With all the crazy things that have been reported in the last few months, here is somewhat of an easy read and has little to do with anything going on with Saabs finances or supplier concerns. My question is what is it that catches your eye when you walk into the Saab Showroom of your local SAAB dealer? More so, what is your initial feeling when you walk through the doors? Is it warm and welcoming or is it something of an after thought? Some dealers will just pick car’s based on colors that blend well and some go for the cheapest priced or volume cars. Typically a dealer will try to have the car’s that are nationally advertised in their showrooms to direct customers to the car that brought them in. A showroom should be set up so that you can have your entire line up inside and out of the weather. You should be able to walk into any dealers showroom and test the seats and push the buttons. I being someone who has had a love a cars for years, have always looked at a showroom as my play place or candy store. I can look at what is new, I can in the freezing cold of winter, open a sunroof and play with switches and not have to worry about how cold it is outside or worry about scraping ice off the windows.
In our dealership, we are set up in a way that you can enter the showroom from three different angles. We have the main door by our receptionist where we normally have whatever is newest to our lineup. Right now it’s a 9-5 and an Aero in arctic white with the parchment leather seats and is one of the nicest combinations for the 9-5. The next entrance is from our delivery pod which is an entrance with two sliding doors that allows us to put vehicles in the showroom and is the perfect place to deliver a new car. The delivery pod is surrounded by glass on all sides and allows for a beautiful delivery experience. People like to take delivery of their new Saab’s in the showroom where the lights hit every angle of their new car and truly showcase that car of their dreams. It is a big deal when you drive that new car out of the showroom, so much so that most people don’t. They opt for us to drive it out for them and not risk scratching a door on the way out. The third and final showroom entrance is from our Sales Lot. When you walk in that door you are met by a 9-3 or 9-3 Sport Combi that is again parked on an agle giving you a nice side profile when walking in the door. We set our vehicles up in a way that customers can open every door wide open and test every possible feature. Setting vehicles up this way also gives the sales staff the ability to do a walk around with the potential customer to show them what makes a Saab a Saab.
Showroom’s are meant to show the product and give that first impression. If you were going on a date, you would get dressed up and put your best foot forward and a showroom is kind of like that. The showroom is a chance to say here I am, check me out. As customers and part of the global SAAB Family, what do you look or what do you want to see when you walk through those doors into the SAAB showroom?
I think every Saab-store to look pretty much like Saab’s show-booths. The design language and concept has to be the same, no matter in which city or country you are. Sure, the cars are individualistic and for individuals, but the presentation has to be the same everywhere.
Yea – *think* Apple store.
I totally agree with you guys. I think a uniformed look would be a great thing and something that is easily achieved.
Certainly would help reinforce the brand language and design if all dealers were a bit more uniform. Not surprisingly given events of recent years, but most Saab showrooms in the UK and Ireland are now looking very bland and not distinctive. Some of the ‘motor show’ design language would work well on smaller scale – shimmering light curtains, glass floors, ice blocks etc, but no idea what this would cost already cash-strapped dealers who are probably just about surviving?
I know the 9-4X is not yet being delivered to Canadian dealerships. But couldn’t you, perhaps, borrow a demo from a US colleague and put it in, or, even better, in front of the showroom as well? As an ouverture, to use a ridiculous word, to the official introduction in Canada. I’m pretty sure Saab-friendly people in your neck of the woods would come running to see one in the metal after having read one ad with the pic in your local press. Or maybe do an e-mail campaign to your (ex-)customers with as incentive a short test drive (first… Read more »
ivo, I have actually exhausted myself trying to get one here. I have reached out to a US dealer, but they didn’t have enough stock to freely give one up. In fairness, they really did want to help but it’s very difficult given the lack of inventory and this is a vehicle that they have no problem moving. There was one in Toronto from SCNA a while back that I only heard of because someone wrote on here about it and I contacted our importer about it, but it never did makes its way out west. When we are about… Read more »
I read something here on SU about a dealer in…Chicago maybe? or was it Reinertsen? can’t remember… who had, like, 7 or 8 delivered. Can’t say if all have been sold by now but if not then you could maybe try having one trucked over. Or maybe you could strike a deal with your co-moderator Pierre in Boston. Of course I have no idea about how much dinero the truck ride would involve but cars get swapped by dealers on a daily basis all over NA so how pricey (or dicey) could it be?
