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, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 13:42:21
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Saabs were great in the mid-80s in large part because of the design, drivability and uniqueness of their cars. However, the cars were not reliable enough, and Saab subsequently made a number of poor business choices, including the redisign of the 900, which in my view was horrible. All through the 90s, the car looked like a cheap economy car for which Saarged a premium. And it was still relatively unreliable and couldn't compete on performance with BMW, et al. Why buy it? The 9000 had the same problems. Lack of marketing didn't help either. I have no idea who was responsible for those decisions, but Saab had only itself to blame.
Finally, the 9-5 represented an obvious desire to get back to the successful design of the mid-80s 900, and had increased reliability. My 02 Aero sedan is a superb car, a great value, and looks like I think a Saab should look. My friends who know nothing about Saab love the car.
I think that Saab still has enough goodwill and uniqueness to be a good investment. Obviously GM thinks so too. If Saab/GM want to get serious, they will have to spend serious cash on advertising, and design the top end cars of their lines to compete with the big boys. For example, create an AWD, 300hp 9-5. And I think that the Subaru combo is a great idea and could catch on with entry level male purchasers - exactly the marketshare that Saab needs to capture for the long haul. The new convertible is great too.
And they need to increase their production capacity significantly to handle the increased demand. I would think that GM could handle that. However, I do know that increasing capacity can be unbelievably expensive, so it's likely a very difficult choice.
If they can't, don't or are unwilling do this, the car game has changed so much in the past 20 years that Saab will be gone in the next ten (in my humble opinion) - or at least gone as we know it.
posted by 4.19.9...
, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 09:38:38
, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 15:07:14, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 21:43:11, Sat, 9 Aug 2003 10:03:00, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 13:42:21
, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 10:38:03, Fri, 8 Aug 2003 21:53:45
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