Mismanaging the Turbo X - part II
When I wrote Mismanaging the Turbo X back in January, I had no idea of the fiasco that would follow once the cars actually started production. That piece was about the lack of information available on what the car really was about, as distinct from the Aero XWD.
What we’ve got now is one extraordinarily good car that’s got the potential to lift the Saab brand several pegs in one hit, and that car being managed by an ordering system that would have a hard time getting Matthew McConaughey some action in a house of ill-repute.
I’ve covered this in brief once already, but again, here is what’s believed to be the cause. I’ll get to the effects (which are concrete, verified and undeniably embarassing) in a moment.
In 2007, SaabUSA put the very popular European Delivery Program on hold for the 2008 model year. The reason it went on hold is that Saab were being integrated into GM’s electronic ordering system and the EDP was part of that process. It seems that the electronic ordering process isn’t working too well, however, and things are getting lost in translation somewhere between the dealership and the factory in Trollhattan.
Earlier this year there were a number of 2008 Saab 9-3s that arrived at a dealership with Euro spec wheels on them. These were soon sorted out. No harm, no foul.
The rollout of the Turbo X is another matter all together, however. This is Saab’s most expensive vehicle and the flag-bearer for the new, game-changing XWD system. This is something big and important. Something that shouldn’t be messed with.
Well, it’s being messed with.
The first Turbo X delivery that we covered on this website featured a door sill plate reading “Vector” instead of “Turbo X”. That one was almost endearing. Thankfully the dealership, our own site sponsor Saab of Hunterdon, was quickly on the case and a new plate has been ordered and will be fitted as soon as it comes in. All else is good and from all reports that I receive, Beren is absolutely loving the car.
Last week I heard of a case where a car ordered with Satnav arrived without the Satnav fitted. Some might speculate that the dealer stuffed up the order, but I can confirm that this isn’t the case. I received a copy of the order from the customer and it confirms that the dealer, Gebhardt Saab in Boulder, Colorado, did the right thing in this instance. The order went through as the customer desired but the car rolled out of the factory with the wrong specs.
David M, the customer in this instance, has agreed to accept the car as-is with a price adjustment for the missing satnav, and is actually very happy with it. Saab are lucky that the performance of this car is so darned good. David’s now awaiting a call back from SaabUSA as to how he’s to be compensated for the mess. Adjusting the price is one thing, but delivering a product that’s not as-ordered is another all together.
That’s not the first Satnav problem, though, as a number of dealers are reporting that the cars they ordered for stock are missing the maps as well. And what’s worse, when they call another dealer to try and swap a stocked item in order to fulfil a customer request, the dealer they call has the wrongly-specced cars in stock as well!
That’s bad - but here’s the story that takes the cake. Hold on to your hats.
Saab Canada made a great decision and equipped the Turbo X with the touring package from the 9-3 Aero as standard equipment. This package normally costs around CAD$1,050 and comprises the three-position memory seats, auto dimming mirror with compass and garage remote, and rear parking assist.
Of the 100 Turbo X’s that Saab Canada will receive, 60 of these vehicles are going to arrive without the Touring Pack included.
One of our very own here at TS has ordered a Turbo X in Canada and his car will be one of the X’s that’s been adversly affected, though I guess he should be relatively pleased because his car has a Satnav system in it that he didn’t order 
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I don’t blame Saab USA for this. I don’t blame Saab Canada for this. I don’t blame the Trollhattan factory for this (though I will be asking them for comment). I definitely don’t blame the dealers for this as all evidence I’ve seen is that orders are being lodged as the customer requested, and the dealers are embarassed as all heck about it.
Someone is responsible for the implementation of that ordering system and right now, their system isn’t doing its job. Saab are potentially facing a very embarassing rollout because of it. I hope they find the problem, and quick.
In the meantime, if you’ve ordered a Turbo X, or any other Saab for that matter and it hasn’t come as ordered, get hold of Saab in your country and do not let go until they’ve dealt with the issue fairly. Don’t be mischevious or malicious. Be fair, but demand that they be fair in return. If you’re putting your hard-earned down for a car with a specific level of equipment then it should arrive that way.
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On a positive note, our guy in Canada with what I presume will be a free Satnav had this to say about the actual car:
I just came back from a test drive of the X. One word: f#!$ing amazing. Okay, that’s two words. But you get the idea.
Saab are fortunate in that this car is so good.
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This just sound odd. While it’s not unheard of it for ordering systems to get glitches in them, for no one to catch this problem until this late in the process is downright silly.
Though I haven’t been impact by the ordering glitch directly, I firmly believe Saab should give me a free 9-3 Sportcombi XWD to help deal with the trauma. It doesn’t even have to be a Turbo X.
In all seriousness, this is a big deal and they better get their act together because as more features and models get released (i.e., XWD version, the crossover), there will be more complexity and room for error.
Not to get on the GM-bashing train again, but here’s where their inexperience in managing a premium European brand really shows.
GM’s vehicle delivery structure is designed around shipping large volumes of cars to large dealerships. For the brands like Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, GMC, and Saturn they are used to sending out bulk shipments of cars in various trim levels according to what the dealer thinks they can sell, not based on the exact desires of the consumer.
The domestic premium brands like Cadillac and Hummer even work this way, their repeat buyers are by and large older, and their first-time buyers tend also to be first-time luxury car buyers. Neither of these groups are particularly accustomed to custom-ordering a car to their exact desires, they just walk on the lot and buy what the salesman has for them.
Now the problem for Saab is that Saab isn’t competing against the other American brands, it’s competing against BMW, Audi, Mercedes and now Infiniti, Acura, and Lexus. These brands, for all their faults, have gone to great great lengths to build up their images as premium luxury brands the European vein, part of which includes building cars to suit custom-orders from consumers. And as others have said here from talking to the other guy’s dealers, they are very, very good at it.
