While GM CEO Rick Wagoner is busy talking-up his plan to consolidate Saab, Hummer and Cadillac dealers into some sort of weird ass "luxury car" salon, Auto Motors und Sport [via Reuters] reports that Saab sales are slouching towards Bethlehem. Saab's head honcho, Jan-Ake Jonsson, told the German buff book that the erstwhile Swedish brand sold just 125k cars last year. That's down eight thousand cars from the year previous, and 35k less than Saab's recently revised internal goals. (In June, GM European Prez Carl-Peter Forster predicted 160k '07 Saab sales, down 10k from the previous estimate.) So, uh, where does that leave Saab's plans these days? "It is our target to sell 150,000 to 200,000 units per year," Jonsson told Auto Motor und Sport. "But in order to reach such annual sales we need the new models." Not if they're like the old new models…
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My 1977 Saab 99 (bought in 1983 for ~$4000), was the best small car I had ever owned and it wasn’t that small. It was comfortable, great ride, easy to work on, good gas mileage, etc. A new Saab I test drove a few years back was not what I expected or remember. The had GM’d it so much that I got out of the vehicle feeling remorse for what used to be a great car company.
This really saddens me. In the UK at least, I see Saabs all over the place and they seem to do pretty damn well with only a couple of base models and different body styles in each.
I’m preaching to the converted, I’m sure, but this horrific brand dilution in the US (9-7X, for the love of all that is holy) just fails to grasp what Saab’s all about: quirky family cars with a bit of Swedish charm. That’s it, and that’s all it needs.
(Full disclosure: I own a ’92 900S and consider it to be the pinnacle of automotive engineering. You can’t argue with a longitudinal slant 4 turbo!)
You didn’t think you could print this and get away with it, did you RF?
Please quote where the 160K sales prediction was specifically for 2007 as you’ve asserted.
Carl=Peter Forster’s sales figure of 160,000 to 170,000 units was mentioned in the context of it being the level that they’d like to get Saab to in the future. It’s a level that will see Saab being profitable and one that is seen as being sustainable for Saab when the expanded model range arrives.
They sold 133K units in 2006 and that was their best year, ever. Why would the president of GM Europe go and predict 35K more in 2007 when he knows there’s no new models on the table until 2009?
Saab are struggling, no doubt. But if you’re going to give them press, then at least make it accurate.
Trollhattan Saab :
You didn’t think you could print this and get away with it, did you RF?
TTAC is not trying to “get away” with anything. If I’ve misinterpreted a news story, I will immediately correct the text. But I think the facts are pretty clear here.
From the article:
In 2007, Saab fell short of is own targets, which Carl-Peter Forster, president of General Motors Europe, had lowered to 160.000 to 170,000 units in June last year, according to an earlier media report.
Gee, they aren’t selling well? Who’d a thunk it when they sell rebadged GM vehicles with a pushbutton start on the console? Why buy a basic Trailblazer when you can pay thousands more to get the console mounted push button?
The 9-4x is on its way, the 9-3 now has XWD, a new 9-5 is allegedly due this year or next, a 9-1 compact is in the works (which had best be a hatchback, darnit), and the 9-3 is due for an all new platform in 2 years or so.
If they can get their best sales year ever with older cars and a limited range of models, sales should improve in the future. If they get the advertising $ and GM support, that is.
If they get the advertising $ and GM support, that is.
That statement has been Saab’s biggest problem with GM. And with the spread so thin with so many products to so many brands I still don’t see Saab getting the attention it needs. It’s a real shame those preGM Saabs I had were great cars.
You can’t argue with a longitudinal slant 4 turbo! I couldn’t agree more about that engine. Amazing things Saab did with that chopped up ancient Buick V8.
I heart my 2004 9-5 T. It’s far from perfect, but it’s fun, stylish, gets good mileage, has loads of interior space and it kicks ass in the snow. Having bought it used, it was also absurdly cheap.
But seeing a travesty like the 9-7 or 9-2 is like a dagger in my heart. Why is it that so much that GM touches turns to steaming excrement?
Well, GM needs fewer brands anyway. It might be a good start to cut Saab loose and put it up for sale.
I love my 9-3. Sadly, Texas is not Saab-land. Houston is down to 2 dealers, and both of them are actually outside city limits. Yikes.
Nice Yeats reference. I love reading this site. I also love my ’89 900. If Trollhatten Saab is right, these sales could inject some much needed R+D funding into Saab.
PS: Don’t use those funds for more SUVs please!
The big question is among all you current and past SAAB owners, do you want a re-badged Opel as a SAAB?
kjc,
I want a Saab. Not an Opel. Not a Vauxhall.
This is why I still drive a 9000, even though it’s a Fiat. Still a better car than the 9-5. It’s the third Saab I’ve owned, and probably not the last.
The 9-7 is a travesty. 9-2? That one still confuses me. Saab should understand that their entry level car is a used Saab. Don’t pander to the GM marketing fools. And if you want that SUV, then go somewhere else.