UPDATED – see below! What’s with the Saab99Turbo Extra button? Ever since the Top Gear story on Saab, I’ve had a steady flow of web searchers landing here looking for information on the Saab 99Turbo Extra button. People seem to want to know what the extra button was for. James and Jeremy gave us no real insight other than proving
I figured I better catch up with what’s happening in Saab-land. It’s been a busy week with Youngman “pulling out” of negotiations to buy the company and a new company gaining momentum as a possible buyer. They say a week is a long time in either politics or football. It seems a lot can happen in a bankruptcy, too. Youngman
Thoughts on Youngman’s departure and the future of electric/hybrid Saabs Read Post »
Swade warned me this could be a tough row to hoe. After all, isn’t a company going into bankruptcy a pretty clear sign that their marketing has failed? It’s certainly not the most positive demonstration of engagement with their customers. However, putting all that aside (even if you can’t, humour me…) I still think that Saab marketing got some things
For the record, I think the answer to the question is ‘Yes’. But it’s worth exploring nonetheless. There are plenty of cars that don’t get sold in the United States. Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, most Fiats, Renault, Skoda, just to name a few. Even Volvo have been re-thinking what they offer in the US and plenty of other car companies offer
Should a re-born Saab sell in the United States? Read Post »
[cp_divide color=”#919191″ height=”1″ width=”100″] There’s been an interesting discussion going on between some former Saab employees on one of the professional social networking sites. The discussion has focused one the things Saab could do to improve itself if/when the company is purchased and re-launched some time in the future. My main contribution was concerned with better utilisation of the talent
For months now, we’ve heard GM spokesman James Cain come out and say things like this: TT: Why did you not agree to meet them? – We stand by our policy not to sell technology licenses to a new owner for Saab. TT: Not in any way? – No. TT: Typically in business, everything has a price tag. – Not
A small ray of hope for Saab, thanks to Brightwell Read Post »
Thanks to all who voted in the Who would you like to see as Saab’s new owner poll and shared some thoughts via comments. The outcome was interesting, to say the least. The three known players had very different results, with Mahindra getting 64% of the vote, Youngman just 15% and the Sino/Japanese electric consortium just 2% of the vote.
Bids for the purchase of Saab Automobile are due by April 10th, which means it’s crunch time in Trollhattan. Who would you rather see as Saab’s new owner? I was going to introduce this poll with an overview of the three ‘known’ parties that are reported to be interested in purchasing Saab Automobile. According to all the reports, they are:
Poll: Who would you like to see as Saab’s new owner? Read Post »
I noted with some interest that British journo and Saab fan, Graeme Lambert, has just taken a Saab 9000 Aero as a long-term test vehicle. Nice move! Being a fan of practical classics, I’m looking forward to reading his thoughts. A few weeks ago, I caught up with a friend of mine in Victoria – a 9000 Aero owner named
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
Electric cars should not be Saab’s immediate future (or anyone else’s) Read Post »
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
