I haven’t penned a letter to GM in a while……

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I’d just like to post a quick apology to the people at Reflective, who have produced the range of eco-friendly clothing shown by Saab in New York yesterday.

I’m quite sure your stuff is cut from the finest cloth, that squirrels love you and butterflies gather at your office doors to thank you every morning.

To Saab, on the other hand, I’d like to ask what the heck is going on?

There’s probably four auto shows that are considered the big ones in the US - Detroit, LA, Chicago and New York. I might be wrong on Chicago, but it’s a big town. Anyway, from what I can tell New York is regarded as the second biggest show on the US calendar.

Just a few weeks ago, we had what I think will prove to be the second biggest launch Saab will make this year: the 9-X BioPower Hybrid. It won the best concept car award at the Geneva Motor Show - one of the top 4 shows in the world - and yet all the press release material on Saab’s show night prior to media day is about this:

I love my Saab gear just as much as the next guy. I’ve got a number of Expressions items and a black retro polo is on my Christmas list.

But what you’re all looking at in that photo is more than US$1,500 worth of stuff that pretty much no-one is going to buy (unless they’re quite cashed up) and one BIG distraction from what Saab needs to be focusing on at the moment - the product.

Sure, it’s just concept cars on show in New York, but at least one of them is going to be produced (the 9-4x) and if the other’s going to be produced as well, then wouldn’t it have been a good time to announce it?

Again, I’m sorry if this reflects poorly on Reflective. On reflection, I maybe carrying on a little too much and I’m sure the stuff is great.

But it just worries me when I see stuff like this. Saab need to be a little more - desparate isn’t the right word - but maybe focused is. They’ve been getting a butt-kicking for ages now. I know how good the current crop of cars are. Owners know how good the current crop of cars are, but no-one else seems to. People who hang out here know that there’s stuff in the pipe for Saab, but the majority of the US press barely seems to know who Saab are beyond the standard 16 aircraft engineer stuff that’s in the press release.

So why have a showcase event where you’re promoting excessively priced clothing (which I’m sure is great, by the way….)?

Is someone asleep at the wheel over there or is my medication playing up again? The Saab brand that I know and love is all about turbocharging, safety, driving pleasure, low-end torque and refined taste. It’s no freaking show-pony label, it’s about stuff that makes sense! The accessories sit in the showroom, they don’t take the limelight from the cars.

I apologise if it seems like I’m carrying on a bit too much about this, but it’s the latest in a long line of things that are annoying the crap out of me with Saab in various jurisdictions. Some of it is Saab’s fault and some the parent company’s.

I see an incredible product like XWD and I don’t hear about it mentioned prior to this show.

I see that XWD is coming in just the next few months to the US and yet I don’t hear about it prior to this show.

I see no advertising for Saab whatsoever in the US

I see a stupid price differential between the US and Canada

I see a big opportunity to offer XWD with the TTiD and yet we hear nothing further than “we’re assessing it”

I hear a bunch of people talking about Saab being a jewel in GM’s crown yet I don’t see them backing it up with real, hope-giving decisions about investment.

And we hear very little at all from the top brass at SaabUSA that isn’t totally stage managed

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I’m quite confident that Saab has a future and that it’s a good one.

XWD is a brilliant development and we’ll see the effects of that soon. The 2008 Saab 9-3 is a great improvement and we’ll see and hear more praise for it as it gets out there more. The TTiD is already having a positive effect in appropriate markets.

But I’m hungry for Saab to be successful. I’m quite sick of the press and the a-holes in their Audi’s and BMW’s being all smug and satisfied and primarily because GM won’t invest in something as fundamental as better interior components. A great design is one thing, but you’ve got to carry the execution as well.

I’m sure that everyone who attended the Reflective function had a good time and that the brand’s image was enhanced among attendees. But I can’t help feeling that everyone else will just read the release and think ‘whatever’.

Saab should be all about cars. Leave the frilly bits for when the fundamentals have been nailed.