Update: Jan 14/15th Saab Support Meetings

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Hi all,

I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to highlight the work being done by people around the world in organising Saab support meetings on the weekend of the 14th and 15th January next year.

When we had the Saab Support Convoys in 2010, they were held over three separate weekends. It’s great to see everyone jumping on board early to make sure the main weekend, the 14/15th of January, will be a busy day in the Saab calendar.

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you might be aware that investors are taking the opportunity to look at Saab, both as a going concern and for its technology. As written by Ttela, Victor Muller is still in there fighting for the company’s future as well.

Saab was bought whilst in liquidation back in 2010 and you should be assured that it can happen again.

With that in mind, here’s a list of the locations where Saab support meetings are currently being organised. It’s great to see people getting on board. If you want to show your community’s support for the brand, then get your friends together and register at outside-saab.com or via the email address below.

  • The Netherlands
  • Belgium – Brussels
  • Sweden – Trollhättan
  • United States – Massachusetts, Minneapolis, California, Oregon, North Carolina, New Mexico, Texas
  • Poland – Warsaw
  • Austria – By Saab club Austria
  • Italy – Rome & Northern Italy
  • Czech Republic – Brno, Prague
  • France – Paris
  • Hungary – by Balazs
  • Denmark – Copenhagen
  • United Kingdom – Bristol, Devon/Cornwall border
  • Thailand – SAAB Club of Thailand
  • Germany – Stuttgart
  • Australia – Details will follow
  • Canada – Oakville
  • Russia – Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Petrozavodsk (Karelia)
  • Spain – Saab Club Spain
  • Finland – Saab Club of Finland is working on a meeting.
  • Belarus – Minsk
  • Uruguay – Club Saab Uruguay is organising an event (outstanding!).
  • Japan – Details will follow
  • Slovakia – Participating in the Austrian Event

Word is that events are also being organised in China and Switzerland. Details still to come.

Kudos to the Mad Dutchies for acting as information central for these meetings. Please make sure you make their job as easy as possible by getting your meeting together as soon as you can, and posting your information to outsidesaab-at-gmail.com

Cheers.

52 thoughts on “Update: Jan 14/15th Saab Support Meetings”

  1. It is really heartwarming to see all these spontaneous support rallies spreading like wildfire around the globe. What we need in addition though, is cold, hard CASH!
    How much is it worth to each and all of us, SAAB Supporters, for this company to emerge from bankruptcy? Somewhere between 100 and 1000 € or $? Think about it and remember : WE ARE MANY.
    With 1.5 million that could mean between 150 and 1500 million €/$. We could buy the whole factory as is and then negotiate with interested parties – whoever they may be – to create a new, innovative car company. A company that will have the most loyal user base ever to be found on this planet. One that creates cars based on the same solid principles SAAB has always followed but now with even more emphasis on sustainability.
    Let’s face it: One of the reasons we are so fond of our cars is their durability. With hindsight you can certainly say that they sold them for too low a price considering the durability of the SAAB. By buying you SAABs we actually did save money. So let us use that now to try to continue our beloved brand.
    SAAB owners of the world: UNITE! Now is the hour for action.

  2. It’s great to see you Steven write on SU. Time to lead the charge again 😉 Lets try to make the convoys even bigger than two years ago when the troops were rallied in many places on a very short notice.

    TimR, SU could (in this thread?), list all the countries that are not yet on the outside-saab one. I’ve read that Saabs have been exported to fifty nations. It would be huge to get all of them involved.

  3. Apologies for going off topic here – just wanted to point out what a potential buyer is up against… If someone wants to buy the whole company and run it as an independent car manufacturer they really need to act quickly to not lose all the talent of the company. Unfortunately I am not sure that the liquidators understand the urgency.

    Out of curiosity I was browsing the job ads in ttela. Surprise, surprise… there are several renowned engineering and consulting companies advertising there now (Semcon, Combitech, Kongsberg Automotive and more). The one that caught my eye though was this one:

    http://ttela.lokus.se/VisaJobb/DisplayAdJob.aspx?cgproductid=4917160

    Yep, Porsche is advertising for engineering talent in a small local Trollhattan paper. What a coincidence. Do you think that the most talented Saab engineers may be tempted? Hm.

    If the sale process drags out there will be little chance to keep the top talent in the company. Poachers are hard at work right now. Something has to happen very quickly for a sale of the whole company as a going concern to make sense.

    • As the Saab engineers are very well respected at the competitors I would also try to catch some of this guys. As a lot of swedes speak a good German there’s a great chance to get a proper engineer speaking German.

      If I would in the position of YM I wouldn’t try to lower the price as time goes by. The cost in the end to rehire people or get the right knowledge back in space will be much higher.

  4. Hmm, I just read a news flash that Youngman did create a daughter company in Sweden, bought the Phoenix platform and will produce in Sweden cars based on it… How close/far from the truth is that?

    • The way I understand it they have bought partial, non-exclusive licenses to technologies included in the Phoenix platform. The subsidiary is registered although I believe it is Dutch rather than Swedish?

      What activity they can have in this subsidiary now that Saab is in bankruptcy I don’t know. They still need access to engineers and facilities owned by Saab in order to actually create anything I guess.

  5. I think we can do a lot better for the US, and I will be hard at work contacting groups this week to make that happen. 50 states, I don’t see why we cannot get at least 20-25 going.

