Thursday Snippets
Still off with the flu. Am in DVD-watching mode. Today it’s Charlie Wilson’s War.
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When I write about it (back on June 19), it’s a rumour. Now Automotive News cover it, it’s a fact.
General Motors, citing the weak U.S. dollar, is ending its 7 percent employee discount on the Saab 9-3 sedan for the 2009 model year…..a Detroit area dealer who asked not to be identified says employee discounts account for nearly 40 percent of his annual sales.
The trials of being just a blogger.
Thanks Los Jalops
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Time for some Swedish product news for 2009….
Saab 9-3: As some have observed from different photos floating around, there are a new set of roof-rails (from the BLS) in chrome finish that will be available. The black (old-version) rails will only be optional for the Linear-model.
The Aero range for 2009 will consist of the the 2.8 V6 with 280hp, with both XWD and FWD available and the 1.9 TTiD. In addition there will also be an Aero trim available for the 2.0t BioPower! Saab has declared that in the future all high-performance engines in each fuel-class will be available in Aero trim.
Saab 9-5: The Aero-range will consist of the 2.3T 260 HP version, as well as the all new 2.3t 210 HP BioPower Aero.
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Some more 2009 info from Djup Strupe, who’s recently had a brief stint behind the wheel of a 2.0T with XWD.
He said it was a firm test-pilot favourite. Whilst it doesn’t have the full-tilt power or the sweet noise of the V6, it’s got plenty of zip and being a bit lighter, it was a LOT of fun to drive with less understeer and a little more agility than the Turbo X.
I still think making the eLSD unavailable for the 2.0T is a mistake, but I also think there’s going to be a lot to like about this setup. It can’t come soon enough.
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It’d be somewhat akin to Nero fiddling if I were to carry on blogging about Saabs and didn’t mention the drop in GM’s stock price today.
Merryll Lynch made some negative remarks about GM and as a result, GM stock fell below $10 for the first time in a bazillion years as the market got nervous. The sharks are circling. Farago’s now reminding me of the Darkseeker leader at the end of I Am Legend, such is his single-mindedness towards GM’s destruction.
Yep, there’s trouble out there, all right. But I don’t think it’s the end right now. Not at all. Not for GM, at least. If something’s going to give, it’s going to be Chrysler. They have no money, no real and vested management interest and most importantly - no product at all.
GM have to get smarter and get tough to ride this one out and they’ve GOT to put aside the crap culture that saw them relying on an unsustainable model mix all these years. They’ve had their own butts handed to them by their competition from Asia and if they don’t take heed then they really do deserve to go down.
But I think there’s enough brain cells in the board room to realise this and I’m sure they already do. It’s a big ship they’re trying to turn around here. It isn’t going to be done in one short period.
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Saab is so used to operating lean, I am sure they willbe able to ride this out. EVERYONE is doing poorly at this time. Audi, Volvo all have e-mailed me to come on in and let’s take that
Saab from you and put you into some newer metal…
For what it is worth, I have been getting a good amount of mail from Saab. First the Saab Magazine, (it’s been a while, thought they stopped it in the US.) Then I get a new “welcome package on my CPO convertible.
I have had it six months… Received a new Saab catalogue as well. Also got a few dealer newsletters. It gives you that PREMIUM feel.
BMW calls CAFE not feasible… Does Saab have any feasible vehicles? Like possibly the 9-1? Or the 1.9TTiD?
Yeah, those could really help GM in the near future.
NineTwoX - BMW says CAFE isn’t feasible because they’re jerks who don’t sell their low-power cars here because they want to keep their “premium” image.
I don’t think Chrysler is going to survive this. They’re already limping (merger of equals, my ass), and there’s no way they can turn three marques around with no money and a parent who is just looking to offload them to make a little cash. I’ll be sad to see Mopar go, I really will. Hopefully, someone (probably Tata, since they’re buying damn near everything these days) snaps up Jeep. Maybe GM can buy them as a replacement for Hummer and make them a little more green.
So there won’t be a 2.0T XWD with Aero trim like for the U.S-market for Sweden? I am on the verge of producing crocodile-tears now….
GM is in big trouble:
Dow closes in bear market territory; GM shares fall to below $10
By Tim Paradis - Associated Press
Article Launched: 07/02/2008 01:13:23 PM PDT
NEW YORK - The rising price of oil has sent Wall Street falling sharply once again. Crude oil reached a new record above $144 a barrel, stirring fresh concerns in the stock market about inflation pressures on the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average is officially ending in bear market territory, having fallen more than 20 percent from its highs in October. The blue chips ended the session down 166 points at the 11,215 level, hitting their lowest close since August 2006.
