There’s a couple of reports here in Australia that slipped under my radar. Thankfully , they didn’t slip under PT’s radar and he emailed me to let me know about them.

The first report concerns the cancellation of Cadillac’s launch here in Australia. GM Premium Brands had planned a press launch for Febraury 9-10. Now, they’ve pulled the plug on Cadillac coming to Australia in the near term.

Holden MD Mark Reuss has announced the company will “indefinitely delay” the introduction of Cadillac to Australia. The decision comes less than three weeks away from the brand’s media launch Down Under.

Blaming tough economic times and a slump in the luxury car market, Reuss said he personally made the decision to cut the flagship GM brand.

“We only have one chance to the brand in Australia,” Reuss said in a teleconference this afternoon.

“We weren’t able to 100 per cent do the car or the brand justice… It’s painful but its just one of those tough decisions we’ve got to make.”

You may be expecting champagne corks popping or some similar gesture from me. I think we’re a little beyond that now.

I’ve always believed that the introduction of Cadillacs into Saab’s markets outside the United States has been a mistaken allocation of resources, though not so much in Australia where big RWD vehicles are still major players.

The bigger issue for us here in Oz is what this will mean for the GM Premium Brands, who are charged with looking after Saab’s interests. The staff of GM Premium Brands started off as the staff of Saab Australia, so they’ve got a lot of Saab people in there. My concern is whether or not they’re still going to be supported as they should.

GM say they will, but then there’s the potential sale of Hummer to consider.

In another report, GM’s Rick Wagoner says that Hummer could be sold by as early as the end of March.

“The people who had said ‘we’re interested’ are looking at the financials and talking about their ability to support it, so hopefully we can bring this to a conclusion by the end of this quarter — at the latest.”

Given that Hummer is one leg of this tripodal organisation that’s possibly about to be removed and that Cadillac is now on the shelf for some time, that leaves an ailing Saab potentially on it’s own here in Australia.

I should be happy about the potential concentration of resources again. Things haven’t exactly gone well under the GM Premium Brands banner in the last 18 months. But then again, there’s not much evidence to say that GM are going to have a massive show of faith in Saab here in Australia.

Like everywhere else, I guess we’re in for some interesting times.

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I have to get more in tune with Facebook. I still find that I don’t have enough time.

That might be why there were 670+ members in a group called Buy Saab Back before I even knew it was around.

Hit the link, join up and show your support and well done to Jeroen for kicking it off. There’s a lot of names I know there, but a lot more that I don’t. Support for Saab is strong.

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More Lutz on Saab:

The Swedish government has offered funding but in the form of soft loans, not outright purchase. “There is no drop-dead date yet,” said Lutz, “but there’s got to be one soon. We’ve got to get rid of this stuff that has no future and can’t pay for itself.”

Mmmmmmm.

“This stuff that has no future and can’t pay for itself”

Cadillac in Europe, anyone?

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I mentioned yesterday that the Tokyo motor show was in danger of being cancelled this year.

You can almost get out your eraser, rub out the pencil marks and write it in ink. The Detroit car companies have withdrawn from the Tokyo show for 2009.

Ford Motor Co. this afternoon confirmed Japanese media reports that Ford would not be participating this year.

“At this time, participating in the show just isn’t a strategic priority,” spokeswoman Jennifer Flake said. “Given everything else we have to balance in that region and in that market, that’s not where we’ve chosen to prioritize our time and our resources……”

……Exhibiting in the show, which is held every two years, cost General Motors $2 million in 2007. That’s money better spent elsewhere, said Rick Brown, president of GM Asia Pacific……

…..”Chrysler decided, under the current challenges and market situation the company faces, to pull out of TMS in 2009 in order to secure limited resources invested efficiently on activities necessary to sustain our business,” Kaori Beppu, spokesperson for Chrysler Japan, said in a written statement today.

With a few of the Japanese companies already considering withdrawal, this could be the trigger for a collective Sayoonara, Tokyo for 2009.

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Autoblog have a gallery of the Saab 9-5 Griffin Edition as shown in Detroit.

