Saab USA sales - April 2008
Next years sales figures are going to totally kick a$$!! They can’t do anything but kick a$$ when they’re going to be compared to this year’s sales.
I mentioned a week ago that the best performing regions in the US had only sold around 40% of their month’s target by the time 66% of the month had passed them by. Yes, those were the best performing regions. They all got their usual scramble on by the end of the month and the end result was better, but not encouraging.
SaabUSA sold 1,580 vehicles during April, which was massive 32.8% fall from the same month last year, when they sold 2,350 vehicles.
Intotal, Saab sales in the US are down 17.6% this year so far. They’ve sold 8,048 vehicles so far, compared with 9,770 from Jan-Apr in 2007. This isn’t a good thing in a climate where the Chief Financial Officer of GM is saying that the only thing keeping all eight GM brands together in the US is the prohibitive cost of casting one or two off.
Individual model sales were as follows:
Saab 9-3: there were 1,098 units of the 9-3 sold in April, compared with 1,738 last year. That’s a fall of 36.8% for Saab’s volume seller. Thank goodness the Turbo X’s and XWD Aeros are coming soon (the first XWD Aeros have landed!)
Saab 9-5: The Saab 9-5 actually saw a sales RISE in April, with 260 units being sold this month compared with 250 last April. A modest rise of 4%, but good to see some life in the old girl.
Saab 9-7x: SUV sales are tanking all across America and the Saab 9-7x is no exception. There were 222 units of the Saab 9-7x sold in April, compared with 353 in the same month last year. That’s a rather massive fall of 37.1% for what has been Saab’s second-best selling vehicle for the last 2 years. Note: it was outsold by the Saab 9-5 this month.
——
Obviously, there’s a combination of factors here.
Near-zero marketing for most of the month. The economic conditions in the US. The second best-selling vehicle in the range being part of class of vehicles that’s taking a battering due to rising fuel prices.
I think there’s also a core group of Saab buyers who are holding off for XWD, which isn’t helping either, though I can well understand their wanting to do so. The sensible ones (if they haven’t bought a Turbo X already) will hold off all the way to 2009, when SaabUSA offer a real desireable backage for the XWD Aero, as well as the XWD 2.0T.
Until then, it’s just a matter of hanging in there. Dealers, you have my sympathy and some real hopes for better days ahead.
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Well, it must be a difficult equation.
For GM, a $ spent on advertising other brands manufactured in northamerica is a better investment than spending it on something that is manufactured at an exchange rate far less than favourable. Adv money on saab is better spent in europe right now until the 94 will hit the road.
I wonder how much effect the XWD etc will have but i do not think it will be alot. the big thing will be the cross country version (heard that the volvo dealer in toronto sold more XC70s than V70s). Also this will be spot on in a market that are complaining about higher gas prices + given the low numbers of 9-3SC sales the model still feels fresh in my opinion.
Also, part of the problem is that the prices have not moved that much, but I think the germans have reduced theirs.
Anyway, 1500 cars in a country with 300 M inhabitants is not something to be proud of.
Btw, found this review in the largest Cdn newspaper… Rather good review but he thinks the car is a little to expensive (and bland styling).
http://www.globeauto.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080501.wh-Saab93-0501/GAStory/specialGlobeAuto/home
Canadian sales (or lack there of). 140 cars sold, down from 198 PY on a market that increased by 3.7%
http://www.desrosiers.ca/Monthly%20Updates/sales.pdf
Yikes! Well, it shouldn’t be too surprising with the economic conditions in the US right now.
If there is a 2.0T version of the 9-3 that has XWD, bluetooth and iPod controls, mark me down in a couple of years…
After inheriting a small fortune, a co-worker of mine was looking for a car for her son who is about to start college. My first thought was to send her to Classic Saab of Mentor. A good used car could be had for under $15,000 at the moment. I’ve seen some nicely priced Saabs on their used lot.
Unfortunately, she was more interested in a Japanese car. Practically speaking, she was more interested in finding a car that would hold its value and be reliable over the long haul. Despite my best attempts, she ended up with a 2008 Mazda3 — bland, boring, and underpowered (I drove it today).
Her reasons were valid. Toyota and Honda do hold their value better than Saab. But I still believe that had they taken a Saab for a test drive, they may have changed their minds. The question remains, “How do I get them to test drive a Saab?”
Oh my God; another 18 months of this?
GM screwed the pooch when they froze all development 2 -3 years ago.
Subaru’s 2008 AWD lineup is selling well in the US, so maybe Saab can expect an uptick when the XWD arrives. However, aside from TTiD, Saab has nothing on hand now to address the growing demand for greater fuel efficiency. Sure would be nice to have a diesel option to build some excitement in 2009.
9-7X is in short supply in the NorthEast and NorthCentral due to the plant being down the last two months during the American Axle strike……. otherwise it would easily have beat last year’s April total.
wait dumb question, but did they push back the 9-3 xwd aero to 2009(U.S)? tell me it aint so…..
alteon, the AeroXWD will be available in 2008, but it’ll be much better buying in 2009.
