News reports state that there’s a new bidder in the hunt for Saab Automobile’s bankrupt estate. Apparently it’s a consortium of Chinese and Japanese investors who are looking to build electric cars. Is it just me, or has this got disaster written all over it?
I retain some hope that Saab can be sold to a buyer who wants to make Saabs. Personally speaking, if that company is to be chosen from Mahindra, Youngman, or this Sino-Japanese consortium, then my vote goes to Mahindra. They are a genuine international industrial company who I think have a realistic feel for what’s actually involved in the car industry and can see a role for Saab in their portfolio. Unfortunately, though, realism hasn’t played a prominent role in the fate of Saab for some time.
Reports coming through (covered on SU today) seem to indicate that the Swedish government are neck-deep in talks regarding this electric car proposition. This isn’t overly surprising as the government in Sweden seems fixated on outcomes that either confirm or deliver political messages. Electric cars present a nice, happy, ‘green’ picture that’s very Swedish, even if it’s not overly realistic.
After a looooooong cricket season, southern Australia can breathe a collective sigh of relief – footy’s back.
Tonight, my beloved Carlton Football Club will take on Richmond in the traditional season opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I’ll be at home, on the edge of my seat, willing the Blues on to another Round 1 rout of the Tigers.
Two of the guys to watch tonight will be Tasmanian, Mitch Robinson (#12) and Carlton’s captain Chris Judd (#5).
Robbo’s playing his 50th game tonight and will hopefully attack the contest with his usual vigour (see the video, below). For those non-Aussies watching, all these things are good….. 🙂
Whatever the AFL forked out for AC/DC’s anthem It’s A Long Way To The Top, it’s presumably more than the pair of dark Navy Blue guernseys it cost the then Carlton General Manager Keith “Caper” McKenzie to stitch up Swedish supergroup ABBA way back in ’77.
With the League landing Australia’s unofficial national anthem for use through 2012, thoughts turn to ABBA, specifically its old music clip “Chiquitita”, in which Agnetha Fältskog can be seen belting out the hit sporting the famous CFC across her front.
McKenzie, who turns 90 in April, vividly recalled the chain of events which led to Anna and her fellow ABBA songstress Frida Lyngstad getting decked out in dark Navy Blue 35 years ago this month.
“When we knew they were about to land at Tullamarine I told our marketing bloke Michael Whitewood, ‘Grab a couple of guernseys, get up to the airport and take them out to ABBA’,” said McKenzie of one of the all-time great club marketing triumphs.
“The band later headed out to Western Australia to play for shows wearing the jumpers. I don’t know what guernsey numbers they got, but it was a real coup.”
I’ve had this information hanging around on another domain for some time, but feared it would drop off the web and never be seen again (long story).
Soooo…… I figured it was high time to get the Saab Support Convoy logs from January 2010 here on Swadeology. It was a wonderful campaign and one that I was very proud to be involved in, hence my desire to keep a record intact.
If you go to the menu at the top of the website, you’ll see a button called “SOC 2010”. Hover on that one and several regional options will appear. Hover on one of those and a selection of locations within that region will appear.
If you’d like to re-live one of the good times, please check them out.
We have a little email group here in Australia and every day we address certain issues confronting the motoring world. It’s a tough job, but someone has to sort these things out.
Right now, we’re trying to find one of our people a new vehicle. There are set criteria in place, of course, and it’s been fun to see the suggestions being thrown around.
One of the models that came up in discussion was the Audi A3/S3 and I have to confess I teed off on it. It’s fair to say I’m not a fan.
My main argument lies with the A3 (as distinguished from the S3), which I see as little more than a gussied up Volkswagen Golf. Recent models are a little more distinctive, but the A3’s I see mostly here in Hobart are around 5 years old, like the one to the right, and whenever I see one, as I did on the way home from work tonight, the only thing I can think is “What a knob!”
The A3 of this era comes across to me as an old-school GM attempt to squeeze more money out of a small platform without really trying that hard. It’s bland beyond belief and at the price you’d pay for a new one (back when they were new) you would have been much more entertained with a Golf GTI. The GTI is a much more genuine car, too, with all of its hot hatch heritage intact. All Audi can do is try to dress that heritage in some fancier clothes.
The A3 of this era is a cash grab, plain and simple, and as such is a car for those with more money than sense.
The A3 of today looks a little more distinctive, but still plays in a segment that the Golf basically owns – the compact five door hatch market. You can pay as much as A$60,000 for a new A3 here in Australia (the ‘kick me’ sign for your back comes free). Why anyone would do that when you can get, once again, a Golf GTI for $15,000 less is beyond me. Sure, the Audi might have a nicer interior, but it’s not as if it’s awe inspiring and the GTI’s interior is poor by comparison.
The S3 is a little more compelling. It’s got a more powerful engine, more aggressive styling and again, a theoretically more sporty interior. But is the interior comparison that compelling in favour of the S3?