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Our favourite grumpy car columnist, the AutoExtrmist has his coverage of the Detroit show now online:

GM’s messaging was disjointed and unfocused, feeling for all the world like they were throwing up anything and everything against the wall just to see what would stick. In this case GM’s promising product story was lost in uneven and at times shrill messaging. The products deserved better. A blown opportunity.

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AutoExpress cover the latest in paint protection – nanoparticles.

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These are widely recognisable here in Australia as “postie bikes”. That is, the little bikes ridden by the postman.

I guess this one must be for when the mail is running late. Photographed yesterday by PT in Geelong, Victoria (a glorious place to be in sumer, I’d imagine)

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And finally, a little bit of humour as passed on by Mark S:

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I have a dilemma. It’s consumed a fair bit of my morning here. Will bring more info when it’s resolved but it involves one unhappy dealer boss and one set of wheels.

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How big is the current crisis in the Automotive industry?

There’s a realistic chance that the Tokyo Motor Show may be cancelled this year.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association is debating whether to cancel the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, a JAMA executive said today.

The discussion is driven in part by the decision of some non-Japanese automakers to shun the October venue amid the global financial crisis. But some Japanese exhibitors also are proposing that this year’s event be canceled.

That’s big.

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Saab and GM need to move quickly on this possible plan to provide Saab with some more autonomy. At the very least they need to make some sort of formal announcement about Saab’s ongoing viability.

In Ireland they release interim car sales figures through the first 10 days of the month. The total market was down 68% for those first 10 days, but Saab sales were down by 96% in that period, from 139 vehicle last year to just 5 this year.

I’m sure the uncertainty is playing in this market and others, too. GM and Saab should address that asap.

Thanks Ronan!

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And on that, despite the good feeling about Saab possibly becoming a lot more self-determining, let’s not forget that GM aren’t out of the woods yet.

Despite receiving billions in federal loans designed to prevent the automaker from failing, General Motors Corp.’s chief executive said a bankruptcy protection filing could still be possible, according to reports.

GM doesn’t want to file for Chapter 11, but the Detroit-based automaker’s viability is “not 100 percent” certain right now, Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told The Wall Street Journal for a Tuesday story.

Still, I don’t think this would mean the end for Saab.

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Reuters have a good list of top quotes from the Detroit Auto Show.

“We, the German auto industry, have decided to use exactly this crisis to go on the offensive and win market share.”

MATTHIAS WISSMAN, PRESIDENT, GERMAN AUTO INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, VDA

My thoughts exactly. One man’s crisis is another man’s opportunity.

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The big news of the day, though, is that the Barrett Jackson of GM Heritage vehicles starts soon.

From Jalopnik:

For those of you not keeping track, tonight at 7pm EST the Speed Channel will be broadcasting live this significant and historical auction. The Heritage Center collection will be auctioned off throughout the week ending on the Sunday, the 18th.

There’s one Saab being auctioned. A 1995 Saab 900 that was used at Pikes Peak.

I’ve heard about one party that’s interested in acquiring the vehicle, and I hope they do as I know it’d go to a good home.

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There’s lots of news today to show just how far the worldwide automotive industry has fallen in the last few months.

Get this:

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Toyota – yes, that Toyota – is going to shut plants for 11 days in February and another 11 days in March to keep inventories at an acceptable level due to low sales. These breaks come on top of a three day shutdown this month

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GM ended up struggling in China, which is a real worry.

Over all, GM sales in China were up, but not at the same pace as industry growth in 2008. Their commercial vehicle sales rose by 17%.

But it’s got to be troubling them that sales of GM’s flagship SAIC joint venture were actually down by 8.3% for the year. Chevrolet did OK for SAIC, but the much-vaunted Buick brand was somewhat abandoned (down 10%) by the Chinese.

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The good news in that story from our perspective is that Saab sales in China were actually 35% more in 2008 than in 2007, though I imgaine that’s on a pretty low base. Still, we’ll take all the good news we can get at the moment.

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The UAW and the Detroit carmakers are now around the table trying to hammer out further concessions to be made by union workers but the progress may be slowed down by the confusing language in the bridge oan documents, and importantly, by the fact that the “Car Czar” who is supposed to oversee progress by the Detroit automakers hasn’t been appointed yet. I’d have thought that all the seriousness shown by Congress and the White House would imply that that appointment would be made post haste.