For 2008, you can’t get the car equipped with the eLSD, which is the heart of why the XWD system is so good. In 2009, we’ve been told that the eLSD will be available. I believe it will actually come standard in 2009, but should check my facts before saying that is definite (i.e. it being standard on XWD).
Also, in MY2009, the XWD system will become available on the 2.0T.
My assertion in the post is that a number of educated Saab shoppers will be waiting for those two things - either the full XWD system on the 09 Aero or for XWD to become available on the 2.0T.
Andy,
if you compare a used saab that is 2-3 years old to a new mazda 3 i think that the saab would hold its value better (comparing 2 new cars is a different story).
Probably, the best newer used cars you can by is the one with large depreciation - there will simply be less room for further fall.
And with Mazda, yes it might be zoom zoom and broom broom and all of that but its still not a golf….
Think the general misstake people do is that the let the value decrease carry over to the used car preventing them from buying a used one when it should really be the opposite in my opinion.
alteon, we have the xwd aeros right now at our store http://www.lehmansaab.com.
Oh really? Odd that you would have them in stock when none of the larger dealers in the S.E. Pa,South Jersey market are within 2 weeks of seeing their first.Also your website does’nt make mention of in-stock availibility…..strange?
Perhaps more important that the “waiting for XWD” factor is the simple rebate/incentives issue. Rebates were substantial in March for the 9-3, and sales were good. Rebates were scaled way back in April, and sales were bad. The consumer is not dumb. Why buy in April if rebates are coming back in August? This car needs to have near-constant rebates or simply needs to be re-priced a bit. Right?
In the N.E. region leasing has to account for at least 75% of Saabs sales.I’ts been that way for every one of my 15 years with Saab….The current 9-3 lease,$299 plus tax with $2,999.00 at inception plus taxes tags and any other applicable state fees on a base model 6 speed manual trans,no options car puts us in such a non competitive position with our direct Euro competitors as to make selling a matter of alchemy as opposed to us vs. them product and price advantage.Sales have been down every month of the 2008 model year.G.M.’S seeming acceptance of this situation is a source of real concern to me as a Saab sales rep.Is the committment to the product line continuing in the U.S. really there or are we on the way to being a Euro market only brand?
I wonder how the XWD drive system will do when chained to the 2.0T engine. It would seem like a more logical choice if the 2.0T was the direct injected version that we use here in the U.S. market on the Cobalt/Sky etc. That additional weight might affect the fuel economy of the 2.0T and fuel economy is really becoming the focus of the U.S. driver.
Andy – the Mazda 3 is possibly one of the more boring cars on the road, however the ‘speed’ version is sort of intriguing. That is a monster motor for that little car, and it tends to get good reviews overall.
As always swade, thanks for the prompt and detailed response. i would wait for 09, but the lease is up on my daily mule in august. my wife doesnt let go of our 07 2.0T no matter how creative i get, and my viggen should not be subject to my daily abuse in its current pampered state. i could wait for the 09 model…bah decisions….
Saab needs to cut it’s monthly lease rates by $50-100, and they need to slash their prices by $3k-5k.
Like Swade has said, the 9-3 is still a perfectly good car for the needs of most people, and it’s a highly underrated car in it’s market segment.
Unfortunately, the 9-3 is simply not priced competitively. While the 9-3 2.0T would be a fantastic bargain at a base MSRP of ~$26k USD, it’s just not competitive when it’s base price is the same as the better-built A4 2.0T. Likewise the 9-3 Aero XWD at ~$39k just isn’t competitive with the 335i, G35, and IS350. Now slash the price of the FWD Aero to ~$33k and the XWD Aero to ~$35k and suddenly Saab becomes one of the best bang/buck deals in it’s segment.
Now it may not make quite as much money up front for GM, but look at it this way:
When you factor in the thousands of dollars that GM slashes off the cars in incentives, these new MSRP’s would simply reflect the cost of the cars with the incentives already factored in. I’m sure GM wouldn’t add in those incentives if they didn’t still make money for the company, so they would still likely be making money on the cars. Furthermore, it sends the message to consumers that Saab is all about giving the buyer a great value for their money, rather than sending the message that Saab needs to load up it’s cars with incentives to get them off the lots.
Secondly, this helps dealerships to clear out their inventories. I’ve seen plenty of local Saab dealerships with a large backlog of unsold 2008 models. Right now those models sitting on the lots are just losing money for the dealerships, and with the 09 models fast approaching, time is running out when it comes to moving this inventory. Re-pricing would help the dealerships clear out their 2008 inventory and turn those money-losing unsold cars into money-making new cars with their money-making service appointments.
As the incentives and their resulting sales spikes have proven, it’s not that buyers don’t want to buy Saabs, it’s just that they don’t want to buy them at their current asking prices. The entry-luxury segment is such a competitive one that a price drop of $2-3000 can make a tremendous difference in how competitive a model is. I would be very surprised if lowering MSRP’s didn’t make a big, big, difference in Saab sales.