S3 above, GTI below……
If you think the A3 is expensive, then how about around A$80,000 for an Audi S3? You can get a 2012 model DSG Golf GTI for around $30,000 less, not to mention plenty of other hot hatches that will deliver plenty of motoring thrills, even if they’re missing the cachet afforded to the four-ringed badge right now.
Make no mistake, Audi make some wonderful motor cars. They are very close to out-Teutonic-ing the other storied German brands right now. It’s just that when it comes to the A3/S3 range, I reckon they’re laughing all the way to the bank and if you’ve bought one, they’re not laughing with you.
My final argument – why on earth would you spend $80,000 on an Audi S3, a performance oriented compact luxury vehicle, when you could spend the same money and get any of these (none of which, I might add, match the criteria for a new car that started this whole discussion, but still……).
All of those cars make a much more compelling argument for me at that price. More class, better fun, better re-sale, better in pretty much every way except carrying capacity.
Kudos to the guys from foundourownroad.com for getting these photos of a batch of Saabs held up on the docks in the US.
These are the last Saabs to arrive there and once they hit the auction houses, they will be the last Saabs sold there (save for a buyer for the company being announced and production being resumed – either way, they’re the last Saabs ever into the US or the last for a very long time).
Many more photos and thoughts by the photographers at the link above.
Saabworld has the story in some more depth. The cars were held due to a dispute between an ailing Saab Cars North America and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC and a big part of the financial equation when it comes to dealer financing).
Saabworld is also saying that Ally Financial has won the legal argument, though I don’t seem to be able to find a story to that effect online at the moment.
All the arguments aside, it’s a sad postscript to a very bad 2011.
I hope this video amazes you as much as it amazed me. Take note of the final flight shot taken from the ground.
The video was sent to me by PT, my colleague here on the site. It not only confirms the quietness of my existence, but also that there’s so much about China that the average westerner is still to learn.
The Saab Museum in Trollhattan is re-opening this weekend. Hurrah!!!
I figured it might be a good time to share this little story. My own bit of mischievous Saab Spirit in action….
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I went back to Sweden in January. My main aim was to clean up my flat, sell my car, and most importantly, catch up with friends and former colleagues from Saab.
On my last day in Sweden, I spent some time at the Nova restaurant, next to the Saab museum, giving a presentation to some of the Saab workers who gather there each Friday morning. Peter Backstrom also presented at this meeting. It was pitched as a battle of the heavyweights 🙂
Between the meeting and getting my taxi to Landvetter airport, I spent a final hour or so at the Saab Museum. It was only a matter of days at that point, since the announcement that the Saab Museum had been saved thanks to a deal done between the City of Trollhattan, Saab AB and the Wallenburgs.
As a result, there were a few items at the museum that were no longer needed.
I’d already packed away my Saabs United Award trophy, which I wanted to bring home for a little while, but I couldn’t resist securing a few of these other small momentos to carry with me.
These are kept in my wallet. If you don’t recognise them, these are two of the stickers that Sweden’s state debt collectors, Kronofogden, placed on a few of the cars at the Saab Museum. Any car with a sticker on it was earmarked for liquidation in order to reclaim debts being managed by Kronofogden. As the museum was now secured, the stickers were no longer necessary.
One of them was liberated from the window of the Saab 9x Concept Car. I can’t remember the other one, but I think it might have been from a Saab Sonett III.
It’s just a little momento from my time at Saab and a reminder of all that went so horribly wrong back in 2011.
I liked these the moment I saw them. Like miniature Marshall stacks for your ears. Such an obvious product for Marshall to make but surprisingly one that took them a long time to get around to. I guess Dr Jim is such a busy guy keeping the rock gods of the world amplified that a sideline into headphones was always just pushed to the back of the desk. Well, whatever finally allowed him to get to it, I’m glad he did.
They’re not fancy but that’s part of the appeal. A simple, folding design for easy and damage-free transport. A decent, soft-touch lead with a spring-coil section to prevent sudden jerks to ones cranium. A proper, metal plug with a spring protector for the lead. That wonderfully minimalist Marshall logo in cursive script, just like their amplifiers. Quality sound with depth, clarity and power.
Possibly not the absolute ultimate headphones for the fanatical audiophile and there are no claims of noise reduction either. Nevertheless, I’m not arguing. After all, plug in and you’re listening to your music through Marshalls. Other companies can make all the claims they like but when all is said and done, they’re not Marshalls. Sometimes, I think its ok to be a bit cool.
Footnote: This is not a review. It’s purely a personal opinion and offered without any connection to, or provision from Marshall. I bought these headphones with my own cash and have been using them happily since December 2011.
UPDATE: There is some Veloster news from Australia today, both good and bad. The good news for Hyundai is that they’re essentially sold out of Velosters at the moment. New buyers will have to wait three months for the 2+1 coupes, which according to Hyundai is a very pleasant surprise.
