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If the guys at Saab USA thought I was just going to cover this once and then forget about it, they’ve got another thing coming.
See, I’m ticked off at the fact that in a time of financial crisis, they went and spent X-thousand dollars on a company that put together a Build Your Own Saab website that is a really poor reflection on the brand, one that pales in comparison to the one that existed previously.
My original rant about this website is here. Read that article for the full details.
I’ve just been over there and checked it out, thinking that it might have been upgraded or finished off, but here’s my Fusion Blue sport sedan:
As you can see, it looks pretty much the same as my Titan Gray 9-3 sedan from a week or so ago:
In chatting with Eric Geers from Saab Sweden last week, he conceded that whilst Saab would ideally like consistency in their websites around the globe, some countries like to put together their website in a way that speaks to their market.
The SaabUSA website does feature some pretty good graphics and whilst not looking as sophisticated as the global site, it’s not bad by any means.
But that BYO site – it’s got to go!!
It’s plain to look at. It doesn’t match the flashier main SaabUSA site. And of course, most of all, it just plain doesn’t work like it should.
SaabUSA: please, please, please – demand that the people who put this thing together finish it off properly. Or get your money back and get someone else to do it properly.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 Mats
// Nov 24, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I couldn’t agree more with Swade, even if it’s only 0,01% of the cars that are built in such a site that result in an actual deal, 0,1% of ZERO will not help Saab/GM out of the backwater whirlpool that they’re currently spinning downwards in…
2 rpg (boston, mass usa)
// Nov 25, 2008 at 12:17 am
The Saab USA BYO website is an abomination. It’s the worst in it’s peer group. If that site was your first impression of Saab, would you even bother going into your local showroom?
3 Wulf (NW Michigan, USA)
// Nov 25, 2008 at 12:42 am
Is it just me or are the new model names and their standard equipment difficult to figure out for the US?
2.0T Touring
2.0T Comfort
2.0T XWD
2.0T Sport
Aero
Why didn’t they call the Aero –> 2.8T Aero XWD?
So now we have the 2.0T Sport Sedan Sport.. That must be one sporty car.. The Saab USA website can’t even get the Sport version right and lists it as as the 2.0T Sport Sedan.
http://www.saabusa.com/saabjsp/93s/features/exterior.jsp
We often complain about the lack of choices in the US but at least it was easy to understand. 2 versions (2.0T or Aero) with a few options or packages are easier to figure out than these new names.
Please bring back Linear, Arc, Vector and Aero with optional equipment and packages.. So much for worldwide consistency with the new model names..
How long do you think this will last and is the US the only country with these new names?
4 Snotfjold
// Nov 25, 2008 at 12:58 am
Swade, I am starting to think nobody is home. The lights are for sure out at SaabUSA. If that means the brand team is now handled by some grey group of multi-brand responsible types nothing can save the brand in the States. The BYO site is probably the first example of what we have to expect in the future from people that have no interest in Selling Saabs, just more Caddies.
Look how GM handled it in Australia for crissakes.
5 Alex
// Nov 25, 2008 at 1:15 am
Forget those stupid GM gimmick names like “linear” and “arc”, just bring back S, SE, and Aero. Does Audi, BMW, etc give their trim levels the kinds of trim level names that you’d expect to see slapped on a pontiac? I don’t think so.
So the 2.0T touring becomes the 9-3 S
the 2.0T Comfort becomes the 9-3 SE
the 2.0T XWD becomes the 9-3 SE XWD
the 2.0T Sport becomes I dunno, the 9-3 Sport?, the 9-3 Vector? the 9-3 Griffin?
Of course the 9-3 Aero XWD would stay the 9-3 Aero XWD
And let’s lose this 9-3 “sports sedan” garbage from the site, it sounds like silly marketing-speak at best and 80’s era engrish at worst. Does BMW call the 3-series the “3-series sports sedan” on their website, does Mercedes refer to the “C-Class Luxury Sedan” anywhere on it’s site? Consumers are smart, especially Saab consumers and when they see that the brand needs to constantly remind it’s prospective buyers that it’s sporty, 40k+ sedans ARE, in fact SPORTS SEDANS it just comes off like they’re trying a bit too hard. Or to put it this way, if the products and the advertising campaigns are doing what they are supposed to do, then Saab shouldn’t have to plaster “sport sedan” all over it’s site.
Seriously, I can’t be the only one here who reads “9-3 Sports Sedan Sport” and only thinks of stuff like this: http://www.engrish.com//wp-content/uploads/2008/08/exciting-version.jpg
6 peter
// Nov 25, 2008 at 2:59 am
Thank you for staying on this, Swade. I admire your dedication, and I’d love to see this featured weekly until they get it right.
Wulf pointed out another error but there are plenty more when you pull up the features and specs on the 9-3. One example: the 2.0T Touring is not available with a 6-speed Automatic Transmission. It really is not that hard to edit this stuff, but you have to employ somebody that knows the product. One last nitpick, if providing links to pictures within features, make sure the picture illustrates the feature clicked on.
7 RMinNJ
// Nov 25, 2008 at 6:28 am
I checked out the site and it is different then it was. I found I was immediately confuses as the
main site does not explain what touring, comfort and sport is (or I couldn’t readily find it). Only
difference on the site was in initial prices of the car
When I selected sport and selected automatic transmission it did not add any amount to the
cost…does that mean that level comes with an automatic?
The different option levels are bound to confuse the casual shopper.. Even an ethusiast like myself
forgets what the difference between the touring and comfort is..
More sadly, from a practical standpoint I would want to avoid a trim level like “comfort” thinking
its bounces all over the road like my dad’s Buick.
Not sure what they were thinking.
8 eggsngrits
// Nov 25, 2008 at 6:56 am
Is there a real reason for metallic paint to cost $550 more? I’ve always been amazed by this difference. Is the cost more or does the market simply bear more cost?
9 gordon
// Nov 25, 2008 at 7:11 am
But what about the 9-5? Both models are *Ltd Avail*
10 gordon
// Nov 25, 2008 at 7:12 am
I love that “Exciting Version” Toyota
11 Wulf (NW Michigan, USA)
// Nov 25, 2008 at 7:57 am
There is a 9-5 Sedan and 9-5 SportCombi. Why isn’t the 9-5 sedan called Sport Sedan? And why isn’t the convertible called Sport Convertible? I agree with others that it is time to drop the “Sport” from all models.
And why are they using Sport Sedan with a space instead of SportSedan? The wagon is 9-3 SportCombi.
I hope someone at Saab USA is reading this and have all these errors and inconsistencies fixed asap.
12 joemama
// Nov 25, 2008 at 8:31 am
I have news for everyone – this might be all we see for this year. As I designer I can tell you this site is either a”soft” launch, which would be on a devsite, not a live one, and we wouldn’t be able to see it, or this is the official 2009 website.
I think the latter. If SaabUSA is predicting a bad year just like the rest of us, why put money into a new website?
I guarantee you a company was in the middle of redesigning the old one for Saab, then Saab ran out of money and pulled the plug, and the web company “scrapped” together a resemblance of a site based on whatever was left in Saab’s budget.
I’d bet money on it.
13 JV
// Dec 2, 2008 at 11:33 pm
It appears that this issue might be a GM north america issue.
I was on the Saturn BYO doing some research for my sister and it had the same feel and same problems. It also lacked information on options and did not list all the options that I know exist on that car. Here is the link to their BYO.
Here is my deep blue Saturn Aura XR