Saab dashboard which is angled to the driver. The interior looks great, no doubt about that, but sand color leather might make it even better. It’s easy to see that the 9-4X and new 9-5 are from the same family, which is great. One thing that is not very Saab like in my opinion is the look of the audio and navigation system. The interface on the screen features obtrusive colors and strong gradients on the buttons. In my opinion that doesn’t blend that well with the clean and uncluttered design which Saab stands for. It has probably to do with costs, but if it’s possible for Saab to change the interface theme, that might be a good idea to do. Give it more of a clean Saab feel, include the Gill Sans font, etc.
The boot looks great and the cargo rail looks useful. Also, this car was fitted with two DVD screens in the back which children will appreciate for sure. This is the Aero version, but there was no Aero badge at the back of the car. By the way, both the front and back seats were good and the leather looked nice as well. Overall it’s an outstanding car.
Car shows are a great way to compare cars. Next to the Saab stand was Land Rover. They showed their new Range Rover, the Evoque. By the looks of that car you would say that it’s a concept vehicle, but it’s really a production car. If you ask me, it looks quite Saaby (funny thing that the Evoque and 9-4X were very near to each other (it was a similar arrangement in Los Angeles, too, and the Evoque was well received by people at the Saab stand – SW).
For example the black A pillars and the sporty stance are shared by both cars. I think I would choose the 9-4X as the Evoque looks a bit too aggressive, but I have to say that the Evoque looks more modern than the 9-4X (in fact it makes the Freelander look older than it actually is, in my opinion). I hope Saab could do something like that with the all-new 9-3: make it look very modern and special so it stands out from the crowd, actually what the classic 900 did in its days.
Greetings from Holland!
Best regards,
Jorrit D
by Swade
January 17, 2011 in Saabology
Around 30 Saab enthusiasts got together over the weekend, in what looks like better weather than Jan2010, to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Saab Support Convoy held in Poland last year.
The message this year was Save Saab and you can find more images from the gathering here and here. The blue convertible looks fantastic (and great to see it getting some winter service, too).
My thanks to Justyn for the tip!
Click……
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by Swade
January 17, 2011 in Editorial
Saab Support Convoys started in earnest on Sunday, January 17th. I’m sure anyone who participated in one of these gatherings can remember the incredible feeling of solidarity that existed that day and in the weeks that followed.
I thought it appropriate to take a quick look at how it all happened.
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Early December, 2009 – a couple of Dutch Saab fans have the idea of holding a Saab Support Convoy in January. At that time, everyone thought that Saab’s fate would have been determined by mid-January. This event was going to be either a celebration of Saab’s sale, or a wake to remember a great company gone too soon. No-one thought Saab’s fate would still be in the balance.
18 December, 2009 – GM cut off all negotiations with Spyker, saying they’ll wind Saab up. Spyker refuse to accept this and revise their offer, removing all the obstacles that GM had identified as being in the way. We all spend Christmas waiting and wondering and the number of prospective convoys continues to grow.
5 January 2010 – With a GM Board meeting due on the 7th (and a decision expected on Saab’s fate at that time), Ryan from Saabhistory.com questioned why people were waiting until the 17th to show their support. Jalopnik.com picked up on this and before you could say “Damn it’s cold in Detroit in January” the first Saab Support Convoy is held in Detroit on the 5th with Ryan leading the gathering, just down the street from GM’s headquarters. With around 28 cars and a few more people in attendance, it’s a small convoy but the effect is significant. A number of big news services cover the story and imagery of Saab people waving signs at GM’s offices. Seeing the effect that a convoy can have inspires others to set up gatherings of their own and the growth
17th January 2010 – D-Day for Saab Support Convoys around the world – and I think it was bigger than anyone actually envisaged.
If I recall correctly, the Dutchies thought their initial plans would attract between 150-200 cars. Those plans had to be altered several times as the campaign gathered momentum and they ended up with an estimated 800 cars at the actual event.
An estimated 2,000 cars came to Trollhattan and the ceremonial drive from the Museum to the Factory ended up as a continuous line of Saabs linking one to the other.
Convoys were being held in places where I didn’t even know an organised Saab following existed. Places like Taiwan and Malaysia stunned us all with their passion for the brand. St Petersburg stunned us all with the beauty of the images that came from their gathering. Poland stunned us all by the size of their gathering and heartfelt warmth of their people.
It was amazing. I was here at home manning the computer as emails and images came pouring in from all around the world. It’s no over-statement to say I couldn’t keep up.
