There’s a story in Dagens Industri where they ask whether or not Saab will file for bankruptcy. Victor Muller’s answer to that question could be summarised with a “No”. That is, whilst there is still negotiations to be made and a climate that allows them, our people will continue to do everything they can to save this company rather than file for bankruptcy.
We’d all prefer some definitive good news right now. As a Saab person, I take the fact that people are still working hard to get an outcome that sees us continue business, as being a good thing. If there were no hope for a resolution, there would be no ongoing negotiations.
If you didn’t read Part 1, read it now. Then click the part 2 link. It’s your must-read for today’s Saabosphere.
Wulf casts his critical eye over his Saab 9-4x 3.0 Premium’s interior to see how it passes muster.
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You might remember that two blogs, SaabActu and Saablog-In, were running a photo competition for the Saab Dealer Tour of France.
It looks like the entries are in and there are some fantastic photos amongst them. Head over to either of the blogs to check them out.
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I link from time to time to the Charles River Saab weblog, written and maintained by a good friend of mine, Pierre Belperron.
Pierre has written a wonderful piece today that focuses on one of his favourite retailers, a small audio/electronics store that unfortunately went into liquidation a few years ago.
His story poses more than a few questions for companies like Saab, especially with recent commentary stating that kids prefer smartphones to cars.
There were several articles online a few weeks ago about the Swedish police placing an order for 50 Volkswagens to be used as police cars. Several of them emphasised the fact that the police had not bought Saabs and used this as a judgement against Saab, as if the police didn’t find a current Saab suitable.
That’s some considerable distance from being accurate. The sad fact is that we weren’t able to fill an order for the Swedish police due to our production halt. We could not assure them of delivery by their required date and sadly, they had to shop elsewhere. It had nothing to do with any opinion they held about the car. In fact, they were very keen on the Saab 9-5, as you can see below.
The Swedish police evaluated the Saab 9-5 V6 for operational purposes in September 2010 and I’ve received the OK to share their findings here on Inside Saab. This is a public document and as such, can’t be altered from the original Swedish, but I have been allowed to provide a translation in text.
This is somewhat different to a regular road test. There’s no comments on who the car’s vehicular relatives might be, no whipcrack remarks about re-sale, interior materials or competitive placement. It’s all purely and simply about how the vehicle performs relative to the needs of the police force. The police have to be able to drive the pants off this car if necessary, and still feel confident that the car will be stable and dependable.
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Page 1 provides some details as to the test itself: location, who was present and the type of vehicle tested.
The car is a Saab 9-5 V6 and is noted as being a prototype (i.e. pre-production) vehicle with a chassis setup specifically for the police. The weather was 11 degrees C, with dry and sunny conditions. It also states in summary the tests performed and a pass or fail grade: Brakes, Konbana (slalom), Evasive Actions, Brakes with Evasive Actions, Emergency Driving on Public Roads.
At the bottom, you can see some green text with a check mark, stating that the vehicle is considered suitable as a police car.
Page 2 is concerned with the braking test, checking brake temperatures and braking distances over a session of 10 braking runs.
The tester notes the following:
The vehicle in question had an incorrect type of vacuum pump which affected the braking distance slightly. Overall, there was nothing to complain about, with no fading at all.
Page 3 – ‘Konbana’ is a slalom course (the fun stuff!). Note that the test course was driven without stability control up to 75km/h without incident or difficulty.
The drivers remarks translate as follows:
Fantastic handling, excellent response throughout the manoeuvre. The chassis is impressive. Even without the electronic stability control system there is no problem to run the course.
Page 4
Minimal notes on page 4.
Page 5 – This test was concerned with braking and evasive manoeuvres, conducted at increasing speeds.
The drivers notes from this test:
An extremely stable and flexible chassis. The car does exactly as the driver wants (with) a huge steering response. A really great car, very easy to drive with either under- or oversteer. It lets nothing on the outer wheel, the fact that you can travel at nearly 2.5 tonnes will not even notice. Power steering is very precise and easy to handle.
The chassis is so well prepared and adapted to the weight, to manoeuvre clear without a hitch. Even without a ESP system switched on, no problem taking the car through the course at 105 km/h – which must be considered a new record!
And the final page:
Final remarks:
There is nothing negative to say at all, a fantastic chassis.
Lateral movements at high speeds (~ 220 km / h) are very stable and safe.
Altogether it is estimated that this chassis is the best thing that has ever been tested and therefore awarded the highest rating class: full marks
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So there you see the results for yourself.
These vehicles would have been supplied in the Swedish market and I spoke briefly with Saab’s Director for the Nordic region, Magnus Hansson.
We received great feedback from the Swedish Police, who are as heartbroken as we are that we weren’t able to deliver cars to them this year. Based on their tests, the looks of the car, and word of mouth amongst the Swedish police etc, they would really love to get into our new 9-5s. We can’t wait to renew our relationship with them in the near future.
It’s to our detriment that we weren’t able to fill the order, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be doing our utmost to do so in the future. We’re very proud of our history in terms of supplying quality vehicles for emergency services in Sweden.
