There’s not much to write about this evening, but here’s a few interesting tidbits…

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Previous announcements about the Saab 9-5 showing at the Geneva Motor Show in 2009 were based on representatives hearing this at a recent GM dealer conference in Germany.

It’s not that there was any doubt about this at all, but it was good to get it confirmed via an internal GM email this week that happened to get diverted across my desk.

To the good folks at GM Europe: Geneva’s awfully difficult for accommodation. Please book me a spot now, ok

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ctm’s passed along an interesting bit of analysis, which I think has come from the Dagens Industri story about Volvo’s recent concerns about being sold, etc…. there’s some Saab stuff in that story, too, an apparently it’s all very positive (good to hear).

Saab sold around 130,000 vehicles last year, which were made using the services of around 4,700 employees. That equates to around 28 vehicles sold per employee.

Volvo, on the other hand, sold around 450,000 vehicles using the services of 25,000 employees in production. That’s closer to 18 vehicles per employee. Audi come in at a similar ratio.

What this means is that Saab’s operating on a very, very lean structure and with so much in the pipeline, the people at Saab are actually pretty optimistic about their prospects for the future (as long as the corporate mothership stays afloat).

Good to hear.

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SaabUSA are nominated for an Outstanding Interactive Ad Award in a set of LGBT awards called the Images In Advertising Awards.

This is a raw front screen of the ad campaign in question, though I’m not sure how the rest of the campaign played out.

I’m really hooked into advertising at the moment and may have to do an ad-intensive series in the near future. SaabUSA were filming in the rural US recently, so they’ll have some new ads to look at. It’d be good to do so with an educated eye.

You up for it?

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A fresh shot of the Saab Mavic SportCombi in Philadelphia recently. Thanks Jeremy.

There’s more shots here.

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Tomorrow I jump on a plane and head off to Melbourne where I, along with a bunch of people from the Saab Car Club of Australia, will be driving the Turbo X and the TTiD at Holden’s proving grounds in south-east Victoria.

I’ve been given some reasonably rare permission to bring my cameras along, so there should be some TTiD coverage for you a few days later.

The drive is on Saturday. The night before, on Friday, it looks like the Aussie contingent from the Saab Festival last year will be getting together. Even Brendan’s driving down from Sydney for the weekend!

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