My 0.02c on the 2007 US sales data
The December sales numbers are in, as are full year numbers for 2007, and it isn’t a pretty picture at SaabUSA.
2007 saw an 11% fall from 2006. There were 32,711 vehicles sold in 2007, down from 36,349 last year and way down from the 38,343 sold in 2005. That year will always have an asterisk beside it due to the Employee Pricing for Everyone sales, but there’s no denying that losing around 12% year on year for successive years is a bad thing.
This ain’t an easy piece to write as I’ve got to fly into Detroit next week and break bread with SaabUSA’s people. But the numbers don’t lie…..
Someone’s dropped the football.
The release of the 2008 Saab 9-3 saw a resurgence of vehicle sales in Saab’s native home market in Sweden. They went from being 9% behind 2006 in September to being only 2.5% down for the full year on December 31.
Even in Canada the 2008 Saab 9-3 saw a 40% increase in December compared to last year. The Saab 9-3 was 17% down in December in the US. This is no longer a matter of vehicle stocks at US dealers being too limited, as was stated back in November in my interview with Steve Shannon.
So let’s examine the possible factors at play:
The Money Problem
Undoubtedly a factor, the US financial crisis has put people in a pretty conservative mood when it comes to spending large amounts. A motor vehicle purchase is a big commitment; for some it’s the second biggest financial decision they ever make. A look at all manufacturers in the US in December shows a sea of red ink, so Saab weren’t alone.
The no-XWD problem
This looks like a problem on the surface, but I find it hard to believe that there’s a fifth of Saab’s prosective purchasers hanging out for another 4 months or so until the XWD versions come out. Yes, people want them, but how many want them enough to withould waiting that long?
——
These are the circustantial reasons that would could reasonably give. But I’m having a very hard time believing them.
On the surface, I believe that it comes down to this - a lack of incentives to purchase. The incentives available on the 2008 Saab 9-3 are much lower than the clearance incentives on the 2007 models. People are obviously waiting for the 2008 incentives to be ramped up closer to previous levels.
But this is indicative of a much deeper problem. And ramping up incentives isn’t going to help it one little bit. As a matter of fact,I support Saab’s decision not to raise incentives as the 2008 Saab 9-3 is an excellent vehicle and an improvement over the outgoing model.
That deeper problem is a perception problem. People just don’t know who Saab are or what the vehicles stand for. And I’m sorry to say it, but Born From Jets isn’t helping. Whether it’s the message itself or the way it’s being carried, something is very, very wrong at SaabUSA right now. Just try and get someone there to admit it.
Again, using my interview with Steve Shannon as an example, and some examination we did of BFJ around that time, SaabUSA believe quite strongly that the BFJ message is out there and being taken in by potential customers. Studies back in 2006 did state that BFJ had had an impact at that time and Saab even won an award for the campaign IIRC, but it’s now 2008 and there’s been minimal building on the initial momentum.
What’s worse is that when you think of BFJ you think of a by-line - Saab was founded by 16 aircraft engineers and their spirit lives on - and you think of a song.
You don’t think of turbocharging.
You don’t think of torque.
You don’t think of award winning safety.
You don’t think of value.
You don’t think of an SUV alternative in the SportCombis.
You don’t think of surefooted winter driving.
You don’t think of innovation.
If the purpose of BFJ was to get people to remember a byline or to sell Paul Okenfold albums then maybe it’s been a success. If it’s purpose was to sell more cars then the facts don’t lie.
Saab’s biggest year in the last three was the year they sold 12,000 Saabs in two months thanks to 9-2x’s going for a song. That year, 2005, saw them eclipse 2004 by less than 200 vehicles, so if it weren’t for that Employee Pricing sale we’d be looking at four straight years of negative numbers.
You still think Born From Jets is working OK?
Despite all this, Saab managed to have a record year in 2006 and Sweden managed to almost meet it’s 2006 numbers again in 2007. They latched onto a green alternative supported by government and marketed it to a receptive audience.
