Date: 12 May 2002 21:42:57 +0300 From: Simo Melenius <siolnanopsamfi> Subject: Re: Low demand for 1999 off lease Saab 9-5's?
"X" <xnopsamm> writes: > The trick now is to keep loyal Saab fans like you and I in the fold while > aggressively pursuing new customers. To do that, you can't just have the > same tired old 9-5/9-3 line up for another 3-5 years. I agree, except for the "tired old line" thing. Sometimes I just can't understand people and trends. The old is what people loved. If they then created a line that has become the object of tiredness in a few years, it has been a failure. The previous 900-line was pretty much the same for over 15 years, except for updates in the inside and slight changes in the looks. Back then, I used to joke that Saabs are what crossing an airplane and a sportscar would produce. :) For myself, if Saab was still selling the original pre-93 900-series which IMHO is the last one that really looks like a Saab, is well-built and just plain safe, feels and drives like a Saab, I'd buy one, brand new, right away. (You can find those in relatively good shape on the second-hand market but usually some of the previous owners hasn't kept it well enough and you'll find some unnecessary trouble later.) (I guess it's old-fashioned to say that people would want to buy cars that last at least for 15-25 years rather than 10 years, but I'll ignore myself for the next two paragraphs.) Now, the new Saabs really don't appeal to me. (Except for 9000 shipped with all the goodies perhaps but they're not on the cheaper side.) The 9-3/9-5 are too trendy and they lack the feel and driving experiment (IMHO!) to be genuine Saabs but they're still Saabs enough to scare the toyotafordopelnissan masses (which exist at least in Finland) away. I know a few people who pretty much share these thoughts, so I'm not utterly missing the picture, I hope. So I've been thinking about that Saab would have to strictly divide their lines in two distinct, major directions to both please the old folks and create _quality_ cars for new, non-saabian people. Polish up the old stuff with new engine, new tech and known trouble-spots fixed. Streamline the current lines into a modern car model family and make sure the quality control doesn't fail, keeping its resale value high for years. Make the people know that they're getting a mid-size and mid-price version of a top model with less goodies but with the same quality. my two cents. - 0110011001101111011011110110001001100001011100100010110101110000
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