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If you’re considering adding some bling to your Saab 9-3 then Elkparts have you covered.
They now have the aluminium finish side mirror covers for Saab 9-3 in stock. Apparently they’re an option for 2009 but will retrofit nicely on to any of the Saab 9-3 SS generation cars.
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A professor in Sweden is urging the government to consider nationalising the car industry there if things go south with GM and Ford in the US. Well, actually, he talks more about Volvo than Saab.
Rolf Wolff, dean of the school of business at Gothenburg University, called on the government to nationalize Volvo Cars to safeguard the pool of knowledge on which the Swedish auto industry is based…..“We all ought to take a moment to think about what would happen in Sweden if both Volvo Cars and Saab Automobile ceased to exist,” writes Wolff in Monday’s issue of business daily Dagens Industri.
“If Volvo Cars disappears as a base for industrial knowledge and skills, then Sweden will never again be a part of the auto industry. All the knowledge and skills would be lost, and with it all future associated development potential would be gone. Forever.”
The Swedish government on Monday ruled out any financial support for the country’s crisis-hit automakers Volvo Cars and Saab Automobiles until the intentions of their US parent companies became clear.
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A similar story is also covered at Reuters:
The comments came amid growing calls for the government to take action in support of the carmakers, seen as pillars of the Nordic country’s engineering industry and vital for the survival of a broad swath of suppliers.
Personally, I’d say “yes” to Saab’s survival but “No thanks” to nationalisation. Such a policy has rarely ever worked and I can’t see it benefitting Saab at all.
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If it’s possible to be more bleak than when discussing nationalisation, then Automotive News have got it covered:
Opel, GM Europe’s biggest European brand, is considered at risk. Meanwhile, most observers say the Saab brand’s future appears bleak. They say it either will be sold or closed down.
Chevrolet, which is growing fast in eastern Europe, is seen as potentially healthy.
Saab’s global new-car sales are down 21 percent to 83,179 units in the first 10 months. The company relies heavily on GM — its new 9-5 medium-premium car is due to be built outside Sweden at Opel’s factory in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
Saab lost nearly 2.2 billion kronor (about €240 million) in 2007, according to the Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri.
“It does not look good for Saab. It has been making losses for years,” said Stefan Bratzel, head of the Center of Automotive in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.
Others say GM is looking for a buyer for Saab but cannot find one.
“They are a niche player, but there are more viable niche players out there,” said Peter Cooke, professor at Buckingham University in England.
Saab Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson said profitability will come with the launch of the new 9-5, 9-4X and 9-3 models. “When we have new products and the current economic situation has recovered, we will be profitable,” Jonsson told Automotive News Europe last week.
We’ll show ‘em.
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Top Gear just featured the Bugatti Veyron on it’s test track. The Swedish made Koenigsegg CCX was third on their leaderboard. Will it be topped again?
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14 responses so far ↓
1 Rogan
// Nov 25, 2008 at 9:39 am
Haha, I’ve always liked the CCX over the Veyron.
And those mirror covers are SO de la Audi S4
-Rogan
2 Markac
// Nov 25, 2008 at 10:17 am
GM paid about $600M for the first half of Saab and perhaps a bit more for the second half ten years later. So that’s probably around $1.25 Billion. I think it would struggle very hard to get a billion for it now. Apart from Trollhattan, Saab has nowhere near the amount of factories and infrastructure it once had. I think if any buyer was considering purchasing Saab, it would wait to find out just how desperate GM gets before it reveals it’s intentions and makes a bid.
I still feel that GM would probably ty to broker a deal to supply the Opel built 9-5 to any new owner for a period of time. Well at least until the new owners plans com on line. I think that would be beneficial to both parties otherwise it would be quite difficult to give Saab any new product for a considerable time.
3 joemama
// Nov 25, 2008 at 10:33 am
About the side mirrors – How about offering one with a directional light, a la most luxury cars from 2005 and up.
Just throwing that out there. I’d buy a set.
4 Jeff
// Nov 25, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Nationalization? Two words: BRITISH LEYLAND.
I think I’ve made my point.
5 Markac
// Nov 25, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Jeff as a counterpoint Renault was once state owned. It doesn’t have to be a permanent thing.
I’m not in favour of full government ownership, but if it ended up being a temporary lifeline then I think I’d go along with it as long as it remained temporary or the government ownership didn’t remain total.
6 Alex
// Nov 25, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Jeff, get used to british leyland because that’s GM NA’s best chance for survival at this point now that Obama’s rhetoric is getting harsher while the beavis and butthead duo of lutz and wagoner are showing no signs of stepping down.