From the records kept on the Saab Campaigns site set up at the time, Saab Support
Convoys were held in the following places that first weekend:
Bulgaria, Brisbane, Kansas City, Vienna, Linz, Stockholm, Taiwan, Frankfurt, Brno, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Beijing, Vilnius, Melbourne, Italy, Hungary, Belarus, St Petersburg, Slovakia, Netherlands, Southern California, New Mexico, Prague, Brookline MA, Helsinki, Adelaide, Shanghai, Moscow, Trollhattan, Atlanta, Warsaw, Lodz, Poznan, Montreal, UK, Ningbo (China), Ekaterinburg, Bodoe, Tolga, Sandes, Kristiansand, Malaysia, Denmark, Umea, Paris, Denver, Toronto, Singapore.
Apologies if I’ve missed anyone but the dates get a little confusing after that.
All of those convoys in one day with a bunch more in the following weeks. An amazing show of support and it generated plenty of news coverage for Saab, which developed into one of the objectives of the excercise: make sure GM couldn’t get away from the spotlight surrounding the sale of Saab.
To those who participated in these convoys, as well as the ones that followed, I’m quite sure that Saab is grateful. I hope you have fond memories of the days you spent fighting for this company together with your fellow Saab enthusiasts.
And to Saab and the Saab dealers out there, I hope you remember what you nearly lost and continue to build and service cars for the people who stood up for you.
by Swade
January 16, 2011 in Saabology
After a city-load of rain the last week, it was nice to have a pearler of a weekend. I hope you’ve had a great one, too.
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Congratulations have to go out to occasional SU commenter, ‘Sappy’, who just won a trip with Saab to the Ice Hotel.
Sappy recently purchased a new Saab in the UK and entered via a draw open to new owners. His wife’s not too keen on the idea, so I think he might be holding a raffle to see which one of his mates goes along.
Enjoy!
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Following are a few slides from Saab in Belgium, detailing prices for the vehicles and the options available. Click to enlarge.
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If anyone wants the full info for the Belgian release of the Saab 9-4x, click here.
I’m hoping to bring you some of the first European impressions of the vehicle from Jorrit, a regular here at SU, who went to take a look at the 9-4x in Brussels over the weekend.
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This is pretty cool.
If you’ve got a 2008-2011 Saab 9-3 that isn’t an Aero and you’d like to add a little bit of Aero flair, Saab USA Parts (site sponsor) has a kit for Aero foglamp surrounds.
We have taken the standard black foglight housings and painted the centers black with a silver edge to give the same affect that the Aero style has.
Each kit is painted to order, so you might have to allow 7-10 days for them to be shipped.
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I got a note from Kurt at Saab99turbo.com telling me that the official Saab facebook page was edging very close to 60,000 members.
Right now, it’s at 59,398.
If you’re registered on facebook but haven’t hooked up with Saab there, then maybe a “Like” is something you could consider. They have occasional competitions and all sorts of other stuff there, and you can even have your car posted as their profile picture for the week.
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Another image from the Saab showcase outside the Detroit Auto Show.
From Flickr.
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by Red J
January 15, 2011 in Saabology
Magnus Hansson seems to like to keep people interested in Saab by spreading rumours about new Saab cars.
On march 2010 he spoke about the 9-3 emitting less than 120 g/km CO2. A couple of months later those cars were on sale.
Well it seems like Mr. Hansson is spreading some rumours once again. In an interview about Saab hunting for Volvo and Audi in the company car market in Sweden he indicates that Saab has still some card to put on the table.
Original text:
Dragloket i dag är den mindre 9-3:an, som också har kämpat sig under den magiska miljöbilsgränsen på 120 gram koldioxid per kilometer, något som är viktigt inte minst för företagsförsäljningen. Frågan är om det kan vara något som även 9-5:an kommer under?
– Det får vi se, säger Magnus Hansson och ler.
Google-trans:
Main engine is now less of 9-3: an, who also has struggled over the magic green car limit of 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, which is important, especially for corporate sales.The question is whether there might be something that even 9-5 is over?
- We’ll see, “said Magnus Hansson and smiles.
So, will we see a 9-5 emitting less than 120 g/km CO2?
I say yes. And although I have no Djup Strupe to back up my affirmation, I see different hints out there that point in that direction.
2011 will be a very interesting Year for Saab !!!!!
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Thanks to Gaijp and TurboLover for the hint.
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Addendum
BMW will present in March its 320d Efficient dynamics Touring with 161hp and 114 g/km CO2.
This is in my eyes the only competitor for the Saab, because BMW is also trying to combine good performance with low CO2 values.
by Swade
January 15, 2011 in Saabology
The Montreal International Auto Show is on from the 14th to the 23rd January (which means it’s on right now) and Saab ARE present at the show.
They have six cars at the show. 2 x 9-5, 1 x 9-3x, 1 x 9-3 SS, 1 x 9-3 Aero XWD, 1 x 9-3 SC. Unfortunately, there are no 9-4x’s on display (the black car is in Detroit and the silver on is in Brussels).
