Sunday Snippets
There’s several reasons why there’s been only one blog entry in the last 24 hours.
Visiting Canadians, a 20th Birthday in the family, moving house for said 20 year old, stifling heat. But the one that rings truest to me is a form of blogging constipation.
I’m very frustrated at not being able to pass any 9-4x news on to people and it’s got me feeling quite irritable.
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RJ, the one in Utah as opposed to the one in San Diego, was concerned about me sounding fairly down on things in the last few weeks, and rightly so. I think it’s a combination of the aforementioned blogging constipation and a lack of visible signs of real, spirited and deliberate hope for the Saab brand under GM’s care.
I’ve always been bulish about GM’s ownership of Saab, but the lack of resources given to the brand, the lack of marketing support and worries about future direction are starting to turn me. Hopefully Detroit can turn me back.
The one thing I’ll always be is honest.
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Enough of the personal stuff.
The Saab 9-3 SportCombi has been included in one of the more odd top 5 lists I’ve seen: Kid-friendly Luxury vehicles. This list is from Forbes.
I think it’s great the Combi’s on there as it’s my favourite of the current Saabs. It just struck me as somewhat an obscure list to put together.
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Autoweek have a very quick 3-paragraph impression of the Saab 9-3 a-la 2008.
Except for the identical door handles, it’s hard to believe the 9-3 shares much of its underpinnings with the Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura. As much as that’s a good sign for Chevy and Saturn, it’s equally good that General Motors has been able to take one chassis and make it into three distinctly different models.
And that’s the way this one goes. It spends just about the entire three paragraphs talking about three cars, rather than the Saab. Autoweek allow people to review the review, and the two people that have done so have quite rightly mentioned that it lacks information and just leads to the question Why would I pay a $15K premium for this over the Chevy and Saturn alternatives?
Again….can I be a motoring journalist too, please?
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There’s a great review of the Saab 9-3 2.0T here.
I spent a week during the holidays in a delightful 2008 Saab 9-3 turbo wagon that wanted to run like an unleashed puppy. In fifth gear at 70 mph, the speed limit on state highways where I live, the Saab’s 2-liter, 210 horsepower turbo still wanted to go to 80, 90 and 100…..
….This lesser 9-3, called the 2.0T, and Volvo’s more sedate S80 V-6 are worth a look to people looking for European cars in the mid-$30,000s (Saab) to upper $30,000s (Volvo). These Swedes are generally more user-friendly than the pricey German brands and essentially match their comfort and style but perhaps not their cachet.
I’ll gladly skip the cachet and take the understated elegance and Turbo-4 zippiness.
I love that 2.0T engine.
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Terry D writes with reference to this story: Which is the real ‘9′ car? Saab 900 or Porsche 911?
Kent Police said the robbers were seen carrying handguns, but no shots were fired and no one was injured.
It is believed the men left the scene in a car, possibly a black old-style Saab or Porsche, which was driven away at speed from the nearby Prospect Place car park.
Must have been the Porsche, though. Saabs are far too well mannered to be involved in such activities.
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Well, see it this way. Its good that family stuff still is more important than car stuff…
Anyway, now to the car stuff. GM are inviting you to detroit. We know that they will show the 9-4 there, and we also know that it will be produced.
On the 9-3 and 9-5 they will be built in Germany. Make sence from an industrial point of view, and I do not think that there are many americans that would go “oh, its made in germany, than I do not want it.”. german products tend to come with a good reputaion even thou they are not always made in Germany (right or wrong) so I do not think that its too bad.
We know that there will be capacity in TH then, that needs to be filled with something. Its a good thing that GM finaly are trying to share more parts (that we do not see) between the models as long as it results in more (and differentiated) models and profit for GM and SAAB.
The article you refer to does not explain why someone should pay $15K more for something that share the same basics, but with more sharing maybe the $15 could be $8K and that would be easier to justify.