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And further on the subject of the bridge loans, GM have received approval for another $5.4billion in mid-January.

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GM sources are saying that provided sales don’t drop much further than 2008 levels, they should be OK and not need to apply for any more money that what they’ve already been allocated:

He said how well the money holds out will depend on sales volume this year. He said he is hopeful that sales will not dip more than 1 million units below 2008’s depressed 13.1 million.

The $13.4 billion earmarked for GM may be sufficient, said a source close to the company.

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And on sales, analysts are predicting around 12.4 million vehicle sales in the US in 2009. There were 13.2 million in 2008. Apparently the first half of the year is going to be comatose, with things picking up in the second half.

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Pete De Lorenzo forecasts a lot more pain to come, primarily because there’s no way that the Detroit guys can realistically and effectively fulfill the requirements imposed by the White House by the deadline provided.

The 90 days given to GM and Chrysler to allegedly get their acts together reinforced how little Washington knows about the car business and the industry in general. The thread that Chrysler LLC is hanging by is on its last tendril, and the loans that the company received may only allow it to get out from under the debts owed to key suppliers. I said at the end of last year that I didn’t see a future for Chrysler beyond the first quarter, and nothing I’ve seen has given me a reason to change my mind. As for GM, they can rearrange their brands, deemphasize their brands, ice some brands or shelve some brands altogether, but that will have little or no effect on the company over the next three months, no matter how much foot stomping and hand-wringing goes on in Washington. Short of a complete cessation of state dealer franchise laws and a wholesale shift of corporate emphasis to just two divisions – Cadillac and Chevrolet – GM’s future will remain murky, at best, and well beyond the 90-day “window” too.

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Pontiac have killed off the G8 Sport Truck, which is going to be quite a blow to the Australian car industry as it was going to be manufactured here. They say it’s part of the review of the Pontiac brand, which they’re going to turn into a niche performance brand (therefore, utes don’t count).

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If you need something to lighten your mood after all that, I’d recommend heading over to look at Jalopnik’s funniest street signs.

Or, you could just admire the innovative Saab trailer, below, which was spotted on Facebook today.

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I’m back home after picking up the Monte Carlo in Melbourne over the weekend.

A fuller report will be coming soon but let me just say here that I’m…… still…… very happy with the purchase. Over the moon, in fact.

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You may remember the post I did here a few weeks ago on some guys on an ECU tuning forum doing some privateer work on Trionic 7 tuning, and getting engine management readouts to show up on a Saab’s SID.

I’ll keep the name anonymous just in case he desn’t want to be identified, but one of my Saab mates on the mainland had this done on the weekend. And he’s very pleased with the result. He took me for a drive in the car and I can see why, too.

The ECU was remapped with a tune customised to the hardware on his car. He’s now got around 15% more power and heaps more torque, plus he’s also got the ability to watch various bits of engine management info via his SID, stuff that your Saab technician normally sees via Tech 2.

The interesting readout that I saw whilst I was in the car was the Air Mass Meter readings. It shows two readings at once, one showing what the engine needs at whatever RPM the car is at, and one showing what it’s receiving. The two were constantly changing and it’s like you can watch the analysis and fulfilment of the car’s needs right there in front of you. Fascinating stuff.

These guys only recently unlocked Trionic 7 but they’ve had Trionic 5 figured out for a while, so it’s quite likely I’ll be making enquiries about this for the Monte Carlo.

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We knew it was coming, it just hurts when it does.

The Cadillac SRX press material is now out. This is the vehicle that’s based on the same architecture as the Saab 9-4x, and the one that the media will refer to as being the basis for the 9-4x should it ever be released. I can see it now…..“The Saab 9-4x, which is based on the Cadillac SRX…..”

Remember what was said here at TS about engines for the 9-4x and in other posts prior to that, too? If this is anything to go by, then they were correct.

From Car and Driver:

Two engines will be offered in the 2010 SRX, both of which are smaller than the current base SRX engine, a 3.6-liter V-6. The standard motor will be GM’s new direct-injection 3.0-liter V-6, which puts out 260 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque and bests the output of the previous standard mill. Offered as an option will be a 2.8-liter turbocharged V-6 that produces 300 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and nearly matches the 320 hp and 315 lb-ft afforded by the 4.6-liter Northstar V-8 in current SRXs. The turbo six, plucked from the Saab 9-3, is notable as the first turbocharged engine offered in any North American Cadillac.