Simon M attended yesterday and sent through the following photos:
Below is Jean-Philippe Garcia, one of the reps on hand, from Saab Laval.
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The Saab display wasn’t too far from the GM show, but kept some slightly more highbrow company with Rolls Royce located next door. Vehicles were locked, but representatives were on hand to unlock them for people who asked.
Apparently a lot of the visitors were pleasantly surprised to see Saab at the show and the representatives on hand were getting to answer a lot of questions.
If you’re in Montreal but haven’t got a glimpse of the new 9-5 or 9-3x yet, then you’ve got until the 23rd to see them at the motor show.
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by Swade
January 15, 2011 in Saabology
You will enjoy this.
Victor Muller interviewed by Heritage Magazine.
It’s not about Saab – although he manages to get a few mentions in there, like this one:
IS THERE A PARTICULAR CAR YOU’D LIKE TO ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION?
Right now, I’m on the lookout for a 1993 Saab, which is stupid since we have a museum with about 100 of them. But that’s the thing about a collector; you always want to have your own stuff.
The interview is about him, as a collector of cars and art.
A very interesting read.
My thanks to Paddan for sending it thorugh.
by Swade
January 15, 2011 in Saabology
I’m not sure what was said in Brussels, but here’s what it all looked like when they said it.
Click.
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Of course, the feature of the show was the European debut of the Saab 9-4x, which once again looks very good on the Saab stand.
The images were sent over by Sofie from Saab in Belgium, and she was very happy with how things went at the show, which is great to hear.
Thanks for the pics!
by Swade
January 14, 2011 in Editorial
Sometimes I feel like I’m an alien.
RedJ wrote yesterday about a road test comparing the Saab 9-5 and the Mercedes E Class.
I clicked on the test and I read through some of it before thinking to myself “Why am I bothering with this one?”
Further to that, I have to ask myself Why did Auto Express bother with it? I know that the readers of automotive magazines like these tests. I guess that’s why.
How the 9-5 compares to the E Class is slightly interesting on an intellectual level but is completely irrelevant on an emotional level because I’ve got absolutely zero interest in any model from Mercedes Benz. None whatsoever.
And I don’t know of many people here who have talked about Mercedes, either.
But why confine it to Mercedes?
Maybe I’m just a complete sucker, but I have no serious interest in anything non-Saaby with the specific exceptions of a few models from Alfa Romeo and Porsche (and those aren’t models that compete with anything from Saab, they’re just things in specific niches that I’d like to own one day).
When people talk about this-model-from-Audi, that-model-from-BMW or this-model-from-whoever, I find myself wondering why. I have to ask myself OK, it’s probably a good car – but would you want to own it? It’s one thing to go through some quasi-intellectual exercise comparing what are essentially meaningless numbers on paper, but would you want to own it?
Maybe I just enjoy these cars too much. And I’ll be the first to admit that I do. I love the cars and I love the company. I love the little town they’re built in. I love the history behind the company and I really love the idea of them proving themselves in the future. A company with the qualities of Saab – as long as they’re preserved and persist into the future – deserves a place in the automotive landscape.
I know the Mercedes E Class is a good car. A great car, in fact. I’ve always had a very healthy respect for Mercedes Benz.
But owning one?
I could barely imagine anything less interesting. I’m an alien. I want the Saab.
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Question
What other brands do you seriously – not just in arguments or intellectual exercises – but seriously consider buying as an alternative to Saab?
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by Swade
January 14, 2011 in Saabology
I am going to (un)officially give the name Saab Bigfoot to the Saab 9-5 Coupe.
The Saab 9-5 Coupe doesn’t officially exist and whenever I’ve asked about the potential for a Saab coupe/hatch, I’ve been told it just wasn’t going to happen.
And yet there’s this:
The SaabNL Twitmeisters don’t post things without good reason. And to whet the appetite a little more, it’s apparently been seen twice in the last 5 days.
There was no photo to go with the sighting, though.
I have to force myself to remain skeptical about this. First of all, I’ve asked about this body style in the 9-5 range a number of times and it’s always been a (very) negative response. Second, whilst it would be a very attractive car, the number of sales would be limited and I find it hard to believe they’ve got limited sellers in their core business plan. And finally, until there’s a photo, and without knowing the source myself, one just has to remain a little skeptical.
The Saab 9-5 Coupe – it’s our bigfoot. Someone hunt it down or disprove it forever, please!
by Swade
January 14, 2011 in News
It seems Saab are receiving some very favourable consideration in the Swedish corporate fleet market.
From Swedish Radio:
Swedish companies are beginning to trust Saab again and more people choose one of the company’s models. [This is] an important market for Saab as great company cars constitute [a large number] of sales.