Fortuitous? Certainly. Well managed and executed? Definitely. And that’s what matters.
Saab have a clear message and identity there. Which is natural as its their home country. But Saab are also succeeding in other markets that don’t carry such advantageous legislation. Some of them are small, like Australia, and some are larger, like the UK. Saab will still be down in that market this year, but hold a much better market share and market perception.
Saab don’t stand for much in the mind of the US public. Maybe SaabUSA are doing the absolute best with a very limited budget. Maybe there’s nothing more they can do. Having dealt with them for some time now I know the people there love the brand and want every success for it. Maybe it’s the people that control them that couldn’t give a rats.
But what they’re doing right now just isn’t working. That much is for sure. And whether it be right or wrong, Saab’s future success depends a lot on the US market.
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Sad and true.
Let’s hope the facelifted 9-3 with new toys (namely, XWD), the 9-4 and upcoming 9-5 start reversing this trend. Well, given it’s the only thing out, I guess we just have the 9-3 to pin Saab’s hope on.
Plus, Saab doesn’t offer all of the 9-3 variants here, essentially only two, the 2.0T and the 2.8V6. Maybe they weren’t selling a lot of the smaller, cheaper 2.0t versions, but it would help reduce sticker shock if they offered at least one cheaper version, maybe even with the so-called 1.8t. I understand not offering diesels right now, but eliminating petrol options, also eliminates sales. And why not sell at least the Hirsch “dress-up” options like the leather dash. People might be lured in by the low price and high mpg of the 1.8, but then get lured upscale when they see what the car is all about.
Of course if they don’t advertise, they won’t sell squat. When I took the Sero Academy and was talking to the Saab executive that attended, I mentioned that in the state of California I had never ever seen one commercial for Saab. She said that they don’t advertise on the radio and on Dish or Direct. They only advertise on Cable. What kind of thinking is that? I listen to the radio (lots of commute time) a lot and all the european cars are advertised over and over. They sell cars! Not advertising is like the proverbial ostrich who sticks their head in the sand. Generally speaking if you don’t advertise, you will only get the old Saabistas, you will never gain anything. In fact they will feel abandoned and sales will dwindle year after year, duh, just like its doing. I have never even seen a billboard for a Saab in the US, ever, and I travel extensively in my job.
It is almost like GM is going to use Saab for research and development (turbocharge, XWD, frontwheel drive, transmissions, etc) and oh by the way they will make some cars. Not a bright future to look forward to.
Swade virtually everything you’ve wrtten here I agree with. But it also depends on what Saab are trying to achieve in each prospective market. Is it market share, brand integrity. You would think both, but for Saab that’s not possible in all markets bar Sweden where there is a ‘patriotic’ fondness for the brand and government incentives to help stem sales. Bio-Power is in demand and the 104RON vs. Turbo charging element which not all other brands have, swings in Saab’s favour. Maybe Sweden could afford a minor drop in sales over 2006 to keep up demand and boost residual values.
It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned RVs here and it won’t be the last. Used car prices are as important as new car prices.
It’s a factor that most people think about when buying into the premium class sector. Should I buy a BMW with an RV of 65% or a Saab which has an RV of 40% after a year. Saab for most markets have to offer incentives but this lowers brand image. You are no longer competing with BMW and Audi and you start ‘down selling’ into mainstream where the brand image is better than say Nissan, toyota and even Saturn?
This is what I mean by what each market is trying to achieve; good brand image with high sales figures but Saab can’t have both with a 10 year old 9-5 and a 5 year old 9-3. So it’s upon each market to decide what is important to them but on global scale the end result has to be met or you’re in the RED again. Getting the right market penetration is complicated, there are many factors which influence yearly figures. There no ‘quick fix’ Something that GM should have finally realised by now.