Beyond oil, General Motors fell after a bearish analyst report. The stock fell more than 15 percent on the day.
Shares of General Motors have closed below $10 for the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president of the United States.
The shares have ended the day at $9.98, down 15.1 percent, their lowest since Sept. 13, 1954.
Detroit-based General Motors is suffering from lagging sales and concerns over its cash position.
I hope I’m not repeating this info but in the UK the Aero 2.0T XWD will have the eLSD as standard. The premium over the FWD is £1,700 and production starts end of September.
Jeff - What I was trying to get at is that Saab/GM has nothing to lose bringing those type of cars here but a lot they can gain with it.
Saab doesn’t have to worry about losing their image bringing them over. It could be like a new beginning for them.
Swade, in one of my last comments I add the Autonews.com article about the 2009 end of the Saab USA discounts.
regards
Looks like my local Boston area dealer who is number 3 in sales in the US (behind 2 Detriot area dealers) is going to valut to the top in 2009.
eLSD or not, the XWD 2.0T is going to sell like hot cakes in New England.
Apologies if I missed that, Eduard.
And Cerulaen, that’s great news. I hope it goes extremely well there.
Swade you don’t need to apalogize, I only said it, becuase you can have the entire article.
Another thing………..Merryll Lynch consider that GM could be in bankruptcy soon.
Good way for the GM 100 years.
regards
I always liked the aero-looks, but wantend a more reasonable engine. after thinking about it for about a year, I ordered a Vector 2,o t Biopower last week. And my local dealer didn’t tell me about the aero-option, but it’s on since 4th juNE! So I called him today and he told me I could not change…
With all the bad GM finanacials, I just can’t help but worry that the reason we’ve seen no 2010 9-5 spy shots is that the car has been shelved. How does GM postpone development of the new Saturn Aura and continue with the 9-5? I’m worried for Saab in this economic downturn, especially with the dollar taking a beating.
I don’t like TTAC but in this case Fargo is certainly justified in his Deathwatch saga.
I would guess that GM are weak enough for another company to take over. However they are about as attractive as a single mother with 10 kids ready to eat you out of house and home.
But this isn’t family ties and business is business. So If any company sees a potential on one of GM’s brands right now then I guess GM would quite happily off load them.
I remember the Lutzter saying Saab is to GM as eggs are to an omelette. He implied that GM can no longer take the eggs back out of the pan. My view is that Trollhättan is still active with Graz not being GM owned and the only intergration at present is central administration.
I would say the eggs have been cracked but there’s nothing stopping them being put in a different pan.
A good discussion point would be who could release the potential that Saab holds and how detrimental would a sell off of the brand ultimately be?
Montsaab,
The differences between the Saturn Aura and the 9-5 are
a) the 9-5 will be built in Germany alongside its Opel sister, so marginal costs are minimal.
b) Saturn hasn’t had much success selling larger cars, so prospects for the Aura were dim at best even without the collapse of the US market.
I think that we haven’t seen any 9-5 spy shots simply because the 9-5 mules look exactly like Opels. Hopefully the same can not be said about the production car.
Swade, there MIGHT be enough brain cells left in the board room but the CASH is going, and very fast. When GMAC falls, which is apparently inevitable, GM is destined to follow. They just didn’t have the right products at the right time because they surfed the truck/SUV wave to long. Tomorrow is going to be too late to catch the new small efficient car wave. The ex-big three just don’t Fit, pardon the pun, into the new equation and there resources will have run out before they can change course. Ironically, The Chevy (Daewoo) Aveo was just judged the cheapest car to own and operate by, I forget who. Will try to trace back the link
I think Peter De Lorenzo was probably right saying all GM will be able to salvage in NA is Chevrolet and Cadillac. Sad.
What I found pretty unbelievable in the last sales number is that Saab has declined as much as Hummer. But then, as I have been saying for ages, you can sell the same car to the same people, only so many times.
I never really understood why GM offered the same vehicle but in 3 different flavours. IMO, they should have fixed this a long time ago.
That’s too bad about the employee pricing–it’s what got me into my first Saab instead of a Volvo, and now I’m hooked. Hopefully they’ll bring it back and catch some more converts …
@ NineTwoX: It seems from my reading that the reason GM offers three or four of the same badge-engineered model is because of the division of dealerships. For example, Chevy dealers have the Cobalt. Pontiac dealers complain because they don’t have an economy car, and are losing sales to the Chevy dealer across the street. Result: slap a new nose on the Cobalt and call it the G5. Instead of having a one-stop-GM-shop, the decentralization makes for unhappy dealers and cannibalized sales.