Tuesday Snippets
Finalists for the Saab Pride of Ownership competition, and the ensuing poll so that you can decide the winner, will go up on site in around 12 hours from the time I’m writing this.
It was an excellent competition and selecting finalists has been much more difficult than we first thought it would be.
——
If you see a black Saab convertible come up for sale in Virginia in the near future, you might want to give it a miss.
At the very least you’d want to buy a new steering wheel and shifter……
——
Some Saab sales figures that recently came through, courtesy of ctm. These are some winners and losers from the European market in January:
- Alfa Romeo: -42.8%
Jaguar: -38.1%
Saab: -14.9% (5,723 cars)
Volvo: -9.7%
Mini: +34.4%
Nissan: +50.1% (33,935 cars)
Smart: +50.9% (7,069 cars)
Dacia: +73.8% (15,178 cars)
The selected quantities are included so that you can see that the rises or falls were recorded on what was a reasonable base.
ctm’s thoughts:
7000 Smart’s? 15.000 Dacia’s? Things are really happening on the auto market… With those low cost brands invading Europe (and that include Chevrolet to some extent), it’s getting crowded in the premium segment were all the old traditional European brands are heading to save their asses.
And that might go some way to explaining Saab’s higher pricing on the 9-3 and much bigger 9-5 in the pipeline (though it needed to get bigger, anyway). I have a gut feeling that the coming Saab 9-1 won’t be that much smaller than the old generation 9-3 in overall length.
Enough to make a difference, but not quite Mini-small.
——
And for those interested in small market sales data…
Saab sold 168 new cars in Luxembourg in 2007. A rather large fall in percentage terms from the 224 sold in 2006.
Thanks Claude!
More from this category
More from this author
- The Great TS Pacific Northwest Meetup - Details!
- Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- Saab Owners Convention - wrapping it up with Steve Shannon and the best collection of photos you’ll see
- 25% off two T-shirts during August
Subscribe to this author
Recent Comments
- SaabLance on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- SaabLance on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- Kroum on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- Ying on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- Ned on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- SaabLance on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- ELBOBO on The Great TS Pacific Northwest Meetup - Details!
- Paul Guinnessy on Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
- Rogan on The Great TS Pacific Northwest Meetup - Details!
- Ryan McLean on The Great TS Pacific Northwest Meetup - Details!
> Dacia: +73.8%
it cant get any more obvious. And that is just the start.
I hear people talking more and more Dacia about their next car.
Money doesn´t grow on trees
But, anyway: i would rather walk than drive a smart
since Isuzu bowed out of the U.S. market, and, because of the XF (beautiful, beautiful, beautiful car), Jaguar is on an upswing predicting 3600+ sales for February, from only ~600 in January, because of pre orders, that now places Saab in the absolutely Last place in the entire US market. yep thats right, LAST, and sales keep dwindling.
Autoblog’s gonna have a field day with this one. Anything to make Saab look any worse is their new motto. Im sure when they release “by the numbers” at the end of this month, they will point it out, just to have that little devilish inside laugh chuckle a little. its funny cause everytime i stick up for saab in my posts, they ban my message. and as of today, they banned my account :[[ i swear, if they could be anymore communist…
+1 J.R.
I wouldnt be caught dead in a Smart car. Same with most Americans. Only reason someone would want one is for a political statement, and that look at me factor. People perceive things as going green= praise from every angle. Same with those Prius owners. anything for that look at me factor. Doesnt matter if the car hurts the environment more than it helps. Just wants attention.
Dacia - any relation to Marcia? What is a Dacia?
Ahhhh, a Romanian build HoS.
I’m with you J.R (do you live in Dallas?). Smart = knob (Aussie/Pommie slang for idiot, goose, _ickhead etc)
Renault’s eastern European cheapie, I believe….
There is a 12 to 18 month wait on the new ‘Smart Car’ (ahem) here in Ohio. What gives with that thing - it only gets just above 32mpg which is hardly impressive for a vehicle that size with a 3 cylinder engine.
Seriously – where were all these people 10 years ago when GEO Metro’s were at Chevrolet dealers? And they got 50mpg. In the end the ‘Smart for Two’ is a fashion statement similar to a Prius.
As for the possible Saab for sale in Virginia…. You just have to chuckle at that story. Not so much for the owner - but the fact they had to point out the guy was in a Saab? Love the media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_(car)
…and…I am not from Dallas
Well, what this tells us is Saab better get a stylish, compact car on the market that gets 50+ MPG, has a turbo, a lot of technology and a price tag that starts in the low $20s.
Lets hope the 9-1 does just this.
One shouldn’t judge trends by one months’ statistics only, but it seems that all the wannabe premium brands (S,V,J, A-R) are having a struggle…
Tedjs, I agree the fuel milage of the Smart is well…dumb.
But to remind you, 10 years ago gas was CHEAP (hmm, 10 years ago Bush wasnt in office)…the Metro was just entry level, not cool, not hip.
Image is everything…which is why Geo no longer exists…same with Oldsmobile.
joemama, i am hoping with you!