As to Saab, I don’t think that full nationalization is the right way to go, but I’m all for part ownership a la Renault or VW. It gets you all of the benefits and stability of government ownership but the decisions are still made by people with a vested interest in making quality products.
7 Saaburban
// Nov 25, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Lets be realistic. The only buyer in the whole world for a brand and
real assets like Saab is the Swedish government, and GM might actually
proceed down the road, where they can threaten to close the shop down,
if the Swedish governement doesnt take a 51% stake in its Nordic investment.
This will allow GM to access capital, and focus its other bailout efforts
to the US, showing the congress signs of downsizing.
Trollhattan and saab, are both an original creation by the Swedish government,
the power-dam that was built in 1911, was one of the most high tech
public investments ever seen in sweden, that created the origins of
the hightech industry of today (Aero, Saab).
Same goes for the canal and extremly complex water-lock system to
transport ships in the 1800s.
The plane manufacturing named Swedish Aeroplane Company (SAAB)
was a strategic investment rather than a totally private creation.
The world economic-political climate is shifting quickly to pink.
Remember that free capitalism has only been accepted in America and
maybe Britain; no state intervention.
In most European countries the Governments has been very hands-on
with strategic industries (Think VW, Reanult) .
The Swedish center-right coalition is on an international scale, very
socialist pink even though they locally is on the far blue right. It would
make political sense to move further center, as they did to win the
previous election.
So bottom line, even if we hate politics, it will decide what car we will
drive 3 years from now, when the economy is recovering in a syncronised
global boom.
8 Snotfjold
// Nov 25, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Well put Saaburban,
a nationalization could work if set up properly. I would prefer though if the concerned European nations did something together to save GME. If that is not possible there are several industrial funds in Sweden that could back a deal where the companies remain independent but cooperates on platform development and powertrain sharing for instance. To put the two together into one company with two brands would mean ther would end up being a mini-GM without focus and direction.
9 Tompa
// Nov 25, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Joemama… Indicators in the sidemirrors can also be found on the VW Polo.. Is that luxury or just like what everybody else does?
Saab would not have any bigger problems if GM marketed the band right and invested in new models more rapidly than they have done.. Nationalizing the Swedish car industry is not a great option.. The restrictions Saab and Volvo would encounter would be staggering and the outcome would be moneydraining. Help from the Government though is Welcome. What kind of help? I don´t know.. Can´t be moneywise since that would make the forestry companies etc etc go ape.
Unlike Saaburban I feel there ARE potential buyers for a brand like Saab. Saab has got herritage, class etc.. Why not Hyundai? Fiat?
Oh I saw the Veyron lap.. Guess VW will try and convince The Stig to do a followup lap.. Nah, The Veyron is what it is.. A quite heavy GT. A masterpiece in engineering from engineers with unlimited funds. Fast like a bat out of hell, but still a GT. One thing could be that The Stig was worried of crashing..
Cheers
10 Jeff
// Nov 25, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I don’t think anything is getting nationalized. I’m no economist, though. I just don’t think it will happen. We’ll see.
11 Tompa
// Nov 25, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Sorry if I´m going of topic a bit.. But then agian maybe not. I´m about to take a Truck drivers license (Hopefully I´ll be a Trucker by the end of january) and therefor the name Scania poped up in my head. I know that Scania now is owned by the VW, but if they were not.. could Scania have been a good partner? They could be more incorporated with eachother this time around.. ?
Just a though. I know it´s not gonna happen but stil..
Tom
12 Kaz
// Nov 25, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Just tried to look for those mirror casings on elk parts site, but they don’t appear to be there.
Tried the link above as well, but no joy
13 John
// Nov 26, 2008 at 5:04 am
Thanks for publicising those mirror covers, Swade. Unfortunately, we got word from Saab that they have withdrawn them before they became available, despite featuring in official Saab literature and webstes.
More info on the Elkparts blog.
I suspect GM has bigger fish to fry rather than copying Audi styling.
14 David Blumberg
// Nov 27, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I think nationalization is a good thing. Anything but closing down Saab! But it is true that it should only be temporary and/or part-nationalized. Getting Saab back in Swedish hands is awesome, but the decision-making needs to happen in Trollhättan by Saab Trolls, not ignorant politicians. And what Rolf Wolff (awesome name btw) says is true. It would be a disaster if Sweden lost either Saab or Volvo and even worse if both were gone. Thinking of Australia, what would happen here if Holden & Ford were gone?