Back home snippets
Air travel is almost too high a toll to pay in order to experience newlands and the warmth of extended family. It took us 28 hours door-to-door to get back from Vancouver.
We had an awesome time there and hopefully it won’t take us another 4 years to get back there, but it’s nice to be home. The dog was pleased as punch to see us (though probably not half as pleased as I was to see her), and tonight I’ve got the final edition of The Footy Show to look forward to prior to going to to bed and sleeping for a long, long time.
My own bed…..Mmmmmmm
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Lots of Saaby news going on. Here are the links and some brief comments.
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Saab USA has been operating on a shoestring advertising budget for a few years now and this week comes the great news that GM are going to cut back on all advertising across the board.
To be expected, I suppose.
General Motors plans to cut its digital-media budget after dramatically increasing it in the past few years, the automaker’s North American marketing chief told Advertising Age.
In his first interview detailing wide-ranging cuts expected at the automaker, which lost $15 billion in the last quarter, Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing, said GM “is going to pull back slightly in all media types” in 2009, noting that the company’s U.S. media partners are helping it become more effective.
That’s from Automotive News, for subscribers only.
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Channel Four in the UK report that Saab are hell bent on making a convertible based on the mechanism not-yet-shown on the Saab 9-X Air to replace the 9-3 convertible…….in 4 or 5 years time.
The mechanism hasn’t been shown yet due to Saab chasing a patent on the way it works. Hopefully they’ll sort that out prior to the Paris Motor Show as it’d be a shame to have the car there and not be able to show its party trick.
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Here’s the patent application. Make of it what you will.
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After expeditions into the worlds of Jaguar and BMW (the BMW 6er was downed by hurricane Ike), it gives me great pleasure to welcome Andy Rupert back into the worldwide family of Saab owners.
Your wife is a wise woman, Andy.
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Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald take an interesting first look at the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero.
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And in other news from Sydey…..
You all know my mate Richo, right? Owner of a celebrated and much discussed 9-3 Viggen with a brand new motor and partner in crime for motor show videos.
He’s just bought a BMW.
I’m still distraught, but am coming to accept it. It all happened while I was away, so I’m not totally familiar with what he’s picked up, but apparently the Viggen is still in his hands and he’s still enjoying a burst of turbo power a few times a week, though the car is on the market.
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And in other news from Sydney, I’m hoping to post an owner’s review from TS commenter and prolific email target, Joe Lobo.
Keep an eye out, and Jose, I need pictures!!
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There’s nothing new in this review of the Turbo X, but it’s worth linking just bacause of the first line:
The secret to a great Saab is to let the Swedes do their own thing.
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It’s not Saab related, but Pete De Lorenzo’s look at BMW on Auto Extremist this week is not to be missed.
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Go well, people.
See you tomorrow, when hopefully there’ll be more to talk about, and some photos to show.
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They are coming soon !!! As soon as in a week or so as Richo promissed to bring his photo gear over the weekend.
STCC: First pictures of new S2000 Saab 93 BioPower
The new S2000 manufacturer for the Swedish Touring Car Championship has been revealed: Saab. A brand new Saab 93 BioPower has been build in S2000 specification by the team Dealer Sport. STCC race winner Jens Edman completed a shakedown of the car two days ago at Saab’s test track in Trollhättan, Sweden.
http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=2735
Welcome back Swadey.
Good to be back in Tassie.
From Matt, Danni the pants and the new mighty Quinn, Sally.
The patent application shows that the two rear pillars are movable. Neat.
I was wondering how this would look with all the windows down but the pillars still sticking up…
If they have found a way to retract the pillars as well, then this is surely the cleverest roof system out there bar none - folding hard tops included.
Wow. Mind has been moved. Mission accomplished.
Re the SMH article - “The TTiD is up against the cheaper, rear-wheel-drive BMW 320d and Mercedes-Benz 220 CDI.”
At least in the UK the pricing is more in Saab’s favour. A C220CDi Sport is £370 plus VAT a month to lease, and a 320d M Sport is £425 plus VAT. The same website shows the TTiD Aero at a rather more reasonable £280 plus VAT.
That’s why I was unable to find the patent in the wipo; “GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC”, but the inventors are Swedish people from Saab.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
regards
Here you have the mosaics.
http://v3.espacenet.com/textdraw?DB=EPODOC&IDX=EP1882606&F=0&QPN=EP1882606
regards
Oh my god the pillars retract
“The secret to a great Saab is to let the Swedes do their own thing.”
I’ve been saying this for a few years now.
Amen!
interesting rant on AE. More companies should pay attention to this way of thinking. Less can equal more, bigger is not better.
Yep, Swade…. the camera gear is coming out this weekend as we (Hawkeye, Lobo, and I) drive up for a weekend of……. not sure. In any case, I’ll get some good shots of the TX and a smiling Jose and I’m sure you’ve already read his substantial review.
…and alas Swade… here she is
thanks edusaab
amazing
thanks edusaab
Hey Swade
Welcome back to Oz. I feel your pain with the travel. I’m currently in Indonesia visiting my extended family and am craving a nice piece of quiet open road with my foot planted firmly on the pedal and letting that turbo in my ‘02 9-3SE loose once again! Crawling along in traffic in Jakarta is agonizing to experience when I know what I’m missing back home in Canada!
Really glad to hear that you did have a great time in beautiful British Columbia. It is a place I’m quite fond of taking long drives - either in the Saab or on my motorcycle. And lucky you gets to spin around in a new bit of kit from Dueck Saab! Nice work man. Very well done and very well reported as well.
Cheers,
Richard