I don’t think that this will be a long-term problem for Saab, but I do think that GM is going to have some teething problems adapting to this kind of ordering structure, and it’s a damn shame that the Turbo X had to be the guinea pig for GM’s first serious attempt at European-style luxury car custom pre-orders.
Although financial reimbursement from GM for a botched Turbo X order is a great way to offset the sticker shock from one of these puppies.
I understand the context of this article and how it could impact the rollout of this flagship vehicle. But I have to raise another issue (again): How can i feel bad for any of these customers who *have* this car already, when my local dealership can’t even give me basic info on the Turbo X. I’ve visited this dealership multiple times. Left contact info multiple times. And multiple times been let down by uninformed/uninterested salesman. The availability dates keep moving back month to month. One guy didn’t even realize this car only came in one color. Seriously, he tried to discuss color options on a black only car. I left befuddled.
For those of you who somehow got to order one: Thank your lucky stars.
The following is a reply i got from Saab USA in response to a complaint letter. Two things surprised me in it: 1. Only some dealerships could pre-order (why??? how dumb); 2. All dealership have up to date product info (ya right)
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Thank you for contacting Saab and your interest in the 2008 9-3 Turbo X Limited Edition. We appreciate the time you have taken to write us.
We apologize for any frustration or dissatisfaction regarding availability of the Turbo X. According to our information, the vehicle is scheduled to be available May 2008. Please keep in mind, because this is a Limited Edition, not all dealers will be able to pre-order or have the allotment for this vehicle. Dealers have the most up-to-date and accurate information regarding when they will receive any Turbo X vehicles. In addition, they may know where other vehicles are in the area. There can be many reasons your local dealer was not forthcoming with helpful information. We suggest that you contact the new vehicle sales manager or general manager. Or you may prefer to contact another dealership. We note that there are four additional dealerships within 235 miles of your zip code. They are:
(edit: dealerships removed)
alex i am going to have to disagree about the comments you have on the ordering system gm has. as cadillac did an awesome job when it came to ordering our car to our spec. we were one of the first to order the new engine in the cts with the new transmission. none of the dealers in houston had the car with that engine. they even sent us pics of our car on the assembly line on each step in the process. i dont see saab doing anything like this when you order their limited halo car. whenever we order our car we have always gotten our cars perfectly specd. the reasons you put about how they send bulk shipments and how buyers dont care is far from the truth. a person who is spending their hard earned money on a cobalt will care as much as a person who spends their money on a turbo x. im not sure whether it has to do that we are ordering domestically and the saab orders are international, i just dont buy blame gm for everything that goes wrong.
alex i am going to have to disagree about the comments you have on the ordering system gm has. as cadillac did an awesome job when it came to ordering our car to our spec. we were one of the first to order the new engine in the cts with the new transmission. none of the dealers in houston had the car with that engine. they even sent us pics of our car on the assembly line on each step in the process. i dont see saab doing anything like this when you order their limited halo car. whenever we order our car we have always gotten our cars perfectly specd. the reasons you put about how they send bulk shipments and how buyers dont care is far from the truth. a person who is spending their hard earned money on a cobalt will care as much as a person who spends their money on a turbo x. im not sure whether it has to do that we are ordering domestically and the saab orders are international, i just dont buy blame gm for everything that goes wrong.
Just wondering: if the ’system’ lets a missing Satnav to pass to the customer, what other less visible faults will get through ?
You are all lucky. Saab hasn’t been delivered any ordered TurboX to Russia. No one. GM says we don’t know when they will made its cars… may be in the and of summer.
“and right now, their system isn’t doing its job.”, you say in the article.
What do you mean “right now”?
1. Three years ago, my brother bought a 9-5 that came with the wrong interior colour. The dealer blamed the factory, and wanted my brother to accept the delivery without compensation (!). After a price compensation, he finally did.
2. I bought a 9-5 in November 2007. It came with the wrong rims and included a passenger airbag that I specifically did not want. The dealer checked his order (and showed it to me), and the order was correct according to what I specified. The problem was easily fixed, but irritating.
So this is nothing new.
Scary that it continues.
I seem to recall reading about somebody that went to pick up a 9-3 on the EDP awhile back, and they tried to deliver to him a car without a sunroof…which is an impossible thing to get, as all US Spec Saabs (As of that model year) came standard equipped with Sunroof.
In my life I ordered 4 times an Opel and three times a Saab. All exactly to my wishes. “built to order” In all times I got the car just as I had ordered it.
Maybe we should all wait with the bashing on the ordering system until someone gave us a decent explanation about what went wrong.
BTW, I can’t imagine that it is a big problem when a car comes without the factory fitted satnav. I suppose any dealer can install the system.
GM was actually way ahead of the game in the 1960’s and 1970’s as far as custom builds were concerned. In fact, that is one of the reasons for the US auto industry’s collapse at the end of the 1970’s. While GM/Ford/Chrysler offered cars with millions of possible permutations (sometimes there were more possible permutations than the number of cars being built), the Japanese brands offered two or three trim packages and left everything else as dealer options.
As it turns out, the Japanese system is way more efficient and has been copied by every mass-manufacturer since.
I am guessing that the problem lies in the integration of Saab’s ordering system with GM’s ordering system. The short-term solution is to have someone in Detroit email a copy of each special order, and have someone in Trollhattan verify that the right information is in the system. It sucks, but you only need to catch one major mistake a week to have the manual verification pay for itself.
Until this is fixed, it may be a good bet to order your Saab with minimal options. You may end-up winning big at the options lottery!
I wonder if I should order some Turbo-X trim piece, just in case I accidentally get the whole car?
BLACKTURBO, I have a couple you can choose from.