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Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted here, and it’s been strictly due to the workload forced upon many of us with the weird and wooly business climate that exists at the moment.
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On Saab (not) in the news
I’ve not heard much about Saab in the mainsteam news here in the US, period. Of course, the GM news always includes Saab as an aside, and there was that splash about the Swedish government backing Saab and Volvo to keep them viable. Other than that, Saab is under the radar, which I feel is a good thing in the long run. Saab will not be seen with the same taint that the big three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) will wear once things begin to roll again. Just as it was back in the 1980’s when the Chrysler Corporation was bailed out by the feds, the bail-out cars will be austere almost to a fault — the burden of massive debt does that to a company. Saab, being viewed in a somewhat different category, will hopefully side step that issue to remain somewhat on track as a premium brand.
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On Saab as the Apple of Car Brands
I’m not sure that I want to wear the “Apple of car brands” badge, either. Apple certainly makes exquisite hardware that seems so “right”. However, they are pricey and proprietary. Apple tends to be very protective of their proprietary nature, almost to the point of arrogance. I hope that Saab doesn’t go there. The Saab legacy is as good design accessible to the everyman. I hope that isn’t lost in the translation.
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The view from Japan: nary a Saab in sight
Of course, all of you knew this, right? However, I simply had to make mention of my recent trip to Japan, which was enlightening on many fronts. I saw no Saabs. In fact, I saw very, very few European cars, period. I now have a greater appreciation for why Japanese car makers seem to be so good at making “cars as appliances”. That’s simply the Japanese way. They are not a car culture, per se. They are not a nation of individualists. They are a nation of group think. They value homogeneity and quality. The Japanese have a saying that roughly translates, “The nail that is sticking up gets nailed back down.” That is, if you stick out as an individual, society will ensure that you are marginalized until you conform. This translates into bland design on the outside and tons of buttons on the inside because that’s the Japanese mentality.
It’s also very different driving in Japan, from what I can see. First of all, the cities are crowded. Even on the “open” highways, vehicles are still very close together. I can’t imagine owning a performance car there unless I lived in a more rural setting because you can never drive fast in any way, shape or form. It simply doesn’t happen for most Japanese drivers. They drive virtually 100% of the time in stop-and-go traffic. Again, the car has to be able to withstand those rigors, which makes for a reliable automobile, but the visceral thrill of driving as most of us know is simply unknown there.
I did, however, see this Alfa Romeo (just for you, Swade!) in Tokyo very near the Tsukiji Fish Market. (By the way, the Japanese line up for a breakfast of sashimi and other ultra-fresh seafood every morning. I enjoyed some tuna sashimi, perch sashimi, some sort of raw fish paste and some cod roe alongside a hearty bowl of miso with udon noodles. Good eats!) The Welsh owner walked up while we were photographing the car, joking about how often tourists from the United States take pictures of it.
And, just for Swade: Cadillac is everywhere!
Finally, there are several creative parking solutions at work in Japan that further underscore just how tough it is to own a car there. More to come on that…
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This week’s random car-related shot
Mac Tools, the route-delivery mechanic tool supplier division of Stanley Works, is one of my long-time customers. They truly are great people. While visiting their Columbus, Ohio HQ, I saw something that I’d not seen before: the hot-rod go cart created entirely from Mac Tools (save the wheels and the seat). Check it out!
The body is a real Mac Tools tool box (which are very expensive, by the way, but very much worth the additional money over the “regular” stuff if you’ve got heavy tools), the components are chromed Mac Tools wrenches, sockets, socket extensions, clamps, etc. Even the nitrous oxide bottle on the front is a compressed air cylinder from a Mac Tools compressor! The creator was a mechanic that built this in his spare time. Mac Tools bought it from him after seeing it at one of thir dealer events. Someone had a lot of time on his hands, let me tell you….
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Updates on the EnG Saab front
The C900 ‘vert is still parked where I left it 60 days ago. Today the high here will be around 60 degrees F (16 degrees C) and no rain (for the first time in months it seems), so I’ll be able to give it the once over for the first time thoroughly. It has a serious electrical issue that I believe is a bad diode. UPDATE: See the next post for the complete story.
The 9-5 is driving well, but I’ve still got a few things to do on it. They can wait.
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Random Saab Pic of the Day
From Wagonized on Flickr comes this great drawing of a Saab 99:
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8 responses so far ↓
1 ctm
// Feb 8, 2009 at 3:06 am
You know I can’t resist this…
However, [Apple] are pricey and proprietary.
Hmm, pricey? There we go again. Don’t know if this is only Sweden, but the price for what you actually get is in pair with good PC hardware. And looking at Apple’s market share, lot’s of people think the same. It may be pricey per se, but that doesn’t matter if it actually sells. The market decides. And, listening to people here it seems that Saab is already rather pricey in the US…
And proprietary? Hardware that runs OS X, Windows, Linux and BSD at the same time? An OS were the whole foundation (not only the kernel) is actually open source?