Another 2 cts. 🙂
Ivo
Pay the gas and I will drive one for you and fly back. Likewise Maine or New Hampshire is a stones throw from Montreal. I am in Milwaukee, WI.
Funnily enough I have never driven out of a showroom but seen it done for me twice. Once after SAAB presented me the 9-5 Combi. After the party the sales manager squeezed it through the tight doors into the blustery February snow. Then likewise when I borrowed the white Convertible out of the New Showroom at Concours Motors for the sunny parade in May.
Royal Oaks, MI is super close.
Peter, for those that don’t know your story, I think it’s worth re-telling. Here’s a pretty good story on it.
That was me, here at Morrie’s SAAB in Minneapolis, MN. The first 9 of the 12 factory Demos arrived yesterday. Come on down for Saabtoberfest and meet them!
My brother visited Morrie’s Saab in Minneapolis earlier this week while he was having his Cadillac repaired. Not sure if he was perusing the showroom or the lot. But I think he liked what he saw.
Thanks! We’ve been in Saab for 40+ years. Love it!
You guys are very fortunate, I’d love it if we had even one of them. Good luck for next weekends Oktober Fest.
Thanks, Jason!
Saab of Memphis had at least a half dozen when I picked up ours on Sept 1. Most of them Moreland Bronze. Not sure about their existing inventory right now though. Great buying experience.
Personally when I enter a showroom, It’s not the amount of cars on display that gets my attention. Sometimes they are just “old” stock. What I really like to see there are “aero” versions with some of the newest features available that can easily seduce new buyers and old customers as well. Even if the customer can’t afford those at the moment, it will cause a greater impact, particularly for people who don’t know much about SAABs.
As for dealer uniformity, isn’t that already a necessary condition to sell SAABs anywhere ?
As for dealer uniformity, isn’t that already a necessary condition to sell SAABs anywhere ? In short, yes and no. We all have somewhat the same signage, but when you come into the showroom, they are not all the same. Saab realizes that dealers need to start making money again, so it is a little hard to tell a dealer that they have to have this, that or the other in the showroom unless Saab is providing it for them free of charge. I agree as far as the Aero versions go, they should be on display as they are… Read more »
I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago but to see a red 9-5 with black 19 inch Turbine wheels is stunning. The stock wheels could be used for the compulsory snow tires!
This week I bought a beautiful new 2011 9-3 xwd at Shaw Saab in the Boston area. I honestly didn’t pay much attention to the cars on the show floor, except to notice that it was more comfortable and spacious than the previous Saab dealer I had bought from. Shaw Saab’s space is very bright and airy with room for about five or six vehicles, I’d say. It has a pleasant, uncluttered Scandinavian minimalist feel. I glanced at the 9-4x just to see it, but honestly not too much. I am a rather focused buyer and to me (since I’m… Read more »
SaabMan, what a great review. Obviously I’ve never been to Shaw Saab, being that I’m in Canada, but I do follow them on facebook as well as twitter and I have to say that what you describe is what I’ve seen on their respective pages. It is very comforting to know that what you see is what you get in this case and it’s not a story of painting a pretty picture and having a different reality. Thanks for sharing.
