If you are reading this, then we have all made through another year. This week will probably be a week of cleaning and getting back to normal for most after a festive Christmas season, so not much Saab news.
So what better time to look at another of the Saab oddities out there and this time it involves kids. Being a 
father, this one caught my eye and I really wish we had something like this here. About a month ago I was flipping through Facebook and came across a photo posted by another Saab fan of a Children’s Museum. What made this so different was that this was an interactive museum where kids got to learn about the city around them. They were allowed to pretend they were grownups and use their minds and imaginations away from a TV or video game. One of the jobs they get to do there is to be a Saab mechanic and it is very life like (check out their Saab shirts in the photo). The company ExPrt specializes in interactive museum displays and seem to be able to recreate anything. When contracted by their client Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee to build the service center, I think they outdid themselves.
What the kids get here is a fully interactive car care center. Kids or adults are able to check under the hood, change tires and exhaust. They can even book appointments at the service desk.
It would appear that there are two of these displays, one in Milwaukee and one in Hawaii. If I ever get to either, this is one of those attractions I would love to see.
Underneath the car (fully padded for the kid’s protection) you can change the muffler and roll on the creeper. You can even change the tires on the car with the help of a realistic air wrench. Do we have any Saab fans in Hawaii or Milwaukee that have been to either of these two places?
This looks like a great place for kids to be introduced to a great car and opens theirs minds at the same time as to what they may want to be in the future as they grow up with Saab.
Great to see more about this.
That light blue 900 in the background is beautiful. Please NEVS make something that looks like this. Talk about standing out from the homogenized German bars of soap (Audi, VW, BMW, etc) …
agreee
Honestly Adams, I think it might be their only chance to do as you suggest—-go in a different direction. To me, that means unique styling (as you point out) but also product positioning. Head to head with Audi and BMW? No. “Upgraded” VW? Yes. Bars of soap that look like every other bar of soap, but with a different emblem? No. Priced at $50,000? No. Creative, innovative, affordable? Yes. And they need to start to priming the markets to keep any shreds of momentum that are left from their initial purchase of Saab. That means having a spokesperson who regularly grants interviews and “leaks” tid-bits to car publications around the world. It means issuing press releases that inform the world that Saab is not dead—-it’s very much alive and planning a future that will be better than ever. It means understanding that building a desireable product but not having the first clue of how to sell it and/or pricing it too high—-means nothing. It’s why the company died in the first place. What does this have to do with this entry? Everything. That light blue 900 in the background represents a bridge to the past that is also a bridge to the future, if NEVS is serious about being a successful steward of the brand. It also represents the reality that if they remain aloof—-thinking that some great battery technology and simply offering cars for sale is going to be a formula for success—-Saab cars will be out of business in short order, again. It’s 2013. It’s time for NEVS to start opening up a little bit about who they are and what Saab will be—-and where Saabs will be sold, and when. It’s time for NEVS to replace “rumors” and predictions with news, for this wegsite and for car enthusiasts around the world who are eager to see Saab return, or who want to know definitively if they are not going to return to their market anytime soon. The relavance is also that if things aren’t handled right from a PR/marketing standpoint, the photos above depict where you will see Saabs in the future—-on lifts or in museums, but not at a local Saab dealer. NEVS shouldn’t wait for their phone to ring to answer questions—-they need to be pro-active in spreading the news about Saab. Car shows? Absolutely. The fact that they won’t have a model to sell yet doesn’t mean they can’t have a small exhibit with information/literature about Saab and NEVS—-plant the seeds.
Angelo, I agree x 900.
That said I believe the reality will be that NEVS will continue to handle marketing as it has thus far and that it will focus almost entirely on selling cars in China. In my opinion we (if memory serves me correctly you are also based in the U.S.) will never see another new “Saab” offered.
I hope I am wrong.
I hope you’re wrong too. Funny thing about your last observation (…NEVS will continue to handle marketing as it has thus far…): What marketing? EXACTLY. And have you tried logging onto their websites? No well funded, serious company should even have a website if it’s going to be that punchless. Seriously, they could turn that task over to some highschool kids or college interns who like computers and they would have a much slicker product. The point of grumbling about it is that it is symbolic of all the best intentions equaling NOTHING if they can’t get some fundamental things right. You say the focus will be almost entirely on selling cars in China? Fine, but are they even doing a good job of priming the pumps in China to make future sales? Does anybody know?
Very encouraging to start the new year with evidence of future SAAB rally car mechanics in training.
Amazing that they chose Saabs instead of Chevys or Toyotas!
This display is thanks to Concours Motors SAAB and the picture in the bakground is from our service department. We worked very hard to get this display to happend.
I had the honor to take the former CEO of SAAB Jay Spenchian and SAAB’s former spoke person Jan-Willem Vester to this display, while in Milwaukee to hand over the SAAB 9-5 Aero Sport Wagon to the million mile SAAB owner Peter Gilbert.
Thanks to Anders and Concours Motors for so much Saab input to the Milwaukee community. Everything from hosting my 9-5 Combi presentation with Jay Spencian and Jan-Willem Vester to lending Saabs for Veterans parades. It sure is fun seeing those kids roll up their little sleeves and get down to business!
Anders, did you guys play a part in the display that is in Hawaii as well? Strangely on the website for the company that built this and the museum that it’s displayed at, nowhere did they even make notice of Concours unless I missed it. It wasn’t until the video was found that I finally saw the dealer name in the video.
Thanks for posting, Jason.
How neat would it be to have that as your kid’s area at the dealership?
no kidding, we have a little work bench here but it not car focused at all.