I can add some items to the
USA’s plight. This past year, I asked Saab USA via website and phone, to send me a 2007 9-3 Convertible brochure. I contacted them several times and received the full line brochure instead. I ended up obtaining one at an out of state dealer. I also contacted them several times for the new 2008 convertible brochure. They even checked their records and found my request but still did not send me one! This is ridiculous! Do they want to sell a car or not? Lat week, we ended up getting a demo 2007 9-3 60th. Ice Blue convertible from a dealer in NJ that lost their Saab franchise(they told me that Saab closed 3 NJ dealerships) for 30K!
Great deal (and I got 3K for my 98 900 convertible for an exchange price of 27K). So, I guess I have to thank Saab for this but is this any way to sell cars? By the way, still waiting for the 2008 brochure…..
I’ve said this before and would like to say it again-the BFJ campaign is all fluff and no substance. I don’t care what sort of awards it may have won! Saab’s advertising in the 1980’s always communicated something SPECIFIC about the cars themselves, about the intelligent features of the cars and why the consumer should want one over competitor’s models. That’s what we need now! Let people know that Saabs are safer than Volvos. Let people know that Saabs can out-perform BMW’s. Pick SPECIFIC messages for each ad and make BOLD statements! BFJ might have been okay for a very short term, but it is SO PLAYED. Let’s get on with some USEFUL advertising before it’s too late! By the way, I’ve noticed that several magazines which used to run Saab ads in the late ’90’s (like Bon Appetit, for instance) now have Cadillac ads…and no Saabs (those Caddy ads could make anyone lose their appetite!!). I can’t even remember the last time I heard any sort of Saab ad on TV or radio. Should it be a surprise that customers know of no reason to test drive a Saab?????? On the rare occasions when Saab ads are heard, what does the consumer take away from them? Saab makes jets…and I would want a Saab car because…….because there’s a Saab aircraft division? If money is going to be spent on ads, put some CONTENT into the ads!!!!!!!!! And while we’re at it, I’ll take the opportunity to beat a dead horse by saying NO MORE SAABURUS OR TROLLBLAZERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s the WORST possible advertising for Saab and let’s face it, bad news tends to spread faster than good news.
I don’t have the numbers, but I have heard somewhere that in the U.S. we have a disproportionally high number of lessees. Many people lease their car for a determined period of time and it’s the dealers’ job to try and keep them “in the family” when they return a car at the end of the lease. Many of these lessees like the luxury of having a new car every two or three years (depending on the lease term).
Any Saab lessee whose term has been up in the past few years really don’t have a whole heck of a lot of choice when trading-in their lease car. The overwhelming number of Saab sales and leases have been the 9³ for years now. They can “upgrade” to an overpriced (yes, even with the discounts I consider the 9⁵ overpriced) 9⁵, they can take an SUV (though if they had wanted an SUV in the first place they likely wouldn’t be in a Saab), or they can take the latest makeover of the exact same car they’re turning-in.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they “jump ship” and go to a competitor.
And what if your lease were up now? Can you continue the lease on a month-by-month basis while waiting for the Aero with XWD? Or do you have to go w/o a car for months?
I do hope everything works out well and that people are just holding-out for XWD, but we have to face facts here: there are always excuses. When sales dropped in the beginning of the year some people were blaming sites like TS and others for leaking pics of the ‘08 9³ MCE and causing customers to hold-out for the new model. When the new model came out and wasn’t selling it was supposedly because the dealers weren’t getting product on their lot fast enough. Now that there’s product on the lot we’re speculating that the “deals” on the outgoing 2007 models (jeez, how many of these were still sitting on dealer lots anyway???) are hurting new car sales.
When the Aero w/ XWD and the Turbo-X come out and the numbers are still lower than expected what’s going to be to blame? Oh yeah, we’ll still have a couple of months where we can say it’s because there’s no product on dealer lots yet. Then we can say people are holding-out for the next model-year for XWD on the 2.0t model because it’s much less expensive. Then if sales are still down we can say people are just holding out for the next-gen models. There’s always an excuse, it seems…
This is hard for me to say because I’ve personally met many employees of Saab USA and they’re all great people.