I honestly can’t say enough good things about Shaw Saab. It was entirely a no pressure kind of situation. I just showed up wanting to take a look at a nocturne blue Aero, not even sure if I wanted to buy. But I test drove it. They appraised my trade in quite fairly using NADA (higher than both blue book or Edmunds), though I inched them up a bit based on my own online research. There was no “I’ll have to check with the manager” hidden away in a secret room. They estimated my payments and included all the various… Read more »
Glad to hear another Saab is on the road! I work for a New England Saab dealer and understand how important all aspects of the customer experience are to the customers we serve, from showroom to service. I’m paticularly interested in hearing how warranties would be covered should “the worst” happen. I’ve had several customers who’ve said they love our Saab’s and would not pull the trigger due to concerns over warranty. Optimism and offering after-market options don’t seem to be enough! I should also mention I’ve had customers call Saab customer assisstance and received the company line “our future’s… Read more »
The business manager at Shaw Saab checked with Ally about its extended warranty program for me: Ally would pick up whenever the Saab warranty ended, whether after 4 years or earlier, should the worst happen. In my case, an Ally extended warranty would have cost about $1540 for 6 years/60,000 miles. I didn’t buy yet, since the reconstruction news has delayed anything catastrophic. My thinking in going ahead with the purchase was that I had a 2007 9-3 with an expired warranty. How much worse off would I be with a 2011 and an expired warranty if it came to… Read more »
SaabMan, the “just-in-case-if-the-worst-thing-happens” additional warranty I received is through GM Extended Warranty so it doesn’t have to do with a finance company. I am not sure what the dealer had to pay for this and most likely it will never be used anyways. I bought my 9-4X when the reorganization was not even approved yet so the future looks brighter now. Also, SCNA and the US Saab dealers are in a bit of different position as they wouldn’t be immediately affected by things that happen in Sweden. With the 9-4X made in Mexico and most likely becoming the best-seller for… Read more »
This is exactly how we’ve shopped for and purchased our last two SAABs. Great write-up, SaabMan.
It’s been years since I was in a Saab dealership, and I was nowhere near old enough to drive at the time. Being a kid, I remember lots of color selection and being able to freely run around the vehicles 🙂 I wouldn’t think it’s terribly important for there to be uniformity among the dealerships. Strict uniformity, at least. Each has its own personality, I’m sure–and I imagine know how to work the area they’re in best. Aside from the obvious (well, obvious after reading it :)), like having the cars well lit, with plenty of room to open doors… Read more »
Space and air. So one can watch the cars from a distance – or very close.
Better not to display all models and versions then to crowd the room with the “objects”.
No other brands between the Saabs to pollute the view.
Lots of daylight and very good artificial lighting.
Light colours and atmosphere.
Simple, balanced and minimal furnishing.
…and a quiet environment can help the other senses like sight, touch and smell.
Yes. Not too crowded with objects. Its the same as with furniture stores. Weve all been to the ones just propping the store full of sofas etc. Placing twenty sofas together with each other. and the same with the tables etc etc. Compared with the furniture stores that make an arrangement with different furniture. Often with a handsome space between the groups. But the perhaps most important. The dealers have to come up with a solution on how to display the different COLOR OPTIONS. A purchase of a car go through some natural steps. First visit, test drive, engine choice,… Read more »
Everyone agrees that Saab branded showrooms should be uniform world wide. There have been many initiatives to achieve this, but they have never been as successful as BMW or MB. This is because : A modest €20,000 makeover costs €24,000,000 over 1200 outlets. Dealers, Importers and the factory have never had the budget available. BMW and MB have greater pull on their dealers because the dealers are generally highly profitable. In many markets Saab is sold through dual franchise outlets, and Saab is often the smaller partner. There are climatic variations. Used cars are outdoors in California, indoors in Sweden.… Read more »
Every time we entered the showroom of our Saab dealer we felt to be at home. It was the atmosphere of the room, a special smell of new cars and an almost personal relation to the dealer which in summary stood for the brand.
But in 2009 this realionship ended by the closing of business. Another Saab dealer near our home had to finish his activities too due to the small quantity of car sellings.
