Comments on: SaabUSA BYO website – what have they done??

By: Snotfjold

Snotfjold — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:29:11 +0000

“They will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes”

One has to womder if there is anybody left at Saabusa in the first place, nobody that draws a living from working with the Saab brand would let such an abomination pass, WTF were they thinking

By: ChrisCam84

ChrisCam84 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:26:41 +0000

I just visited the Saabusa.com BYO site… Oy vei, SO BAD!

By: Jürg

Jürg — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:19:45 +0000

I’m not surprised. To those kind of managers it’s more important to create their “own” stuff, than to “copy” something good. Even if the copy is better, cheaper and faster. No way. Happend to me more than once. It’s sad but true and one of the many reasons because I doubt the management capabilities of GM.

By: Brian Mills

Brian Mills — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:46:02 +0000

Swade, If your not a big of USA then do not visit the BYO for Canada. At least the main pages are better and more in the same design scope as Europe.

By: OlliM

OlliM — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:39:29 +0000

What comes to first impressions with Saab USA BYO website I’d say cheap, old fashioned, non-functional and amateurish. Any college student with basic coding experience could and will produce more informational, functional and better selling website than what Saab USA has managed to produce.
I really hope that they don’t leave it like that.
Then again… It’s really refreshing trip to 1980′s… Isn’t it.

By: Rune (the other one)

Rune (the other one) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:15:00 +0000

Kroum: I don’t quite see how someone handicapped to 800×600 would buy an expensive SAAB… (I hate statically sized webpages anyway… It was never the purpose of HTML to be device-specific)

But! Making sure that part of the website works well for people using iPhone-like devices, that might not be such a bad idea… I dunno if 800×600 support would help then.

By: Ron57RC

Ron57RC — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:07:33 +0000

First impressions do count and presenting such a BYO site seems pretty poor to me. Even if there is an attempt to cash in on an emerging market of ex SUV owners (MitchbSC), I don’t see any benefit in alienating those customers which you already have who are considering a change and making use of the facility.

By: Wulf (NW Michigan, USA)

Wulf (NW Michigan, USA) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:02:24 +0000

Ben/duffy’s posts were showing up after mine. Sorry, didn’t intend to repeat the pricing info.

By: Wulf (NW Michigan, USA)

Wulf (NW Michigan, USA) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:19:31 +0000

Kroum,

BMW 335i xDrive with 300hp is $42K.
Infinity G37 AWD 328hp is $36K.
The stunning new Audi A4 3.2 265hp is $43K

No, I am not frowning at a 9-3 V6 XWD 280hp for $46K. I am laughing out loud..! Since when are Saabs rated better than all of these cars in real life so they can ask a $3K-10K premium? No offense but you lost track of the competition like the chiefs at Saab USA. 2009 is going to be worse than 2008..

Saab owners or interested buyers usually have higher incomes and are technically more savvy so I assume they would have at least an LCD these days. Not catering to them is unprofessional.

By: Kroum

Kroum — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:43:13 +0000

This is a stupid mistake – perhaps they are still debugging the BYO section of the website? This, of course, is no excuse – no one puts unfinished products live.

But as someone who makes a living on the Internet, I don’t see how SaabUSA.com is all that bad. FYI, a still seizable proportion of surfers use 800 x 600, so not catering to them is unprofessional.

Wulf, as a side note, how about we get the 9-3 Aeros for free? Pardon my irony, but you are frowning at $46K for a 280 hp V6 vehicle equipped with an advanced AWD system and loaded up with features. And that knowing you’d easily get a few thousand off that list price. A 9-3 touring for $33K, or even better: a Koenigsegg SSX for $90K with cash on the hood.