  6. @Daniel Cahill …awesome choice to hold it at the winery …either Clifton, TX or Meridian, TX location is good … just make sure the tasting room is open. 😉

    Saturday is better than Sunday, but we can do either.

    We’ll come over from Louisiana and represent in our 9-4X. Cheers.

  7. May I suggest something? I am sure there is a lot of people around the world who would like to join a convoy in their area/city not yet listed on “Outside-Saab.com” but they don’t have the time to organise it. There should be a section on Saab United that would allow us to let other Saab fans in our region know we would like to participate. Not sure how this can be done but I am sure the impact of this would be enormous. Just my 2 cents…

    Michel from Montréal, Canada

    • I agree. I see nothing in the Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh area, quite a swath. I thought Saab of North Olmsted might organize something but looks like they are liquidating. How do you organize a group? Should I contact dealers and ask? Would be great if SU just had a place where everyone could express their interest and location so we could organize a centralized meeting place.

      • Guys, how about a worldwide virtual convoy for everyone who can’t take part in one on the ground. The requirement would be to send a pic of their car and/or a message to those who try work for a future of the brand -under ‘We are many’.
        The word should be spread around FB so they can join in on the 14th.

        • Great idea!

          I’m not going to be able to attend the convoy in Germany (Stuttgart) as it is just too far away from where I life. Unless there is no other convoy/meeting planned for the eastern part of Germany (anybody?), I would be glad to at least submit a picture and a message…

          @Swade: The fact that you take an active role again here on SU while you are one of those enthusiasts most directly affected by all the bankrupcy mess just makes YOU ROCK once more! Kudos, mate! I’d be honored to meet you one of these days in person. Hang in there!

          Cheers!

    • There is none in Québec, Canada. Oakville, Ontario, is a long way from Québec city. If there is Saab support meeting anywhere in Québec (Montréal, Québec city or Sherbrooke), I am in. I am confident to see new Saab 2012/2013 in the showrooms in Canada in few months. Saab is not dead. Just a “little rest” before restarting!

        • Maybe we can contact Marc Desrosiers of Saab Laval. He’s the number one salesman in the province he has been for years. He is a real passionate Saab person and a very nice person. He knows alot of people, he may be able to contact for a big Montreal gathering.

          • Guys, I sent an email to the owner of Saab Gravel Auto (rive-sud de Montréal) this morning and he replied someone will call me regarding this. Stay tuned…
            -Michel

            • How about a compromise: Meet at one dealer, have some fun, take some pictures, then convoy down to the other dealer, and repeat. I’m sure both dealers would be very happy to participate. It also fits the ‘SaabUnited’ theme quite well, in this case, dealers unite and fans unite….

      • There is now one in the Montréal area. The gathering will be in Brossard (rive-sud de Montréal). I’ve also contacted M. Steve Bédard from Saab de Québec. Feel free to talk to him for more details. I hope you will be there (14 janvier chez Gravel Saab @ 13:00). Check the http://www.outside-saab.com web site.
        🙂
        -Michel

    • There seems to be one in Copenhagen. I live near malmö, so Trollhättan is a little to far for me. And that makes Copenhagen quite interesting. 🙂

  10. Nice reading you agin Swade … thanks.
    I shall contact the guys at Saab Way to see where they are planning to have it in northern Italy.
    Griffin Up !!!

  11. I’d like to see these locations sign on for rallies: Norway, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Vancouver, Quebec, India, Singapore, Taiwan; and then in the US: Washington State, Atlanta, Alaska, Nevada, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, DC, New York City, Philadelphia, Florida. I’ve made a suggestion to add a forum to the Ouside-Saab website in hopes of getting people connected for these rallies. Please let me know if I can be of any help to any one! [email protected].

  15. I’m in Phoenix, AZ. My two options are either head west to California or east to New Mexico. Any other SAABers reading this that are in CA, AZ, or NM?

    • Would be nice to have something closer than Boston or NC. However, I’m feeling a bit ambivalent as far as NYC goes. I mean, it would be great to drive through Times Square but getting there is almost as much effort (=aggravation) as driving to Boston. I’m on Eastern Long Island, btw.
      The NY Saabs Owners Club seems to have disbanded last year, so no help from that side. Jeff’s been pretty quiet lately too. Although I’d love to help organizing such an event I unfortunately have two project on my hands, both on a critical path, very little time too spare. So, I’m pretty much parasitic.

  19. I am organizing an event here in Adelaide South Australia. Hopefully the Saab Car Club of Australia will be organizing events in other states, but they don’t have a branch in South Australia.

  21. The official SAAB CLUB SLOVAKIA will organize for all SAAB enthusiasts the SAAB SUPPORT MEETING on January 14, 2012 in Bratislava. All details will be published at saabclubslovakia.sk soon.

  22. Seems like the Boston rally (Charles River Saab and State of Nine) has been rescheduled for Jan. 21st. Imho I think this is a bad idea, the biggest impact is when all rallies are on the same date in the whole world.

    • I agree. I’m not sure why this is happening and consider it a blow for the 14/15th events. The Boston area is important as it basically represents the entire New England region. I’m about a 7 hour drive from there (in Canada), and would have considered joining their event if none developed in my immediate area. Not any more….I want to be United with the rest of the world.

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