Comments on: Tuesday Snippets

By: David Blumberg

David Blumberg — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:59:12 +0000

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?

By: John

John — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:04:26 +0000

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 Unfortunately, we got word from Saab that they have withdrawn them before they became available, despite featuring in official Saab literature and webstes.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.

By: Kaz

Kaz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:31:09 +0000

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

By: Tompa

Tompa — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:27:17 +0000

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

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:13 +0000

I don’t think anything is getting nationalized. I’m no economist, though. I just don’t think it will happen. We’ll see.

By: Tompa

Tompa — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:11:08 +0000

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

By: Snotfjold

Snotfjold — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:59:17 +0000

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.

By: Saaburban

Saaburban — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:23:57 +0000

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.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:36:12 +0000

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.

By: Markac

Markac — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:30:25 +0000

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.