I know that just about everybody who visits this site on a regular basis would agree with the premise that Saab have been overlooked and underfunded in the last 10-15 years. Some of that is self-inflicted and some of it is the fault of the corporate parent.

Whatever the origin, though, it can’t be ignored that Saab were pioneers in turbocharging, getting more from less and providing exceedingly utilitarian vehicles in the process. In 2008, that last sentence describes what most car-makers are aiming for, so is it now Saab’s time?

It should be. But with a corporate parent like GM, who knows?

Steve Shannon gave a state-of-Saab presentation to various interested parties at a Saab dealership in Los Angeles last week. Motor Trend provided some coverage of that event and now seems as good a time as any to tease out what they discovered and what would be ideal for Saab, and for the GM mothership, moving forward into the future.

For as long as this site’s been on the air I’ve been saying that GM should pour more investment money into Saab to grow the brand, especially in Europe where there’s so much unrealised potential. The brand has a history of small-but-powerful engines. Given that the price of fuel is only going up, it makes complete sense.

I remember reading one individual at SaabCentral some time ago saying that Saab should be GM’s primary focus due to the nature of the brand and the capability they had for growth. Whilst I was definitely cheering from the sidelines, we all knew that that wasn’t going to happen.

I still don’t think it’s going to happen, but it appears to be more logical than ever in 2008. GM’s current circumstances and actions might just be showing that it’s coming to fruition, too.

A few dot points first, then we can draw it all together.

1) Alberta shows the way

In Alberta, Canada, they’re extracting oil from sands that were left dormant for years because the cost of extraction was too expensive. Now that the price of OPEC oil has gone up so much, the cost of refining the oil sands is much less prohibitive and the Canadians have a viable oil industry on their hands.

Where’s the connection?

When oil was cheap, GM tied itself to the high-margin SUV cash cow. I’ve not looked into it, but they probably had more trucks in their range than cars at some point. I wouldn’t be surprised. That was then, this is now.

GM can’t use that model anymore and they know it. They’ve recently annouced a slow-down in SUV production and stated quite clearly that the future of the HUMMER brand is being reconsidered. There’s rumours about GM shutting down another brand like they did with Oldsmobile some years ago and whilst some are nervous that that brand might be Saab, I’ll lay odds that it’s most likely GMC that’s threatened. Maybe Pontiac.

The point of all this? Now that oil and fuel efficiency are at a premium, Saab has some real currency with GM. They’ve been allowed to dwindle and they don’t have the range topping efficiency that Saabs used to have, but they have pretty good numbers and plenty of great experience to draw on.

2) Learn from the past, work for the future*

Motor Trend’s article starts with the following:

After unsuccessful attempts by its GM masters to repackage vehicles in the form of the 9-7X (upscale Chevy TrailBlazer) and 9-2X (Subaru WRX clone), Saab is attempting to re-focus its brand’s cachet by drawing on its core principles of quirky yet attractive styling, highly efficient turbocharged powertrains, and its distinct aerospace heritage.

GM tried to do the GM thing with Saab twice already and hopefully they’ve realised that it didn’t work. They’ve admitted as much about the 9-2x in recent times, but the 9-7x is still selling, so I’m sure we won’t hear anything about that any time soon. As good as these vehicles were (and technically, they are/were great motor vehicles) they just weren’t Saabs in the purist sense.

If GM want to get the best value out their Swedish brand, they’ve got to build real Swedish Saabs with Saab brand values designed into the core of the vehicle. Being a Saab should be a point of difference, not just a point of identity.

3) It’s time to go to college

Whenever I’ve talked about my dislike for Cadillac in Europe with one of SaabUSA’s staffers, he always uses the college analogy. It goes like this: GM has a bunch of kids and all of them will get to college eventually, but it costs money and time and they can’t all benefit from it at once.

Whilst I understand the analogy, I’ve always maintained that the career path GM was choosing for its kids was misguided. They were putting too much into Fredo and ignoring Michael (I get the feeling that Sonny’s HUMMER brand is pulling up to the toll booth right about….. now).

GM have a cash-burn problem and to pour heaps of cash into an inefficient brand (Caddy) to expand it into a market that doesn’t like it, nor accept it (Europe) is just plain ludicrous. Even more so when you consider that GM have a premium brand with some market acceptance in Europe, one that’s been withering on the vine for years.

GM’s financial injection into Cadillac for Europe is something you do when things are going really, really well. It’s gravy. It’s not the foundation for what they should be doing in Europe, it’s the icing on the cake (should the cake ever get made).

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Tying these things together….

Saab have a new 9-5 on the way. They have a 9-4x SUV on the way. They have a revolutionary all-wheel-drive system coming online right now. They have a brilliant twin-turbo diesel in Europe. They have a decision to make the next generation Saab 9-3 in Sweden on a smaller architecture. We’ve been told that they also have hybrid technology on the way, too.

Seeing all of that in one paragraph, it looks like maybe Saab are starting their college education, finally.

GM need to develop more fuel efficient vehicles and they also need to bring a refined European brand to market and promote the daylights out of it so that they can build margins that make it sustainable. Saab can fit the bill on both counts - fuel economy and premium European. All they need is continued investment and the promotional support that GM have given to all their other brands over the years.

It is very, very possible that Saab could become a beacon for GM, if only they allow it to happen. Distinctive design, great use of technology and sustainable development for increasingly fuel conscious times.

There’d be no better vehicle for that than a Saab 9-1, by they way, and that vehicle is yet to receive the green light.

If GM are looking to build on potential - as opposed to building despite a heap of inherent baggage - then it’s time for them to cast aside their US-centric vision of what Saab should look like (the 9-2x and 9-7x experiment, subservience to Cadillac in Europe, etc) and allow it to spread its wings.

Here’s hoping.

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* And if you know the early-80s rap song from which the title to point 2 is taken, then kudos to you. Hint: the line appears in the title track to a movie soundtrack.