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What does that have to do with it?
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Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Fri, 17 Jan 2003 18:46:34 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: How much of the original FWD Volvos were DAF? nm, Ian Glenday [Profile/Gallery] , Fri, 17 Jan 2003 16:09:29
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I'm not sure where you're going with this... It doesn't matter that FWD Volvos weren't made from DAF parts - they were made with Volvo parts. All cars must evolve over time to stay current with technology and customer demand, but there's a big difference between going from RWD to FWD (or in Saab's case going from 2-stroke to 4-stroke) and taking a "lesser" car and putting a premium brand sticker on it and convincing people it's still a premium product.

FWD Volvos were (are) made with Volvo engines and Volvo transmissions and all thrown together on a Volvo chassis and buttoned up with a Volvo body. Taking a Subaru engine, a Subaru transmission, throwing it all on a Subaru chassis and then calling it a Saab might put people off. If the underpinnings are entirely Subaru, why not save your money and buy a Subaru?

There is an important difference between component sharing (Jaguar S/X-Type, VW/Audi products, etc.) and rebadging, especially as far as the marketplace is concerned. Yeah, enthusiasts will always complain about the loss of purity when their Jag sprouts Ford window switches or their Bentley is suddenly powered by VW engine, but one thing that has been demonstrated time and time again is that car buyers will not pay premium prices for a gussied-up common car. The Cadillac Cimarron comes to mind, but there are other similar examples like the Acura SLX or even the Infiniti I30. It takes a LOT of work to disguise one car as another, and IMHO it would take a miracle to convince the car-buying market that a boxer-powered AWD car about the size of an Impreza was actually a Saab. The automotive press freaked out when the NG900 was based on an Opel - I can only imagine their reaction when they find out the "9-2" (or whatever it'll be called) is an Impreza.

Honestly, I've always seen Subaru as the Japanese equivalent of Saab - off doing their own thing because they feel good about it - but I'm not entirely sure that combining two of the quirkiest marques in the world is a good idea, at least not from a marketing perspective. I can see it now... "Yes, the key goes down there, yes it has a turbo, yes it's a hatchback, yes it's a flat four, yes the window switches are in the middle, no we don't know why they did it that way, but look, it's really neat!"

-Justin

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