The bad news is that whilst the Veloster Turbo will be coming here mid-year, it’s predicted to sell for around $35K. It wasn’t so long ago that Hyundai got a foothold in the Aussie market selling cheap and cheerful hatchbacks for $13,000 on the road. Even if they can tune the chassis adequately (it takes more than just a turbo engine to make a decent driver) $35K seems like a bit too much, too soon, for a Hyundai hatch.
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I never, ever thought I’d use the words “like” and “Hyundai” in the same sentence (not without including the words “to mock”, at least).
I remember a reader back in the SU days, a guy from Ireland called “J-Fan”, who trumpeted Hyundai’s virtues and was dismissed as quite possibly being mentally deficient by many at the time, me included (he’s still around, too – hello J-Fan). I drove an i30 for a week around 18 months ago and I thought it was absolute rubbish.
But I have to admit, I like the Hyundai Veloster. J-Fan’s revenge, perhaps?
I like what I see as a pretty funky design choice, with one door on the driver’s side and two doors on the passenger side. It’s perfect for someone who prefers coupes but sometimes has to carry someone in the back. I like the way they’ve executed the door designs, too. What I admire even more, however, is the courage and commitment Hyundai have shown to actually build this vehicle, and especially the fact that they’re building it in both right- and left-hand drive.
Have a look over the following video. Get past the hipster stuff and weigh up the offering objectively. If you find the design interesting, then it’s a very curious proposition.
The additional costs associated with making this 2-1 door configuration into a global vehicle must be huge, but given that Hyundai (and child brand, Kia) have been kicking goals all over the world in the last three years, they can obviously afford to make a statement like the Veloster.
Pros: The styling is cool, the practicality looks great and the equipment list is modern and generous.
Reservations: modest power (when’s that turbo model coming?), driveability, interior materials (horrible in the i30 I drove) and storage space.
I guess the evaluation of those would need a test drive. Hopefully Hyundai might be listening/reading – let’s see how good their media monitors are.
The first book I bought was one that was difficult to get in bookshops here in Australia: Bob Lutz’s Car Guys and Beancounters. Bob Lutz, for those who are unfamiliar, was one of GM’s Vice Presidents during much of the time when they owned Saab Automobile. He was responsible for lifting the overall quality in both manufacturing and design and if you consider GM to have had any sort of renaissance over the last 10 years, Mr Lutz is the man you can thank.
Lutz is a controversial figure, which is why GM loved to wheel him out at any big announcements. He was always good for a quote, so the press loved him, too.
I’ve got mixed feelings about Bob Lutz. On the one hand, there’s a lot that he says that makes sense. The opening of this book contrasts his thoughts on quality with those of some of Ford’s beancounters when he was working there in the late 1970’s. Ford had huge problems at the time with camshafts in their four cylinder engines, with many of them failing just after vehicles had passed their 12,000 mile warranty. Lutz investigated, approved the marginal costs needed to make more durable camshafts and was subsequently lambasted by the beancounters, who enjoyed booking profits on the service work associated with the failures. They estimated the improvement in the camshaft quality cost Ford roughly $50million. To the beancounters’ eyes, these customers were a captive market, with no choice other than to replace the failed camshafts (and associated damage from failures). Lutz correctly argued that the customers’ choice would be made when it came time to replace the vehicle, and the choice wouldn’t be another Ford.
That’s the good Bob Lutz. Make the product better for the benefit of both the company and the customer.
The Bob Lutz I don’t like is the one who cancelled nearly all of Saab’s proposed model range in the few years after GM took 100% ownership of Saab. My understanding is that the Saab 9-3, for example, had 5 different body styles in the works when it was being developed. Saab eventually got just 3 of these to market, but even then the SportCombi took three years to arrive (after the sedan). The planned small crossover version was cancelled as it was thought no-one would like the idea of a smaller SUV ……… right.
This article is going to show you more of the bad Lutz. It’s not necessarily intended that way. My intention was simply to share the quotes referring to Saab that appear in his book. As it happens, those quotes don’t paint him in a good light if you’re a Saab fan.
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Quote 1
….General Motors embarked on a series of initiatives to overcome both the perception and reality of the growing import threat. Some of these taxed the comprehension of rational minds at the time, such as the creation of Saturn, an all-new auto company, making a new kind of car with a new and more productive relationship with the UAW. Another was a mind-boggilingly bold move into China with, of all brands, Buick. There was a series of alliances with various Japanese brands and – after GM was jilted in its quest for Jaguar – the purchase of the decidedly weird Swedish brand Saab. As we shall see, many of these initiatives were ill-advised and ultimately failed. Some were successful, but not enough.
OK, that’s not so bad, I guess. Some might even take a description of Saab being “weird” as a compliment. I don’t think Bob meant it that way, though.