Saab Yurk: good idea (regarding selling a Hirsch’ed 1.8t in the U.S.).
ehall1: I have DirecTV, live in California, and have seen A LOT of Saab commercials. Let me amend that: I’ve seen the same Saab commercials A LOT of times. However, I haven’t seen one in a while and since the last one that was perpetually in rotation was lame (IMHO) I really am not missing them. If I don’t hear Ready, Steady, Go by Paul Oakenfold ever again I’ll die a happy man.
There also used to be a HUGE Saab billboard on the side of a public storage facility in Hollywood just off the 101 freeway for quite a long time. Other than that, you’re right, I hardly ever see billboards. But I wonder how effective billboard advertising really is anyway. I do see quite a few Saab print ads in magazines though.
I’ve said it again and again, and now again:
People go into the dealer and look at a 9-3. A couple questions come up:
• Can I get AWD? - “In the spring, AFTER winter.”
• Can I buy a diesel version? - “No”
• Does it have bluetooth? - “No, but you can install an after market one on an 07.”
• Wait, so the NEW MY08 doesn’t have bluetooth built in? - “No, and you can’t install a third party one because it has OnStar.”
• Oh, can I get it without OnStar? - “No.”
• What other differences between 07/08s? - “08s costs about $2000 more. No wait, there was a price increase, it’s $2600 more.”
By this time if the potential buyer hadn’t left, they certainly now. And they would be at BMW or Audi.
BFJ has got to go because the whole premise is wrong.
Let’s face it, if Saab’s customers are mostly well educated, then they realize that the fact that some airplane engineers worked on the original Saab sixty years ago doesn’t amount to a hill of beans wrt what they should be buying right now.
Lexus didn’t even exist sixty years ago, and that hasn’t stopped a whole lot of affluent, educated customers from buying their cars. If anything, it’s had the opposite effect; Lexus comes across as a modern brand, whereas Saab comes across as a brand that hasn’t done anything since the 1940’s.
I know that this isn’t the case, but it’s what Saab USA are telling their customers.
I don’t care how many industry awards BFJ has won, it obviously isn’t selling cars.
On top of this, Saab has been releasing SUV’s and V6’s right when they should have been pushing efficiency and environmental awareness. Customers should see them as a more efficient competitor to Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, etc. Instead, they see them as a me-too brand that is a few steps behing the leading edge…
Don’t forget the impact of the Consumer Reports survey. I had to think long and hard when I replaced my 2003 9-3 with a 2006 9-3 sportcombi (because I was getting rid of the 9-3 due to the reliability issues). We replaced our 9-2X because of the harshness of the seats (as my wife has a back proble with a VW Rabbit because the only car the Saab dealer had in the same price range was a 2004 9-3, and that was too risky because of the reliability issues. The 2006 has been pretty reliable so far, but I doubt when the lease runs out I’ll get another 9-3. I’ll more likely simply keep my existing car.
A lot of interesting ideas and comments. I agree with most of them. A couple of thoughts: The Born From Jets advertising is pretty lame - “Sixty years ago we had some aircraft engineers working for us.” Who cares? A new campaign is definitely needed. Maybe recycle and update the advertising from the 80’s.
Second: At least in this part of the world (Utah, USA), AWD is a big selling point, and Saab hasn’t had it until really recently. An anecdote to illustrate this. We are driving home from church after the Christmas Eve service, me, my wife, and two of her friends, in my wife’s new Mazda CX-7 crossover. It is snowing heavily, the roads are slippery, and our daughter is slipping around in front of us in her Honda Civic (front wheel drive.) One friend says “I wouldn’t own a car without AWD” (she drives a Subaru station wagon). The other friend says “Me neither. I even like it in the rain.” (She also owns a Subaru station wagon.)
But Saab only has AWD in the 9/3 top of the line models. And the 9/7. Well maybe eventually it will get to the other models if you wait long enough. The crossover SUV market is the hot one in the US, but Saab has little to offer for another couple of years.