Cadillac got the BLS out of Saab (which went well, ahem) and Saab got some better sound insulation. Now they’re taking an engine and turbo technology from Saab and we’ll just have to wait and see what Saab gets in return this time. Thicker carpets, perhaps?

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Andy Rupert’s got a 2006 Saab Aero Convertible (that’s with the V6 and the button dash) for sale for under $20,000.

Talk about being a buyer’s market! Sheesh. That this was more than $40K just over two years ago.

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If someone’s asking you about the Saab 9-3, or if you’re new to the car yourself, then click here for a good review of the car.

Positive stuff, indeed. Thanks WooDz!

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Happy New Year, all. It’s been a while. It’s always difficult to find time around the holidays, it seems. Click through through to read my comments…

[Read the rest of this entry →]

I know Turbin was cheering for a Prodrive takeover of Saab to restore some racing pedigree and bring some pride back to the brand.

Unfortunately it looks like Prodrive may have their hands full taking over Honda’s Formula One team.

Strike another (remote) candidate off the Saab ownership list!

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Factoid #457234 that show how little GM like to do for Saab compared to other brands:

If you’re a Saab owner, you can’t even get a set of genuine, factory backed driving pedals from Hirsch in the United States (or Australia). However, if you’re a Camaro enthusiast you can already order your own body-in-white from GM Performance parts for just $7,000 and build your race machine exactly the way you want it.

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Jalopnik do a list as only Jalopnik can – Ten Cars and the type of girls they attract. The late-model Euro tuner’s the one of interest and the jacked up off-roader is a crackup.

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A quick flick through the Christmas presents post will tell you that Rogan received a Garmin GPS unit off the fat bloke in the red suit.

He’s been plugging away, creating some groovy flash screens for it, which he invites you to use if you have the know-how.

They’re in this folder at Flickr.

Back when this whole financial crisis first hit, the Australian government made the populist move of guaranteeing all deposits held in bank accounts in this country. It was popular with the average Joe and with their bank, but quite unpopular with a lot of investment houses as people scrambled to get their money from the potential black hole into a safe and secure bank account.

In the US, there’s only certain types of institutions that can get access to the Troubled Asser Recovery Program (TARP) funds. These are referred to as bank holding companies. Up until Christmas eve, GMAC wasn’t one of them and was at dire risk of going bankrupt, just like their former parent company.

A GMAC bankruptcy would have most like dragged GM down with it as GMAC finance most of the vehicles sitting on GM dealer lots that are waiting to be sold to customers. They also finance many of those purchases when things are healthy.

The word came through that GMAC had been saved right on Christmas Eve, though any rumours that Hollywood will now make a movie about it are as yet unconfirmed.

There are some conditions that I’m sure GM and majority owner, Cerberus, will be happy to meet. Here’s the story from Automotive News:

GMAC LCC won Federal Reserve approval today to become a bank holding company, giving it access to government lending programs, after owners General Motors and Cerberus agreed to cut their stakes.

GM agreed to reduce its 49 percent stake in GMAC to no more than 10 percent, while Cerberus, which owns 51 percent, will distribute equity interests to investors to get its control to no more than 14.9 percent of voting shares.

A GMAC spokeswoman called it a “key turning point in our 89-year history.”

“GMAC believes becoming a bank holding company is the best long-term solution to provide automotive and mortgage financing to consumers and businesses, including auto dealers,” spokeswoman Gina Proia said.

Cerberus declined to comment.

The move comes just days after GM and Chrysler, which is owned by Cerberus, were promised public money from the Treasury-run financial bailout fund to stave off potential bankruptcy.

GM’s dealers had said that their customers were having difficulty getting credit from GMAC to buy new cars and were pressing for a swift resolution of GMAC’s bid to become a bank.

Of course, all this means a steadier ship, which is a better situation for Saab. Recent talk from GM senior executives has indicated that they intend to sell Saab. It’s better that this be done in stable circumstances rather than in a panic.