Comments

• saab9x said:
  

  lack of xwd (or even basic awd) is probably a contributing factor to decreased sales.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 9:20 am
• 1985 Gripen said:
  

  Looking at the bright side of things hopefully come March or April (that’s when the Turbo-X and 9³ Aero w/XWD are due, right?) we’ll see a surge in Saab sales as people who have presumably been holding-out for those models are able to purchase them.

  Also I wonder if there’s a percentage of potential 9⁷X buyers who are holding-out for the 9⁴X. I kinda’ doubt it, but it’s a hope, at least.

  I’m a pessimist, but I see 2008 sales being down even more than 2007 sales, especially if the XWD-equipped cars are only available for nine of the twelve months in the year.

  There’s still no concrete evidence that the 9⁴X will go on sale in calendar year 2008, is there?

  9⁵ sales continue to tank. I hope to pick up one of those rumored “last hurrah” editions on the cheap!

  -January 4th, 2008 at 9:23 am
• Saabboy1 said:
  

  Hurry up on the new 9-5 already!

  -January 4th, 2008 at 10:27 am
• denvernewbie said:
  

  well, they are obviously not too worried about it…instead of changing the current incentives, today SaabUSA just extended them till the beginning of March. See the small print at the bottom of this link…

  -January 4th, 2008 at 10:28 am
• msven said:
  

  I think part is Anticipation from loyal Saab customers in the US. Anticipating AWD, Anticipating E85, Anticipating Diesel, Anticipating the last hurrah 9-5, anticipating a change in rebates for 2007 models as they have done in prior years. When the current car is working just fine, why trade when one is Anticipating upcoming changes. We wait for the one we are Anticipating.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 10:59 am
• cj said:
  

  Candian almost as bad….. And still i imagine a few Canadians who went accross the boarder…

  167 vs 189 pY. Year 2209 vs 2640

  http://www.desrosiers.ca/pdfs/sales.pdf

  -January 4th, 2008 at 11:00 am
• Wulf said:
  

  Looking at the bright side of things? I admire Gripen’s optimism but these numbers are really, really bad. The new 9-3 exterior design was supposed to increase sales but perhaps customers were also expecting a new, much better interior.

  Buyers waiting for XWD probably went out and bought an Audi or Subaru with AWD before winter started. Perhaps the price increase for 2008 was a bit too much as well. A 9-3 with a V6 is more expensive than a MB or BMW with a V6 in the USA.

  Saab has so much potential but it seems they are about 3-4 years behind with their models and technology.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 11:57 am
• Kroum said:
  

  No one is so eagerly awaiting the arrival of XWD. Just a few days ago the numbers came in and of the 100 free Aero Academy-qualifying Turbo X units only 35 or so had been ordered… This goes a long way to show Saab is losing momentum fast.

  Gosh, the brand has one main vehicle - how long can the 9-3 carry the torch? Facelift or not. The 9-5 is become more and more outdated by the month, and the 9-7X may be the best vehicle on its platform, but costs way more than a Trailblazer.

  This should come as no surprise to anyone regularly following Saab. I do get the feeling 2008 is going to be one of those years, too. Saab needs 5-6 competitive models to stay in the game, right now it has 0.5.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
• zippy said:
  

  If you look at the microsite for XWD on the Canadian Saab website is stipluates on more than one occasion that eLSD is only available on the TurboX. Is this true? I wont buy one without the eLSD and I am not paying way over the odds for the TurboX unless there are a few at the end of the 2008 model year as I doubt they are going to sell 100 of them here in Canada.

  Regarding Canadian sales the price and lease rates for Saabs are way too high. IMHO Saab needs to reduce the prices a minimum of 10percent (or more) to even get a chance at improving sales.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
• Scott said:
  

  I agree that the 9-3 cannot be expected to carry the proverbial torch on its own. If the much rumoured 9-5 “Special Edition” is anything like the UK version I do not think it will be enough to drive up sales significantly. I just viewed a Discovery Channel special, Future Cars, and the Fuel episode did mention the Saab Bio Power and the Aero X concept quiet prominently. Should the Bio Power (and a redesigned 9-5) ever reach our shores, then we could finally see a turn around (and I am so hoping the new 9-5 exceeds expectations, or heck, the way things are going, just having it meet expectations would be nice).

  -January 4th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
• chaaalie said:
  

  How do Saab’s numbers compare with the rest of the US auto industy for December?

  I’m completely guessing here, but I bet that they are probably pretty close to in-line … December had a lot of things going against it: Sluggish economy, ongoing housing crisis, holiday bills, fuel prices up (yet again) on top of all the Saab-specific factors (9-3 model changeover, pending “End of Life” for the 9-5 and 9-7x etc.)

  It just didn’t seem like there were a whole lot of customers buying any new cars where I was … people seem gunshy right now on major purchases.

  -January 4th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
• SaabWookiee said:
  

  One thing that Saab has a very bad habit of doing is talking up future developments (XWD, Bluetooth, etc.) and then taking an insanely long period of time to deliver. As a couple of people have already mentioned, this constant anticipation leads to attrition to other brands and loss of enthusiasm by the faithful. In my case, I had hoped to buy a 9-3 with XWD last year, but it looks like it’ll be another model year before they get it on the 2.0T in the states.

  Lots of great ideas, but slow execution.

  -January 5th, 2008 at 12:01 am
• joemama said:
  

  You guys are all right on the ball. Hmmm…let’s release an XWD system in the spring, AFTER winter time.

  oh, and don’t even get me started on Bluetooth…..

  -January 5th, 2008 at 1:16 am

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