Which gets to the last and main point - the US auto market is hyper competitive. Every car maker in the world with any ambition wants to sell here. There are dozens and dozens of choices of models from every corner of the globe. It is a tough market for a company that can’t keep up. And my impression of GM and Saab is “too little, too late.”
We sometimes tend to like to pick on Saab USA here due to poor sales (and poor advertising, perhaps rightly). However, what has Saab global (Sweden) been up to? Shouldn’t GM Europe bear a majority of the blame for poor U.S. sales? It’s not like they’ve been giving U.S. Saab dealers a whole heck of a lot of attractive product. The recognition that Saab needs more models came in what, 2000? It’s now 2008 and while there are still promises of new product in the pipeline a buyer can’t buy them until they hit showroom floors, bottom line. We’ve been talking about the Turbo-X and 9⁴X and 9¹ and the next-gen 9⁵ and 9³ but the fact remains you go to your local dealer and NONE of these vehicles are available for purchase today. Saab dealers have to resort to selling last year’s model or this year’s facelifted 9³ (sans XWD).
It is taking an extraordinary amount of time to develop and manufacture NEW product (I’m not counting cosmetic refreshes).
Someone needs to hold Saab Sweden or GM Europe to some responsibility for not driving new product at Saab. Saab USA can only sell what they’re given by Saab Sweden. And right now that’s pretty dated product with promises of future product for the most part…
There is a new C Class, Newish Lexus, resonably fresh 3 series and a totally new A4 due any day now. The 9-3 has been facelifted (and done very well in my opinion) but is that enough to bring new buyers into the fold and to convince existing buyers to change?
I like your comment Gripen (griping?) Someone needs to light a fire under the Saab development folks. Why does it take so long to develop new models? Does GM need to outsource the design to somewhere where you can get it done in under 6-8 years?
I wholeheartedly agree, Grip. Laying all the blame on Maximum Bob and the gang at GM is simply shortsighted. Part of the endeared Swedishness Saab needs to lose is product development cycles and speed to market.
When most of Saab’s competition has at least one new product out every year, and even their older products don’t get stale, our favourite aktiebolaget is not in a position to take 5 years to develop one new vehicle.
And in line with this, Swade pokes fun at how “well” GM’s global engineering resources have been utilized at Saab, but it could in part be due to reluctance in Sweden to listen to the “big bad gringos who are going to destroy our Swedeness with their corporate Americanisms”.
As I own a Nissan (as well as 2 Saabs), I’ve been following the Rogue closely. a lot of auto journos said, and probably rightly so, that Nissan was late to the party of crossover, compact SUV’s. Saab will be even later. AWD? Eveybody else has had it for years. If Saab isn’t going to compete on the playing field ountil long after everyone else has moved on to another league, then they really, really need to play to, and advertise, their strengths. Comfort, safety, turbo, torque, gas mileage, etc. etc. that everyone on here knows about but seemingly no one else does. BFJ was a good intro campaign to pique interest, but it needed to be followed up with more informative marketing. the one good thing about all this? Depreciation makes a few year old certified Saab a very good alternative to a new car.
I think availability of 2008 models is also still an issue. I have not seen an ‘08 9-3 on the roads yet, and while I was getting my wife’s Saab serviced in December at the Seattle Saab dealer, they didn’t have any ’08s in the showroom or on the dealer lot. They have an off-site lot and it’s possible some are available there, but clearly they are not marketing the 2008 models yet.
Perhaps they have too many 2007’s to still sell through and they don’t want to disrupt this sell-off by showing the ’08s.
If you look at Honda, they bring out full model changes around every 5 years and a minor model change every 2-3 yrs. If you consider that they have 11 consecutive years of record sales and 14 consecutive year-over-year sales increase, they are definitly doing something right.
