[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Who is the President of SAAB? Who is the new design guy >>> Posted by Scott Paterson [Email] (#13) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Scott Paterson) on Mon, 6 Aug 2001 11:56:17 In Reply to: Who is the President of SAAB? Who is the new design guy >>>, LSaab, Mon, 6 Aug 2001 10:27:01 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Michael Maurer is the designer that came from Mercedes and Dan Chassins is president of SaabUSA.
-Scott
--
Designer visions and imagination will visualize the future Saab brand
In the next couple of years, the Saab brand of the future will be visualized in a series of concept cars, and the company's design department is determined to make them really strong. Michael Mauer, the new head of Saab design, and his department are profoundly involved in the development of these concepts.
"I see lots of opportunities, a strong image, a strong heritage, a reputation for safety and performance and, what's more, unique design within Saab of today," he says. "Saab cars have always been perceived as unique and I believe that we should move on in that direction," he says. "That's why we're going to design strong image carriers beside the basic programme. You'll soon see creative models that underscore the Saab values and bring forward the characteristics of the brand."
Michael Mauer is of the opinion that anyone can design a concept car without a message. "Coming up with a nice shell is rather easy. All it takes is some styling and design cues, and that's what almost every manufacturer in the industry is doing today. The tough point, however, is to realise concepts that really bring forward the essence of a specific brand. From that perspective Saab has a great opportunity."
Saab to build even more on design Michael Mauer regards Saab as a design oriented company, and he believes that the key to future success is to build even more on design. "Saab cars are fun to drive, they're safe and the product quality is good. But the area where an automotive brand really can differentiate itself is emotion and design, and we are moving in that direction. This will be highly apparent with the concept cars to come."
Creativity is now one of highest ranked interests within Saab. The company's designers are encouraged to use all of their visionary and imaginative skills, along with the skills of the engineers and the marketing people, to come up with brand focused concepts.
"The Saab brand is our point of departure and therefore we need to use flexible architecture solutions that allow us to realise creative ideas about future products from Saab. The architecture for the Saab 9-5 successor will be designed in the city of Göteborg, Sweden, and that offers a superb opportunity for us to implement our ideas in future Saab cars."
Smooth design process leads to less exciting results "Creative processes are not necessarily smooth ones. On the contrary, my opinion is that smooth design processes often lead to less exciting results. The process of working and re-working a concept is crucial. Engineers and designers often have different opinions about what's right and wrong, good and bad."
"I encourage this type of process since I know it will result in very exciting cars from Saab," Michael Mauer ends.
posted by 65.11.10...
_______________________________________ Saabnet.com Webmaster Saabs Owned: 1973 Saab Sonett III (Current) 1983 Saab 900 Turbo 1985 Saab 900 Sedan 1990 Saab 900 1992 Saab 900S 1999 Saab 9-3 Turbo 2005 Saab 9-2X Aero (RIP 95K/Accident-guy ran stop sign) 2005 Saab 9-2X Aero (Current) 2007 Saab 9-3 SportCombi 2010 Saab 9-3X Wagon Winner 1996 Saab Owners Convention Rally Novice Class Winner 1999 Saab Owners Convention Rally (All Classes) Also Founder of two non-profits: Poverty2Prosperity.org RunClubMenloPark.org
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.