NCC, one of Scandinavia’s largest construction and property companies, were last at the turn back to that retrieved their car from Trollhattan. (i’m not sure how to accurately translate that in context – SW)
- We have pressure from our employees that Saab will be an eligible car [for company purchases/leases]. Saab has produced a pair of models [with] carbon dioxide emissions below 120 grams. And then there is another reason: it is a Swedish car maker, says Lennart Persson, head of car purchases in NCC.
Bottom line – this refers to the Saab 9-3 TTiD Sport Sedan and with that, Saab are offering a range of cars that are popular in Sweden because they’ve been able to give the market something it wants: a sub-120g/km car with good space and power.
Just wait until they get the SportCombi below that level. They’ll have to build bigger doors at the factory to ensure they can get them out quickly!
This is something that the numbers have told us might be the case (sub-120g/km cars cost less to register, etc), but it’s great to hear it being confirmed.
by Red J
January 14, 2011 in News
Saab will be hosting a press conference at 10:30 am(GMT+1) at the Brussels Motor show. So if anybody gets some info about that press conference, feel free to post it here.
Saab will be there with the 9-4X, being Brussels the official European presentation of the car, and the 9-3 ePower.
It seems that this is the first really post-GM Motor-show as Saab will be surrounded by BMW, Alfa Romeo and LandRover.
by Swade
January 14, 2011 in Saabology
I’ve had quite a few people emailing me about the floods, some asking if we’re OK.
We are absolutely OK. Australia’s a big place and whilst there has been a lot of rain here in Tasmania and some flooding in the north of the state, there’s nothing at all that effects us here in the south. Thanks to all for your concern.
Of course, the big floods are in Queensland, the northernmost state on the east coast of Australia. We’ve all been glued to our TV’s here and there has been plenty to see, around 95% of it quite tragic.
Image from Grantham, the town probably worst hit by the floods, which claimed houses, vehicles and lives in just minutes.
Everyone in southern Australia knows someone who’s moved to Queensland in the last 10 years or so, quite a few of them to Brisbane. We all feel like we’ve got someone involved in this in some way.
If you’ve never seen how a flash flood progresses, watch this video from Toowoomba, which was hit without warning by a flash flood earlier this week (much of this is the water that’s effecting Brisbane now). Amazing.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUpkPTcqPY
Personally speaking, one of my good friends will have to find somewhere else to live. Her house (a rental, so it’s not hers to rebuild) was overcome very early in the Brisbane flood. Thankfully, she got most of her stuff out and of course, the best news is that she’s safe.
I have a few semi-regular Saab contacts up there, as well, one of whom (Simon L) owns a Saab 99 Turbo that I used to own. Simon lives on high ground and was never in any trouble from the water.
Some of you might be familiar with a bloke named AussieLars, who comments here occasionally. Lars got his Viggen on to high ground before the water came, but there was some concern about the Saab 96 V4 that’s he had stripped and part-way through restoration. Obviously, it wasn’t as portable as the Viggen and time was very short.
As it happens, the water level wasn’t quite as high as people feared and for Lars, that means that the 96 will just need some mild cleanup. Nothing too major. He and Mrs AussieLars will be just fine, which is great to hear.
There are plenty of harrowing stories, however, the most striking and heartbreaking of which is probably that of Jordan Rice and his mother, Donna. Click here.
If you feel moved to support flood victims, many of whom will not be covered by insurance because of their proximity to the river (and because insurers can be bastards sometimes), then I invite you to donate to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal, the primary fundraising effort run by the Queensland government.
Again, thanks for your concern, not just personally, but for all the people in Queensland who have done it so tough in the last few weeks.
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On to some more Saab-specific things……
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Beijing Automotive, who were looking to buy Saab back in 2009 but settled for $200m worth of older-generation tooling, are trialling 30 electric cars with the local government in Beijing.
A number of them are based on the Saab 9-3.
Beijing Auto has started production of electric ‘Saab’ 9-3’s. The car is called Q60FB and is part of a trial project for electric cars with the Beijing city government. They will make 30 cars in total, including a number of electric BC301Z’s, called the C30DB and a number of electric minivans called MR30DB.
The full story is over at thetycho.com.
BAIC were always pretty serious about doing electric vehicles and using the Saab tooling they bought as part of the project. It’s good to see them progressing on this and I don’t think it’s a bad thing that they’ve used Saab’s bodies instead of their own for such a project.
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I wrote about a new Saab dealership popping up in Seattle a few months ago, but they weren’t online at the time.
It’s good to see Saab of Bellevue are now up and running.
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The Saab 9-5 won a Car of the Year vote in Finland, and I’m pretty sure SU had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Not sounding surprised there, just happy. The Finns love their Saabs, as they should 
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