IMO, in order for Saab to improve sale records in North America, they need to attract more people to the brand through better advertising, the new planned platforms (9-1 & 9-4X), and new drivetrains (diesel, biofuel, XWD, etc…). Also, they need to keep people in the brand through consistent model facelifts.
Pretty much all of that has been said before.
WPbond69 - The dealership here in my city has had 08 9-3s on the lot for a couple months now. The sales manager informed me that he kept them hidden as a means to help clear out his 07 stock. Might be the case with other dealerships.
So many good points here. I think the BFJ campaign has been entertaining, but that’s it. Beyond that, it’s kind of hollow. What does it really mean?
As mentioned above, and its easy to say, but advertise based on tangible qualities of Saabs & what makes them unique. And for crying out loud, let’s catch up with (and keep at) what seems to sell Saabs and other cars- reliability, efficiency, new (fresh) aesthetics, utility, alt. fuels. AND MAKE THEM IN SWEDEN!
Just my humble opinion.
NineTwox,
I dont think Saab is trying to be as mainstream as honda is, they wouldn’t survive it, nor would I. Saab is not that generic, just yet :P. Therefore it’s not fair to compare Honda to Saab methinks.
Grip- excellent points. There’s always an excuse…..
At some point you have to take responsibility for your actions.
Great story about diesels and hybrids:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/motorhead-messiah.html
I think there are really two issues:
1. Saab’s reputation as “not reliable”
This is the major issue - this is a huge problem whether it is true or not. Its the image/perception that counts. Most Americans think it is true. I recently put in my order for a Saab Turbo-X and every single person’s first reaction was “are you nuts?”.
Now despite the fact that perhaps it’s true that I am, the fact that the universal reaction was (even when I was only considering a 9-3) that Saab’s “are high maintenance”.
Another much more easily fixable problem is the US Saab website. The site flat out sucks. If you’re looking for an Acura or an Infiniti and then you go to saabusa.com you cannot help but think “sheesh what?” at the Saab site. they should fix this. Just go look at the Turbo-X coverage. It STINKS! There are no hi-res images, no specs, its terrible.
beren
sam: unfortunately what is often ignored in articles such as this is the cost. I have no doubt GM can produce a car which gets 75 mpg and meets all 50-state emissions laws. The thing is: they couldn’t make it cheaply enough that they could sell it for a price they can still profit on.
Look at the “early adopter” cars. For example, look at the 2008 Mercedes-Benz E-series diesel with BLUETEC. The thing costs $50K. People who can afford a $50K car don’t care about how much fuel savings they’re going to gain by driving a diesel.
Just about anything CAN be done, but the trick is doing it cheaply enough to make a profit. Or they can do as Toyota did with the first-gen Prius (and Sony did with their Playstations) and sell it at a loss to gain market share.
BFJ must die.
I cringe every time I hear “Saab was founded by 16 aircraft engineers…”.
I remember when Saab reduced the price of cars a few years back (in the USA) and made a statement basically saying that ‘our cars are inexpensive enough now to be competitive so we no longer have to give incentives to get people to buy our cars’. Well, that clearly didn’t work much but the real problem here is the lack of a remotely competitive large car in the US market as the 9-5 is a dud. Yes, it may drive nicely, it may be powerful but it has the visual appeal of a 300lb German in a speedo! The new 9-5 is the car that is going to have to save Saab and it will have to be every bit as good as even the current 5 series. I think XWD should be standard across the range and put that eLSD on every new Saab so that it can handle like a BMW! I get the sense that Saab will be doing some major advertising when the XWD system is available provided the eLSD is part of the package. Without the eLSD its just another 4WD car if we are going to be totally honest here!
XWD with eLSD should have been made available from day one on the 08 9-3SS and Saab need to do something to be competitive when it comes to leasing costs. Last but not least quality must improve but I think we will only see that when production is shifted to Russelheim (sic) as current Opel’s dont have low grade plastic interiors. Maybe then people will start to use the word Saab in the same sentence as A, B or MB.