2 Jeff
// Feb 8, 2009 at 6:24 am
On the apple notes-
To say that Apple is pricey is sort of a generalization. If you look at it on a component by component basis, and look at their margins, they’re actually very competitive. I just purchased a new MacBook Pro and was cross-shopping other PCs and for the same tech specs, the Apple was always about 10-15% cheaper. Not to mention it came bundled with much better software and has access to programs that won’t run on PC (FinalCut, some 3D software, etc). More than that, it’s versatile enough to run PC software. As this relates to Saab, I think one of the criticisms of Saab as of late has been that they run nearly the same cost of BMW and Audi, yet they trail behind in performance, interior quality, etc. In practice though, we all have been able to get our Saabs for much less than the higher end competition. And quite frankly, just as I prefer the intuitive nature of the Mac interface to a PC, I just feel at ease and in control in a Saab.
Apple has had a tight control of their hardware and software for one reason: operability. They always work, they always feel right, and if they don’t it’s an easy trip down to their store for them to fix it for free or at cost. It’s the same reason why I prefer buying genuine Saab or Hirsch parts, I want that tight operation and I want a cohesive experience. There isn’t really much open source car correlation here, and on an ironic note, one of the most well received Saab aftermarket items has been the AudioTroll, which interfaced with an iPod. How’s that for bunking that stereotype?
As far as Saab’s legacy as having good design for everyman, there is no company who has a greater legacy in influencing this than Apple in the last 20 years if not longer. Their implementation of GUI and their hardware design is always a step ahead, just as I’d like to think Saab has been with their implementation of the hatch (which the BMW PAS and Audi A7 and A5 sportback are all copying now).
I don’t mean to rant at you, I just want to point out how upset I get when I hear generalities about Apple being too expensive, inaccessible, limited in range, and for a designed for a select few. After all, those are words I hear a lot about Saab on BMW boards. Saab really has a lot more in common with Apple than they don’t, and their target customers overlap demographically. I think it behooves Saab to embrace Apple and they would be honored to have any official collaboration.
Oh and great pictures from Japan! I think it’s interesting to see what’s gone on with them post stimulus packages there and relate it to what we’re going through. I want that tool box!
3 DMR
// Feb 8, 2009 at 7:31 am
Jeff,
Don’t get me wrong, Apple has an amazing product, but…where is the overlap of demographics? I don’t think Saab is known for being the champion of the gadget geek hipster genre
I think the comparison was more to describe similar market positions and sizes than to say that actual Saab and Apple owners are the same group.
I’m reminded of the Mad TV sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZKjJt-TkU
4 Me
// Feb 8, 2009 at 7:49 am
On the notes on the apple notes.
Why do you have to use iTunes to put some songs into yout iPod?
Translated to SAAB would mean to only be able to get petrol from SAAB petrol stations( which may or may not sell you the petrol a little bit overpriced.
Apple hardware is good, the OS is at least not worse than the other proprietary solution, but what I don’t like from Apple users is this “I am a better guy only because I use Apple” it’s simply arrogant and wrong.
Maybe I don’t know many Apple users, but this is my feeling about apple, an this is just what I don’t want SAAB to be.
5 Ken H
// Feb 8, 2009 at 7:59 am
Saab in media, in the UK:
Prime time on BBC One, in The One Show in a piece about biofuels. Go to The One Show at bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/02/05/will-biofuels-ever-catch-on [dot] html
It’s nice to see Saab being the face of biofuels.
6 eggsngrits
// Feb 8, 2009 at 8:42 am
I stand by the comments about Apple being pricey and proprietary. They simply are. Both of the above cite only a single example. Across the range, Apple is pricey and proprietary. Yes, it’s a generalization, but in a single paragraph, I don’t have the time nor the space to enumerate the exceptions. I will win this debate every single time. See here, here and here for comments on desktop/OS X, iPhone and iTunes, respectively.
To summarize: yes, it is generalized, but an Apple/Saab comparison is general, too, no? I’ve also said that I hope that Saab takes the positive qualities of Apple, just not the negative ones.
Thanks for the complements on the Japan pics. It was a great trip.
CTM: It is different for you, apparently. Apple hardware is generally more expensive here. iPod is the most noteable exception, but that’s more about selling the music downloads through iTunes than it is about margins on hardware. Oops, there’s that proprietary nature again!!
7 spazzz2002
// Feb 8, 2009 at 9:40 am
I recently took a week long trip to Tokyo and I actually spotted 3 Saab. 1 ‘08 9-3, a yellow ~89 Convt. and a SPG… I was pleasantly suprised!
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j41/spazzz2002/IMG_3821.jpg
8 DMR
// Feb 9, 2009 at 2:39 am
Now that I have given my rant about Apple group think, here are a couple of things Saab could learn from Apple:
1) You can’t see one screw on an Apple product. If Saab can’t get to that stratospheric level in terms of build quality, they can at least get rid of that hollow sound you hear when your foot hits the cheap plastic next to the gas pedal.
2) Less is more. Saab is still, to some degree, stuck to the buttons everywhere school of thought. Scandinavian design is supposed to create good design while at the same time being functional and minimal. Apple is closer to that ideal than Saab is. GM took a step in the right direction with the new dash. Now for the next step…