Just doing some reading this morning and came across a little piece on Just Auto by our friend Simon Warburton. In the article he is talking to former head of Saab, Victor Muller about the griffin logo.
“I wanted to abolish the Griffin logo – I wanted to go back to the aeroplane logo,” Muller told just-auto. It [Griffin] was a logo of Scania and Saab AB – it did not say anything.
Now I know that not all will support his belief in it not saying anything, but there is truth in what he is saying. The griffin has been a part of Scania and Saab AB and Saab Automobiles needed to find their own mark which wasn’t hard as it already existed in the old aeroplane logo that we saw on the back of the Phoenix concept car.
“It [aircraft symbol] was beautiful – it was going to replace the Griffin everywhere.”
I would have supported this change in logo as it shows the heritage to Saabs and the connection to the history of Saab Automobiles. He says that it was going to replace the Griffin everywhere but I thought there was an issue in using this logo as well, maybe I’m wrong and maybe that is just what he wanted to do.
NEVS has stated time and again that the Griffin logo was not a concern of theirs. They were more concerned in getting to use the Saab name to market their cars, which they got. As far as a new logo for NEVS goes, they say the following.
“The important thing for us is to have the Saab name,” a NEVS spokesman recently told just-auto from Sweden. “The Griffin logo is not that important…because we want to build our own identity. “We won’t use the Griffin logo at all – the logo has to be something we develop.”
It will be very interesting to see what they will come up with for a replacement to the Griffin logo and I am excited to see this evolve into something new. It excites me when I read things like “We want to build our own identity” as it shows a commitment to not just rely on a name or reputation that has not been earned. It would appear that NEVS have an understanding that everything going forward will have to be earned and not just assumed or taken and with the former Saab hires that we have heard of, I think they are on the right path. I received an email from one this morning stating that they were going to do their best to ensure that Saab and the Saab spirit are alive and that’s what I like to hear.