I must admit that I have become slightly dissolutioned over the past year with the dithering at Saab as we have started to seriously consider another make when we lease a brand new car in late summer this year. Saab was always THE dream car to me and has been for longer than I car to admit but there is another beauty that has caught my eye and every time I see one I say - I WANT!
You guys bashing “Born From Jets” have got to look at this ad for a 96 Volvo 850R. Funny.
I also think Saab made a massive mistake by not upping the power on the TurboX to 300bhp+. Why would someone want to pay so much for what is, for all arguments sakes, a tarted up Aero? There is no way Saab will sell all of these cars and they will be discounted to hell come September time.
Well, given the fact that GM overall was down 6% from 2006 I think there is a lot more data here to digest. You are talking about a year where gasoline prices are hitting a record high, job growth is flat and a large group of people were suddenly told that they really couldn’t afford that dream house and the two variable rate mortgages they were trying to carry.
It was a horrible year for car sales: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-01-03-auto-sales_N.htm
Given the fact Saab lacks product right now, they sort of managed to keep their head somewhat above water.
Zippy, I hope for Saab that you are wrong….
But if you are right, I might just have me an Aero-X come September
… provided the military and college are nice to me, lol
Very dissappointing. Perhaps SAAB should also carefully evaluate the dealer network in the US. Bad word of mouth is more powerful than positive advertising. On other SAAB enthusiast sites the dealer horror stories are everywhere. I live in Houston..4th largest city in the US and the Houston dealer sold his entire inventory and closed his dealership…not even the employees knew until 2 days before…. 40 miles now to the nearest dealer. How could SAAB and GM let this happen? My wife and I bought 2 new cars from them inthe last year! With bonehead moves like this, it’s no wonder sales are in the toilet.
a lot of work has to be done with all small things…
The thing is that a lot of small things works together to make big trouble. They probably need to take a step back and start over.
What do we want to stand for?
How can we achievi it?
My thoughts are these,
* bring more options, smaller petrol with e85 their is no point not making all biopower. Also bring the diesel.
* Stop the incentieves (spelling), this will hurt in the short run but over the time it will be good. Just be clear with the dealers and be careful with stock (keep low)
* Find a new ad strategy. Be more cooky as mention, take up safety, turbocharging, economy and enviroment. Also were should we advertise? BFJ should maybe be used as a byline nothing more. I persnally like move your mind better.
* INFORMATION, always accurate, always at hand. Salesperson, IT, service etc all should know.
* Scandinavian desing on everything, not only at things you like to boost. The website should have the a design that smells scandinavian, logos, text, showroom etc etc. Not just the car
* Then there is the product and that is maybe a diffrent question. But trouble there is more known and in some way adressed. Shorter cycle and more and better product.
Damn I would love to be executive for SaabUsa. The change would be mindblowing. Most likely because Im a swede and have no experince with the real USA…
I’m a 35 year old single male living in the Metro NY area and I drive a 2005 Saab 9-3 2.0T. I make a good living and could certainly afford to drive a more expensive vehicle. I chose Saab in 2005 because of its value, design, history, quirks, and it’s potential. I ignored Consumer Reports, I ignored my friends and my family who all asks me ‘why not get a BMW?’.
I have to say that I enjoy the 9-3, it’s been great. Many times people get in my car and it’s their first time in a Saab. They always say things about it’s speed, and about how it looks so cool on the inside. I guess I like the validation. I feel like I made a good choice and I feel proud to be a Saab owner.
Having said that, as I look for a new car over the next year or so I’m not sure I will consider Saab. There are a few reasons.
1. I like the 2008 update to the 9-3 but it’s just not enough. I feel like the 2008 Saab is 3-4 years late. The XWD system sounds great but where is it? Why not go buy an Audi, Lexus, BMW, Acura? The Saab range is getting better but there are not many other options for me (I’m not a fan of the outdated 9-5)
2. I like the fact that Saab is not Audi and BMW but I have to keep looking for reasons to prefer Saab. I want to be a loyal Saab fan just like many of you but I think it’s too much work!