The only thing to hope for is that hte US economy, and the world economy does not hit the shiter right when the new products are about to be introduced.
The problem right now (in Canada) is that the cars are expensive vs the competition (especially given the strong Cdn $) and that parts of the model lineup does not feel fresh.
I was reading the statesman.com review of the 2.0T wagon and saw a “Click-2-Listen” button. Feeling lazy, I clicked it and found that “9-3″ is pronounced “9 to 3″.
Apparently, it’s a text-to-speech software.
I am also too in one of these moods and very irritated. When I still can not go and buy an 9-3 XWD variant at all (well not even a normal new 9-3) and see particularly the other Swedish Motorcar already adding 2 new variants and doing really well it boils me. I read about the new B 1 series lineup plus the new X6 and that makes me even angrier. Clearly, GM either does something with this superb brand or simply off load it. Tata now is set to take Jaguar and Rover from Ford. I have no doubt that under this new consortium things will continue to flourish. So, there are options out there but GM is killing all of us by their continuous procrastination. A simple Paralysis by Analysis.
I don’t know why these auto magazines make such a big deal out of the shared platforms. They apparently aren’t smart enough to figure out what is really going on.
Management has to justify itself. To do that they need to proclaim what they are doing and why they have little to show for that effort. Therefore you get the standard press release that they are spending X billions of dollars developing some platform but not to worry because more than one car will be made from that platform. Nobody is going to say they spent one million dollars developing a car so the figures are always a ridiculous number. But apparently the numbers aren’t big enough to keep the auto magazines from swallowing them.
I’m with you Swade and the guys who are down on Saab’s procrastination, slipping position, etc. I can’t help but feel like the Saab owner/fan community tries harder than do Saab and GM.
That said, I think there’s still a fair amount of enthusiasm and potential for them to tap and recapture if they start executing and delivering. We’re all still here, and I still commonly drive out of my way so I can pass by the Saab dealership and see the 2008s on the lot…
1. i still think xwd is an unnecessary delay when awd would have been easier and faster to put into production. if they still wanted to pursue xwd _after_ awd, then fine, go ahead. but we needed basic awd at least 2-3 years ago. i doubt that the average driver will know or feel the difference between awd and xwd, anyway.
2. when i see the ‘08 subaru impreza sti, i’m frustrated that saab still doesn’t have a sport hatch or awd. if subaru can get things done, why can’t saab. designs are pushed well beyond their “best-used-by” date.
3. it’s going to be a long, harsh ride till we get to 2010-2011, when the cars arrive that should have been here 5 years ago. i hope everyone has comfortable seating. all i can say is that the cars better be worth the waiting. i’m sure i’ll need either tranquilizers or lithium.
4. interesting bob lutz quote:
“Everything we’re doing is to meet this new standard of [being the] absolute winner in its class in exterior design and interior design,” he says. “When we put the vehicles against the competition in the clinics, they must win by a wide margin on exterior appeal as well as reach.”
“We don’t want people to say ‘I love this design, it’s just great’–because that means it is probably not going to last past when the car comes out. We like designs where people are a little uncomfortable; they’re worried. We want some checkmarks in the ‘Too Much’ column.”–http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/12/20/lutz-gm-autos-biz-cx_jf_1221flint.html
the 9-4x needs to pass that test. if it doesn’t, i’ll be writing mr. lutz.
so to those of us waiting with bated breath for the secretive 9-4x, expect to be anything but bored.
Hey Swade, it’s was after all Christmas and you should have had a well-deserved rest from us here.
Swade, you’re definitely not the only one feeling left out right now. There is NO communication from SaabUSA right now. Actually, there hasn’t been much communication from SaabUSA since Steve Shannon took over. Dealers are REALLY feeling the heat. My local salesman said he has absolutely no CLUE when XWD is coming. All he knows is that they haven’t been allocated, which means the SOONEST will be May at this point. Then they’re stuck with the decision of “do we request any of those 8 turbo-X’s we’re allowed?” How many are going to sit here until they’re marked down ridiculously after ’09s come out?
