In recent days NEVS has begun to contact select Saab dealerships across Europe. The letter itself contains nothing that we have not already reported. It says NEVS investigate the possibility of restarting the production of the select versions of the 2012 9-3 while the launch the first electric vehicle is planned for early 2014. In a later stage the phoenix platform shall replace the 9-3 architecture.
The interesting thing about the letter is not the content, it’s the mere fact that NEVS did the step of reaching out to select dealers, asking those who are interested in further dialogue to check and if needed update their contact details. It’s a small step into the right direction, giving those an answer who asked how NEVS would want to sell their cars. It will be interesting to see how the dealers react, but I was told the first responses were very positive.
Things are definetely moving. Slowly but steadily and most of all in the right direction.
I wonder if they will contact dealers in the US, My customers all ask if new Saabs will be available. Even as an electric cars my customers are showing interest. Once you drive a Saab, you will buy a Saab.
They probably don’t have a clear enough idea of if/when Saabs will be back in the U.S. and maybe they don’t want to sound false alarms. But it would be amazing if they did contact some U.S. dealers just to say—-“hang in there if you could, with used cars and service—-we might be back in a few.” Not sure how to say that in Mandarin. But the fact that they are contact dealers in Europe—-I find that to be great news, very encouraging.
Keep in mind that electric cars in the US get a $7500 federal credit, and states like California and Colorado among others give even more on top of that. Saab gets to charge more up front. It’s going to come down to how much it costs to build their own batteries. At this moment, it looks like only Tesla and Saab will have in house battery production. Let’s hope that allows for better margins.
Good point! =)
US dealers need to be brought in the loop also. I understand that the US may not be in the first stage of the business plan, but if they wait too long it is just going to make things more difficult for them in the future. The Saab “sister store” of where I work has Saab service hanging on by a thread. I’m just concerned that there will be no Saab service support if they wait too long…
Agreed. And there is money to be made here. Lots of it.
Depends on what the US customers are willing to pay for the car? So far Saab has not earned a single cent from its sales in NA… ever!
The sales in NA did produce volume for the factory, but it doesn’t matter if you sell 10’000 cars at zero profit, you still end up with zero money to develop the brand with. But there is hope now that NA and EU perhaps will cancel all tolls between the two continents.
From what I’ve heard from people who really know the business, its impossible to make money in the US unless you actually build the car in NA…
You know Angelo, its easy to say advertise, but advertisement costs a hell of a lot of money and each dollar you spend on advertising is directly taken from the profit margin of the car. If the profit margin is low from the start, then you have to choose, do you want to advertise or do you want to use the small amount of money you make on development etc?
What is “select”? Surviving? Or non-GM multibrand dealers? Or in large cities? Weird.
Selected?
Pretty simple, its dealers that NEVS feels that they want to work with!
GM branded stores would be left out anyways as GM has made it that way. GM does not want Saab dealers to be attached to GM dealers and is why many GM branded stores dropped Saab when Saab came back under Spyker.
Eh, my dealer which also sells Buicks has stated to me multiple times that they will reach out to Saab the first chance there’s an indication they can. It’s not so much about GM dealers being excluded as it is they can’t share common floorspace. It’s a dealer franchise level decision, if they have the space and want an independent Saab back on their lots, they’ll go for it. I know there’s many in the Northeast in a similar position.
Sorry, the way you phrased it sounded like GM said it didn’t want its dealers to or branded stores to have Saab anymore. Which they didn’t, just sharing showroom space. My bad. Most dealers I’ve talked to on the east coast have multiple separate showrooms, including separate buildings for used models that could easily be converted. It’d be interesting to do a study of the dealers around North America to see which are interested in getting Saab back, perhaps we should reach out to them directly or to Tim C.
Good news!
think there is a business case to be made in Australia, lots of northern European expatiates missing their Saabs, unemployment 5.4%, decent wages, vast distances and car loving, people moving on from their Hyundai/KIA etc to mainstream European brands, VW making a killing with their GTI, just need to do it right as the previous Saab Australia just kept shafting loyal customers via outrageous parts pricing and allowing dealers to charge $300 for an oil and filter change….
Interesting news today in New York City regarding “electric Cars”. The City Mayor announced that New York City would install curbside vehicle chargers that would let drivers recharge in 30 minutes and that his administration would work with the City Council to change the city’s building code so that up to 20 percent of new public parking spaces are wired for electric cars, with the goal of creating 10,000 spaces for electric cars over the next seven years. It appears that an electric SAAB would do well in New York City.
So, if NEVS does decide to restart production of the 9-3 and offer it in Europe, would that mean they would produce both right and left hand interiors? You would need both in Europe, correct? And if so, then the left hand models could potentially come to North America at some point.
At last. Just curious what selected means by nevs.
NEVS have stated that the profitability margin is to produce 130,000 to 150,000 cars per year. If that is in fact the case than it would most certainly include sales in the United States. In order to make a profit this day in age they will need to produce cars cheaply and many of them in order to maintain solvency. I would guess that we will see Saab’s again in the U.S. by Spring 2014. And yes there are plenty of business’s that will want Saab’s especially up here in the Northeast!!
I can’t imagine Spring 2014 for NEVS Saabs in the U.S. That would be a dream scenario—-fantastic. But more likely, if they ever return to the U.S., I would think Fall of 2015 (2-16 model) is the best possible case—-perhaps mid 2016 as a 2017 is also possible. There are a lot of hoops to jump through to get the cars approved for sale—-and then there’s the dealer situation. But if they would just decide their intentions and announce them—-dealers would at least have a reason to have some hope and motivation to keep going.
I doubt the US will get Chinese assembled Saabs, even though there will be many Chinese made parts in them. But I do agree with you that some of the best Saab dealers were owned by GM franchises. I have no doubt that when Saab returns to North America, many of the dealers will have some GMs on the lot.
Regarding to the question , what does “selected” mean to NEVS?
Have you already asked your Saab dealer if he has been approached by NEVS? I have, and I know that my Saab dealer has got a letter from NEVS, and that he has a positive attitude towards this new development from NEVS.