Lets take a little break for a moment if we can on the discussions on NEVS and what it means to the future of the Saab brand. Everyone has their own opinion of what this means and a lot of predictions good and bad. I want to discus for a moment here the newly formed Saab Automobile Parts North America.
With all the comments about whats going on right now and some of the people who are lets say less then thrilled, I find it important to state that regardless of some predictions of what any of this means for future cars, your present car is still worth driving and parts will be easy to once again attain. Weather you’re happy or sad about the buyer of Saab, your Saab is still just as much fun to drive today as it was yesterday and dare I say it maybe even more. I only mention this because I’ve heard crazy comments about “well I guess I’ll get rid of my Saab now” and I think that would be a shame.
As noted in Tim’s post on the press release on SPNA, they were formed June 5 and will be responsible to provide genuine Saab parts to North America including the USA and Canada. This newly formed company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saab Automobile Parts AB in Sweden. As we have seen in a couple of posts from RedJ, Saab Parts AB has been taken over by the NDO which some see as a bad thing, I personally see this as a great thing as the NDO will bring Saab Parts AB back to where it once was as they have no real option, they need to get it making money again to get their money back. We also saw from the press conference today that NEVS have an option to buy Saab Parts for 200 million Euro in 3 years allowing the government time to rebuild Saab Parts and the Network.
Back to the North American Saab Parts piece of the puzzle, I received a very welcomed email from Tim Colbeck. If you remember, he came on as the head of Saab Cars North America just as everything fell apart. I know a lot of people in his shoes would have packed up and walked, scratch that, ran away from the issues he had to deal with in his first few months at a new job. None of the issues Saab was facing were issues he at that time could have changed or fixed but this man has been there through every step of the process with us all. He attended two of the We Are Many, We Are Saab events and to me has proven to be everything that Saab is meant to be. The important parts of the email are as follows:
With the sale of the parts, the wind down of SCNA is near complete. I have agreed to support SCNA as needed going forward. Now that there is a new company for Parts Distribution I have signed on to be the CEO for the initial period to help bring that company up to speed. Hopefully the new company can make life infinitely easier for Saab owners and Saab retailers going forward. I am happy to be working to that new goal, versus winding down operations.
So again, Tim is with us all through this and I see this as great news that someone who knows inside and out what to do and how to do it is at the helm. I have spoken to people that worked for him under SCNA and everyone has had great things to say about him and his commitment to the brand, the customers and the dealers. I think we are fortunate to still have him there to help get things back on track. He has also told me they will be contacting Saab owners shortly too, so we will continue to monitor.
I know some will ask the big warranty question here and before you do, I have to tell you that I right now know the same as you which is nothing in regards to warranty. Saab Parts is its own company run by the NDO so I think it’s safe to say that they will not be the ones to get those answers from.
Thanks for the update, Jason. Any idea if body parts for the NG 9-5 and the 9-4x will be any easier to come by? Do we know if Saab Parts has the ability to produce these?
I don’t know for sure but I will pose the question, things are really new with all this but I will try to get a definitive answer on more of these questions shortly.
Much appreciated, thanks! Once I am certain my car can be repaired, I will make the trip up to BC and drop in and say hello. I lived in Vancouver many, many years ago.
Look forward to it, we may not have new Saabs on the lot when you get out here as we have five left, I really hope we aren’t waiting a year and a half for new ones.
Did you get the email from Ally about purchasing remaining Saabs from the estate? Just came out today, I believe. Available only to dealers right now. Not sure if it is limited to the US.
I haven’t seen it myself
Hopefully you got my PM with the info. Would love to see them stay in the Northwest/BC.
Are these the ones that were seen sitting at the docks and warehouse (in New Jersey, was it?) back when Saab filed for bankruptcy? I wondered how those were going to get auctioned or sold.
Yes, these are the cars from the U.S. ports, plus a few others from who knows where.
From the June 5 SAAB Parts announcement- “The company recently signed an agreement to use SAAB Automobile’s press and body shop to manufacture replacement body parts”
As Julie said, they have signed an agreement and have started stamping body parts for the NG 9-5 and they are in discussions now to do the same for the 9-4X as per my response from Tim C. The situation should improve quickly on both vehicles.
Regardless of what happens to the future of Saab and everything else there is one thing that I know for sure; who’s going to buy a 2011 9-3 or 9-5 as soon as my current car has reached its life expectancy?
This guy.
Sadly had more people done this earlier, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
Yeah, it would have been nice to help out in that regard.
I know several people who would have loved to have done the same, but college tends to be an awkward time to purchase a new premium/luxury car.
Understand completely.
The deals are incredible, I have seen 9-3’s as cheap as a $27165 Canadian sitting right in front of me and the dealer is even giving a 7 year Coverage One Warranty.