The other car companies have told me why I should purchase their cars. Saab has only told me that they were born from jets…BFJ was cool in the beginning but now it’s embarrassing.
The Saab 9-3 is a Scandinavian gem! I personally would love to buy another Saab one day but I will not continue to search for reasons to remain loyal. I hate to sound like a typical American but I need GM/Saab to make it easy for me to love Saabs. Give me reasons to be excited about the future of the brand called Saab. You still have my attention but I’m getting tired.
Good Luck, Saab
Rumour has it that gas prices could hit US$5 a gallon if oil hits US$125 a barrel. Is everyone going to stop driving in the States if that happens? Welcome to the real word, Id say.
zippy: I wouldn’t worry about the gas price hype. Gas will never hit $5 a gallon in the U.S. (IMHO. Well, not anytime in the next 10 or 20 years or so…). Once it reaches $4 a gallon people start to adjust their driving habits, conserve, start utilizing public transportation, carpool, plan trips more carefully, etc. and the price will decrease due to the demand decreasing.
I’ve heard economists saying that based on supply and demand a barrel of oil should NOT be around $100 right now. It should be closer to $60 a barrel. They’re estimating the price to drop to around $75 a barrel in 2008.
That being said, however, if or when people start adjusting their driving habits, including trading-in the big SUV for a more fuel efficient car (Sport Combi?) or crossover (9⁴X?) Saab needs to be there to take advantage of it. The idea of bringing over the 1.8t w/ or w/o BioPower is a good one. Bringing diesels over if in any way possible is another.
Speaking of the XWd and the timing of its arrival, Car and Driver has an article online naming the ten fastest cars of ‘08 btwn $30-$40K (US). Interesting line in the opening paragraphs:
“Other notable absentees include the Saab 9-3, which we didn’t include because we won’t be able to get our hands on the 280-hp all-wheel-drive V-6 until spring of 2008, and the Subaru Impreza…” (blah, blah, blah).
Would have been interesting to see the comparison. May have created a little positive momentum too.
I think that GM has taken care of the OnStar issue in a way they can, considering they own On Star.
In North America 2008 MY SAAB’s are available with a delete onstar option.
This from Edmunds
“UE0 OnStar Delete
Deletes OnStar and includes pre-wiring for Bluetooth phone interface. NOT AVAILABLE with U3R.”
Trogg: that’s funny because as part of the “new standard features” part of Steve Shannon’s presentation at the U.S. 2008 9³ launch (in Washington, D.C. in August) he mentioned that OnStar is now standard on ‘08 Saabs.
It’s better than no option for Bluetooth, but it kinda’ sucks that you have to forgo the “free” OnStar Saab was offering (I think it was for a year) if you want Bluetooth. Some people really do want the OnStar functionality exclusive of the OnStar mobile phone functionality.
I would imagine that the next-gen 9³ and 9⁵, as well as the 9⁴X and 9¹ will have this apparent technical conflict designed-out. And hopefully they’ll have full OnStar functionality designed-in.
There are not enough changes to the MY08 for Saab to justify the increased price, people just won’t pay for it. I for one am more excited now about the new Audi A4 coming out this year than I was about the XWD 9-3 and i’ve always owned Saabs. I’m willing and hopeful to wait and see the all new models they come out with after these. I hope GM is listening to it’s customers because they are all getting ready to jump ship if they don’t. If you don’t bait the hook all the fish won’t bite, XWD should have been at the launch of the MY08 9-3 period.
Gripen1985
“But it kinda’ sucks that you have to forgo the “free” OnStar Saab was offering (I think it was for a year) if you want Bluetooth.”
I think your splitting hairs now. On Star is standard Bluetooth is optional. You can have one or the other, can you blame them? If you want both keep the standard OnStar, use a a bluetooth visor gadget or the one that comes on many after market GPS navigation units.