The communications wall needs to come down at SaabUSA. That’s where Saab REALLY needs you, Swade. :p
This is pathetic and only proves that all the fanfare back in June-July 07 about the Haledex XWD new generation was simply premature. I’ve seen in various industries premature releases when real product can’t be delivered well after the release is announced. This causes a massive backlash against any supplier in any line of business. If you can’t deliver simply stay put until you are ready as this will cause less harm. What we’ll see is that many loyal followers will be forced to abandon the brand. The market will simply make these individuals look elsewhere.
I’m beginning to think that there won’t be a 9-4X at the Detroit show after all. Most likely we will only see the 9-3X “X-country” version of the wagon.
Well, even if that is the case what good will that be if there is no supply as dealears can’t deliver it ??? Not even a date of ETA is possible at present. So ????
“This causes a massive backlash against any supplier in any line of business. If you can’t deliver simply stay put until you are ready as this will cause less harm.”
This goes also with TTiD. Press testdrives were done in july of 2007. Dealers started taking orders right after. They promised first dealer test cars here in october.
Well, what happened. Still no testcars at the dealers. People who have ordered one, have been told to wait a bit more. And then a bit more and still no date of delivery is been given. I´ve read about this from few Saab forums and there´s already few who have cancelled their orders because of that delay. Dealers are very confused. They do not have accurate information and what can they tell to customers? Okay, fill up the order form and you´ll get your car in next 2-3-4-5-6 months, or so…
That was A BAD mistake. Do not promise anything you cannot keep.
Why do I care? Well, I ordered SC TTiD in 8th of september. Delivery date have been postponed now three times. I still do not have a date when we´ll receive the car. Now GM Finland tells me that probably at the week 8. Holy crap, that makes HALF A YEAR from the order date!! When I ordered the car, it was estimated to take 8 to 10 weeks. Now, it´s been, what, 17 weeks and counting..
I´ve already started to think about cancelling the order. I do understand that sometimes there´s things that you cannot change, like now with TTiD´s. The production of those engines is not completely at the hands of GM. But what they could do? Well, at least they could be REALLY sorry about this. They could inform customers immediately. And after 4 months of waiting, if they have to push it forward again, they should at least offer some kind of a compensation. What it is? I don´t know. But this definitely is not the way to handle it. Thank god I didn´t sell our existing car in november like I originally planned.
Okay. I´ve said it. Sorry for the venting. But it seems that Saab is in the hands of fools at the moment…
Well MarkoA where ever you are you are not alone. I can assure you that as another fervent poor follower and good mate has also been waiting since September/October and it seems now February is when his new 9-3 may arrive. Both of you at least should be proud of your patience and loyalty. If matters do not become regular (ie delivery inside 2 weeks but not more than 4) by May honestly I will be forced to look elsewhere as no matter what 9-3 I order if no supply is forthcoming another brand will have to foot the bill. I hate this and have had a lot of agonizing times about this scenario and how angry we all are. I just hope that GM clearly sorts the handling of this great cars, I really do !!!
I get SOOOO frustrated to see reviews with comments like “it’s equally good that General Motors has been able to take one chassis and make it into three distinctly different models”. This makes it sound like GM developed the Saab 9-3 (or simply badge-engineered it), when in fact Saab has poured all of it’s expertise into the development of this car. Saab has even modified the platform to a large extent in order to facilitate the design. The “expert” who wrote the article is an ignoramus, but I also blame GM in part for helping to create this perception (in so many ways…don’t get me started). I’m a long time Saab lover just trying to hang in there and remain hopeful, but it hasn’t been easy in recent years for any of us, and the resentment toward GM is growing. It’s not that I have a Bob Lutz shaped piñata hanging in my yard or anything, but…..I’m gonna need something to hit!