I just found a perfect Glacier Silver 2010 Saab 9-5 Aero, with a black leather interior and every single upgrade option for $24,996 usd; also including a 4 year warranty. It’s tempting beyond all belief.
You’re right, now is a great time to consider getting a 2010/11 model. I might have to give in pretty soon.
Wow! No sunroofs with the 2010s, but still…
Huh, I guess they have the year marked wrong. Went back to check and it has a power sunroof. Must be a 2011?
Tempting tempting..
Wow, that is $2000 less than I paid for my 2000 9-3 base model new in 2000! For 9-5 Aero…like the one I got drive at the 2010 Saab Owners Convention…wow…
That is an AMAZING deal on the 2011 (or 2010 with aftermarket roof added?) and you should definitely do it. You will not regret it for one minute once behind the wheel.
I have seen late 2010 9-5’s with a sunroof. I think it’s refreshing that my 2010 9-5 does not have a sunroof – they’ve only been a liability for me in the past. They also make the car heavier and probably less safe in a rollover.
Nice way to justify your lack of a sunroof. Do you roll your cars on a regular basis ? 🙂
The car DOES look nice without it, I will add – but with all of that black in the interior, it’s nice to get the extra light. Thought I’d hate the perforated sun shade, but where I live it’s cloudy 80% of the time and it’s no problem at all.
No one will believe me, but I never open sunroofs and always keep the shade closed, so not having one in my 2010 bothers only my 2 year-old son, who likes watching the motorized shade open and close in our 9-4.
Chris, where do you live? Probably not the Pacific Northwest. We need as much light as we can get.
Chris, have you joined the NG 9-5 Facebook page? If not it’s a good place for resources..
http://www.facebook.com/groups/162858857140881/
BIG, BIG thanks to Tim Colbeck to hang in there through all of this for the sake of the Saab customers and dealers!! For him to have left Subaru and come over to SCNA just to get caught in all of this, I would not have blamed him at all if he had wanted out at any point and taken his exit.
Agreed. I’m amazed by Tim’s commitment. Any other exec would have said “forget this,” and jumped to greener pastures. I can’t imagine the pay is all that good either. Maybe for his next trick, he’ll take the money left over from the sale of SCNA and buy the 10,000 Spyker era owners some warranties. One can hope.
I was one of the fortunate parties to have Tim join us on Jan. 14 for our WeAreSAAB event and I could say only positive things about him. He was warm, engaging, and clearly moved by the support for SAAB he witnessed on that day. His commitment to the brand is not surprising to me based on what I saw but is appreciated more than I could ever express here.
I hope to have the opportunity to work together again in the future for the good of SAAB!
That would be a dream but not one he could do as that matter is out of his hands as SCNA is no more.
But SPNA could stil come up with something for us 2010-11 owners (like Saab Parts UK did, or better 🙂 )..
I will wait and see but to me looking at it, it looks to me that whatever was SCNA is no more and SPNA is a new company owned by the NDO so to me, the only way to do something with the warranties would be through the new owners of Saab. So I guess I have no real answer yet.
Well a very good friend of mines 2003 lpt 9-3 is sitting idle at the moment for want of a secondary air injection pump which were only used on 2003 models. While the car runs fine, the check engine light is on and so it won’t pass inspection. He and the local dealer have been looking for weeks and can not find one anywhere. We might have found some used ones but worry since these parts needed to be recalled. Apparently a check valve leaks and corrodes them with water.
We have the SAI pump and check valve new in box. Let me know if your friend needs it. Call the shop, 412 759 211Seven. Ask for Chad.
Jason; Any word on who the approved parts vendors will be? I read their statement, but there was no attachment explaining who these vendors are? Can we assume it will be the surviving, or pervious dealers? I would hope so for my guy in Scottsdale. Also, how do you think the dealer selection process will play out for the new company?
Chris
Definitely previous and surviving dealers are who they are focussing on. As far as selection of dealers for the new company, I think it will depend on how quickly they get back to the markets. Some dealers will be quick to sign on and some will not be there so they may have to be not overly too selective to have enough dealers to represent the brand. To many unknowns to make a real guess on anything.
Jason: thanks for the update – and I agree with everything you said about Tim Colbeck. Regarding parts, I assume that now there should be no problem getting Saab body parts and accessories, or mechanical parts that are produced by third parties but are not unique to Saab. But there must also be some parts that were made exclusively for Saab (at least this is what my mechanic tells me). Will Saab Parts be talking to the companies that produced these parts to ensure they will be available in future?
Having 6 Saabs in the family, a stable parts organization is good news! Huge thanks to Tim Colbeck! One can only hope that he will hang in there long enough to head up any future new NA Sales organization that will be coming soon under NEVS! They need someone who knows and loves the car. And lets also hope some dealers in the present network that are left will survive long enough to help kickstart the revival!!
Thank you for the heads up, Jason.
It is appreciated!
Jason Petho