News came through today that GM are closing their SUV plant in Moraine, Ohio, two years ahead of schedule. The doors will close for good on December 23.
This is significant for Saab as the Saab 9-7x is built in Moraine. Like it or loathe it, it’s Saab’s second best selling model in the US and the loss of revenue if stocks run out will be a blow for SaabUSA.
I’ve written to SaabUSA seeking some more info, and will post it if and when it arrives.
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Here’s a good interview with Ed Wellburn, GM’s Vice President, Global Design.
Thanks to Sven for the link!
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I’ve noted a few comments about people attending the Geneva Motor Show next year and being willing to cover the 9-5’s showing there (or what we believe to be the 9-5’s showing there at this point in time) on behalf of TS.
Unfortunately for those concerned, I’ve already had discussions with a couple of past TS contributors about attending and it looks like that issue is sorted. As TS will be limited to one or maybe two passes, the allocation is now considered to be full.
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Saab concepts have been very well received in recent years, with the Saab Aero-X and 9-X BioHybrid both winning Best in Show awards at their respective Geneva Motor Shows.
Here’s some ominous words from Autoweek when discussing their Best in Show award for the Paris Motor Show, however:
…..or Saab’s impressive 9-X Air concept, which lost points because few of Saab’s impressive concepts ever translate into things you can buy.
The award was won by Lamborghini for their Estoque four-door.
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You can’t go to WAR with the USA on the back your car in Sweden. You can’t join the PKK or ETA. There’ll be no XXX or SEX, either, though you can have a F#K there if you want.
Here are some notes about acceptable three-letter combinations for Swedish number plates.
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Here’s a great, if somewhat basic, review of the Saab 9-3 Convertible from a news publication in San Francisco.
It’s another one of those reviews where it seems like the journo is maybe having his first experience in a Saab. I love reading reviews like this, as the words are often quite enthusiastic, not the jaded writings of some bitter and twisted anti-GM type (like, uh, me sometimes).
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TTAC asks Do You Like Hardtop Convertibles?
in principle, my answer is “no”, though apparently Mazda have done good work with the new MX5, a car I’m much more partial to since my brother-in-law bought one a few months ago.
And that seems as good a reason as any to have a perv at the 9-3 convertible in white!
I can’t say enough about how pleased I was to see that the 9-X Air is a soft top. It’s what a convertible should be.
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My main job for the weekend: write a TS Wordpress userguide for our new correspondent, who’ll be on board soon.
Another thing to watch for - a great article on the Saab Safir airplane from Lance Cole, who’ll be visiting with us here in Oz very soon!
And the flu still sucks.
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12 responses so far ↓
1 eggsngrits
// Oct 4, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Autoweek is right. Let’s get something in the showrooms!
2 1985 Gripen
// Oct 4, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I know we harp on it all the time, but judging from recent experience, it appears it takes Saab in excess of five years to develop a car from concept to dealer lots now. My yardstick is the next-gen 9-3. They’re in the stages of deciding what platform it’ll be built on and expect it to hit production (not dealer lots, PRODUCTION) in “late 2012 or early 2013″.
The only Saab vehicles we know for a fact have been given the “green light” are the 9-4X (due late calendar year 2009 as a MY2010), the next-gen 9-5 (due late calendar year 2009 as a MY2010) and the next-gen 9-3 (due as a MY2013 or MY2014).
The 9-1 or 9-X or whatever have not yet been greenlighted. Even if they did get the go-ahead now we likely wouldn’t see the car in the metal until AFTER the 9-3 debuts in 2012 or 2013. So we’re likely talking a MY2014/MY2015 vehicle BEST-CASE SCENARIO!
After Los Angeles Kings ice hockey fans (the few who remain), I think Saab aficionados have to be the most patient on the planet.
3 Bernard
// Oct 4, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Swade,
I’m sure GM will build enough 9-7s to sell through the (Northern) summer. They may actually want to follow Enzo Ferrari’s advice and build a few less than the market demand so that they can keep the prices reasonable.
4 No.9
// Oct 4, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I came upon a new white vert at an intersection recently and I was stunned by its beauty. It just stood out from the other cars, and other 9-3s for that matter.
As for the 9-7x, its 4000 or so heavily subsidized sales per year (guesstimating), are surely not going to make a difference on GM’s catastrophic balance sheet. I’m not sure the bastard child was a plus for Saab, but good riddance to the dinosaur as far as I’m concerned.
*Bravo Swade for reintegrating the viewing mode for images which opens them without opening a new page.
5 ctm
// Oct 5, 2008 at 12:21 am
So the concept lost points because *other* concepts haven’t yet materialized into production models? That’s a new one…
6 eggsngrits
// Oct 5, 2008 at 3:43 am
Grip: How quickly the Clippers come to mind.
7 Jeff
// Oct 6, 2008 at 8:08 am
ctm - I think it’s fair. Saab really does have a reputation for that. There’s a new concept every year or two, and we still only have the same three models.
Even so, the Urus (Estoque my ass, I think “large cow” is a much better moniker than “thin fey sword”) shouldn’t have won. It’s an obvious attempt to cash in on a recent trend, and it looks ridiculous, more so than the other Lambos.
8 1985 Gripen
// Oct 6, 2008 at 10:56 am
eggs: the Clippers have only been in L.A. since 1984. The Kings debuted in L.A. in 1967 as part of the National Hockey League’s first expansion (when the league expanded from six teams to twelve) and in their 41 years of existence have not yet won the Stanley Cup, having only made it to the Finals once.
Meanwhile, 35 miles down Interstate 5 the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played their first season in 1993 and skated with the Cup only 14 years later.
Last season the Kings finished second-to-last in the league standings, and were on-track to finish dead-last (and therefore have a chance at the highly-touted first-overall entry draft pick Stephen Stamkos) but blew even THAT at the last minute by winning one game too many when it really didn’t matter anymore. This season the Kings are predicted by many analysts to finish dead-last in the league.
We Kings fans might not be suffering like Cubs fans, but at least the Cubs do have championship wins in their past to point to…
9 AEROPILOT
// Oct 6, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Please stop that football crap ! Put it in another forum..
10 Ken H
// Oct 6, 2008 at 8:17 pm
aeropilot - it’s about ice hockey, not football. And this is a blog, not a forum.
11 1985 Gripen
// Oct 7, 2008 at 1:08 am
AEROPILOT: couldn’t just ignore the comment and move-on, huh?
12 eggsngrits
// Oct 7, 2008 at 2:00 am
And, the Clippers and Cubs are basketball and baseball, respectively.