Our basis for maintenance had disappeard and therefore we decided to change the brand after a long period of 36 years living with Saab.
My personal take is that “Scandinavian austerity” is getting a bit old. Yes, simple, clean lines and uncluttered areas are welcome – but there seems (to me) to be an aversion to color schemes other than “all white”. There’s a lot more to Scandinavia than The Ice Hotel (disclaimer: nothing wrong with the Ice Hotel!). What’s wrong with a hot color spot and some dramatic lighting to accentuate a special new model, like when the 9-5 wagon arrives in the showrooms? I think it can be done tastefully without turning it into a theme park.
+1 – Sweden is a highlky colourful country – the natural colour may be white much of theyear, but the natives and their homes are very colourful – the white thing is done by everyone now, what about some use of timber and natural materials to offset the bleak?
Haven’t read through all comments but dealers got to have cars with different seats and/or a “seat stand” where people can actually sit and feel the difference between a base, sport (Aero) and Comfort seat before ordering.
This choice is very personal and probably the most important one buying a new Saab if you drive a lot.
I agree. The seats are very important.
Jason, you guys run a real class act. All my congratulations! Do you think the latest good news about reorganization will carry any weight for sales? I managed to talk to Tim Colbeck after his speech at SOC11 and asked him about the canadian situation. He told me they were aware of the problems with the actual distributor and that they were working on a fix. When asked about the unfair disparity between Cnd and US prices, he was adamant that had to be improved also. John Lobbos, Product Manager at SNA talked along the same lines. I mentioned to… Read more »
Thanks for the nice words. I do think that the latest news will carry weight with sales, but I think we have a bit of a hill to climb. It’s easy to explain where we are right now and what’s in front of us, but we need to do something to bring people in the door. People like ivo have the right idea with the 9-4X, if we could all have 1 now for our showrooms, we could attract attention and pre-sell a lot of units. I can’t really say anything about a distributor issue, but I do know in… Read more »
The 9-4x stands out in the crowd of SUVs, or whatever they are called now, with a beautiful classic look that will age gracefully (as the 9-5 for that matter). I found the fit a finish very good with a very Saabish interior and great seats. Like I said, it drives beautifully with very little body roll. My biggest beaf of course is the thirsty power plants.
Problems in Canada include no good leasing deals. I heard even Budd Saab, who was instrumental in bringing Saab back in Canada is hanging it up (?).
No 9, I really love the look of the 9-4x inside and out from what I have seen. As far as leasing goes, yes this is still a problem and the problem is residuals and this will change over time I am sure. I have not heard what you are saying about Budd’s and unless it can be confirmed, I think we should leave that alone. They have added Kia to their list of dealers and the last I spoke to them, there was no indication that they were looking to do anything different with Saab and remained committed to… Read more »
Great for Budd’s!
I wish my ex-SAAB dealer who is now selling Kia could bring SAAB back to the south shore (of Québec City) but it’s not going to happen.
I’m in shock. You mean that there are Saabs in Canada that lack heated seats and mirrors?!
FGS this is Saab, the Swedish ‘winter car’. There shouldn’t ever be one sold without these features unless it’s going to Mexico or Australia. But wait a minute they’ve got some chilly nights over there too and heated mirrors are good when it’s foggy or very humid…
The block heater is gone and I THINK heated seats and mirrors are not standard on all models any more, but please don’t quote me on that.
I believe the heated seats and mirrors are standard on all 2011 models and newer.
Just about all non-urban buildings in Sweden are either ‘stugas’ built of timber and painted in a darkish hue of red or concrete edifices that look like a stuga and are painted in a darkish hue of red. I once accidentally entered the campus of a large hospital complex serving a pretty big district. It was a collection of, you’ll never guess, concrete stugas painted in a a darkish hue of red.
So let all Saab showrooms reflect that: once again, either wooden or timber-lookalike concrete stugas painted……you can guess by now, I guess.
🙂
Ivo