Comments on: The Trollhattan Weblog Response

By: allan

allan — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 19:16:38 +0000

Good post Swade, I agree with all that you have said.

Like the “other” Alan, I have to take issue with the functionality comment. As you know, my big complain with the 9-2x is that it is not laid out well compared to other Sabbs. Obviously, part of this is the Subaru design, but Saab could have done a better job of re-designing the interior.

By: AlanH

AlanH — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 14:44:41 +0000

Amen Swade – well said!

I really have only two small concerns with Jay’s message.

First – when he speaks of functionality he refers only to the driver environment. For me, a key aspect of functionality is outstanding space utilization – small on the outside, large on the inside. The recent trend has been away from that ideal (I can barely fit in the back seat of a 9-3SS and while the 9-7X is certainly roomy, it’s anything but small).

Second – I’m concerned about the hyper-focus on the US market. True, the US is Saab’s largest single market (although at the rate the UK is going that may not be true for much longer) but well over two-thirds of Saabs are sold *outside* NA. Saab’s survival depends as much (or more) on that as it does on the US.

Looking forward to Friday…

By: JeffD

JeffD — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 08:32:41 +0000

One of my neighbors is the manager of the local VW dealership. After barbequing at his place Monday evening, over a beer he told me that last Saturday EVERY SINGLE PERSON that he talked to in his showroom was looking for a VW diesel.

Wake up, folks at GM. It’s not always about getting a 300+hp RWD Camaro.

By: BuffaloPundit

BuffaloPundit — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 07:34:44 +0000

From Corporate Blogging to Diesel Engines

Corporations are letting their executives blog, most prominently (in my experience) GM.

I own a Saab, and Jay Spenchian, head of Saab USA, posted the “State of Saab” at GM’s FastLane Blog.

What’s so great about blogging & the internet is that …

By: fred

fred — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:12:48 +0000

You Go Boys! dzlsabe here. I was gettin that impression at the VW TDI meet near Madison last weekend. They were 3-deep occasionally and willing to sacrifice unneeded or under-used body parts.

By: Peter Stokes

Peter Stokes — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 20:54:12 +0000

“The introduction of diesel Saabs into the US is a case in point. In 2007, diesel fuel regulations in the US will provide for Saab to be able to effectively market and sell their range of diesel vehicles that have been a spectacular success in the UK. With bucketloads of torque and new, cleaner technology, these are bound to be a boon for the US market and add another piece of market-share to the Saab slice of the pie.

Is the demand there? You betcha. I’ve had multiple comments here at Trollhattan and have started some threads on other bulletin services that ended up running for 10+ pages. The overriding theme: if they brought it here (i.e. the diesel Saab), I’d buy one.

And Saab is the perfect launchpad for diesel technology in the US. All those black clouds of doubt about diesel in the consumer’s collected minds were caused by GM’s other brands. Let Saab introduce the GM diesel in the US and you kill two birds with one stone: a more acceptable introduction from a progressive brand, and a greater slice of the pie for Saab. Is there a downside here?”

I recently made the switch from selling Saab to selling Volkswagen, and even though I am disappointed and hoping to one day go back, it has given me a world of insight.
Eight out of ten inquiries so far in my time at VW have been for the TDI. The New Jetta, Golf, and New Beetle TDIs are going for no less than US$1000 over sticker, with some used going for thousands more than a comparable new TDI. Saab’s focus should certainly be on getting their diesel motor approved for the very instant the cleaner burning fuel is available in the U.S.