Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 13:34:57 -0000 From: MeatballTurbo <carl.robsonnopsamcing-czechs.com> Subject: Re: Where are Saabs racing?
In article <b4kman$kk2$1nopsam.atl.mindspring.net>, insectonopsamspring.com says... > What are these reductions in engineering quality? Saab still has > in-house/dedicated engineering staff and production; no? GM is an easy (and > fun) horse to whip. And platform sharing is... hard to get excited about; > but deep pockets can be helpful for certain marquises (like keeping them > alive); look at Bentley/VW's new Continental GT, BMW and the Mini, or even > some of Fords work with Volvo & Jaguar. I don't doubt that GM has assisted Saab, and that VW did similar to Skoda, but the problem is, while no manufacturer has an obligation to support a vehicle older than a certain age, if you have a Vauxhall in the UK, no matter what age, if it needs body work, no matter how radical, it can be done by the company. if you have a Saab 900, Saab will still have a good amount of spares listed. If you have a Skoda Estelle (105,120, 130) or a Rapid Coupe, Skoda UK (under orders from VW) will do anything in their power to get them off the road. It was an order when they first took over that if anyone traded a Rapid or Estelle in against a Favorit or Felicia, and later the Fabia or Octavia, that no matter how good the condition (could be concourse for all they cared) it was to be scrapped and crushed. It could not be sold to the public or trade for resale. They wanted to irradicate traces of the rear engines cars that got such bad press as being unreliable, and funny. ironically they are scrapping cars that have done good service to their last owner at were at the end of a life upto 25 years old. Also VW made it a policy that if companies wanted to remain main dealer franchises, they had to move to huge massive VW style showrooms, instead of the smaller family run businesses that always kept skoda alive in the UK. Dealers have prefered to switch main brands than be blackmailed into debt and a bigger showroom. This lead to new Skoda dealerships opening, and the old ones becoming different brands, and Skoda independants. I imagine this has happened under Saab/GM too. -- Carl Robson The poster formally known as Skodapilot. http://www.bouncing-czechs.com
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