Many of our staff get to drive new Saab vehicles as part of their daily routine. A lot of them are testing vehicle components, or they might have a car assigned to their area for use.
There’s a quite a lot, a majority in fact, who don’t. And seeing many of them have some down time at the moment, we thought it would be a good idea to give them an opportunity to drive most of our latest offerings. A staff drive event kicked off last week at Saab and is running for another few weeks, giving Saab employees the opportunity to check out models that they may not have had a chance to drive yet.
There are four vehicles in the fleet made available for this period.
Saab 9-5 TTiD
Saab 9-3 Griffin TTiD (low emissions 180hp)
Saab 9-3 Griffin Convertible
Saab 9-4x
I jumped in with a few guys from our Parts Analysis area today as they took the Saab 9-4x for a spin. The 9-4x is proving to be the most popular model in this test. As it’s not made here in Trollhattan and is only present in very limited numbers here, this presents a prime first opportunity for nearly everyone who gets into the car.
Mats, Johnny and Lars-Erik all took a turn driving the 9-4x and all gave it a resounding thumbs up at the end of the drive.
I sat in the back for the whole trip – a first for me – and was pretty impressed by that panoramic sunroof. Even with the glass section open, the wind is deflected in such a way that you can only feel the faintest feather of a breeze from the back seat.
I also discovered that you can control the radio station from the rear seat control panel – something parents might want to keep in mind if they have curious kiddies in the back (I’m not sure if there’s a way to disable this).
After riding with the guys in the 9-4x, I grabbed the keys for a solo drive in the low emissions Saab 9-3 Griffin TTiD. Once again I came away keenly impressed by the 9-3, which despite some age is carrying itself extremely well.
I was particularly interested in this low emissions model and how it would drive. Saab sell versions of this car with 130, 160 and 180hp and all of them attract tax reductions in appropriate markets. The 180hp version that drove is outstanding. The torque on this car is amazing and it pulls effortlessly from all speeds.
Like many of you, I’m not from a particularly diesel-friendly country so I’ve always owned pertol-driven cars. I’d own this in a heartbeat. It’s so easy to drive and the Griffin enhancements (leather/textile trim, rear spoiler (below), front fogs, etc) accent the vehicle beautifully. This is a great way to send out the 9-3, trust me.
The drive program goes for another few weeks.
I’m sure there are going to be a lot of first-time drives in that time, and a lot of smiling faces as Saab employees get to check out the company’s latest offerings.
If only we could get these into showrooms and on the road!
We’ve had a pretty good run with Saab 9-4x road tests. The 9-4x is an outstanding entry into the crossover segment for Saab and early 9-4x road tests confirmed what we thought about our new vehicle.
There have been a couple of reports in the last week, however, that are a cause for concern. The one that I’d like to respond to here is a short test from Car and Driver, which popped up on my feeds earlier today.
So how does a motoring journalist raise the hairs on the back of my neck and inspire a response article with as little as his first eleven words?
What Is It?
It’s a Cadillac SRX crossover in Swedish clothing
I’m not here to pick a fight with Car & Driver, but this opening is so formulaic and it doesn’t do justice to what’s supposed to be a review by one of America’s premier sources of automotive information.
More than that, though, it’s just plain inaccurate.
Forgive the lack of postings here over the weekend but it was a BIG three days on the road, travelling 1,140kms in a Saab 9-4x between Friday and Sunday afternoon.
I’ll be writing about it all in the coming days, but we took in the Midnight Sun Rally in Västerås on Saturday and then some time in Stockholm on Sunday. I tried to call in on a few friends to give them a test drive but they seemed to be on vacation and wouldn’t answer the door:
Note to editors: That is what’s referred to as subtle humour. Please ensure that you’re knickers don’t get in a twist.
I’ll have all the action from Saturday morning’s rallying and some great Saab pics from both Västerås and Stockholm coming later on.
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Must Read – I think I’ll do a “must read” every week from now on. if you’re only going to hit one link on this entry for further reading, the must read is the one.
Today’s Must Read is from Autoweek. Their editors have recently noted their thoughts on the Saab 9-5 Aero they have in their long-term test fleet and they make for some good reading. There are six editors thoughts recorded. Here’s a sample from just one of them:
I find the car’s styling is attractive in a classic sense. I suspect it will still look good once the last payment is made. Inside, the car is functional and offers just the right Saab-style appointments and extras, such as the Saab-centric center-mounted ignition button and mandatory turbo boost gauge, the clean center stack, the huge sunroof covered by a linen sunshade, the well-bolstered leather seats, and flat-bottomed thick leather-wrapped steering wheel. I still miss the artistic Transformer like pop-out cupholders, but I can forgo that stuff for this overall better car.
If you only read one article here, make it this one.
There are no long-term test drive thoughts, yet, just the specifications (and boy, did they ever have a good time with the options list!)
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A reader of the Globe and Mail writes in to them and asks“Can Saab Survive? Should I buy one?” Many jokes follow (it’s part of the columnist’s schtik) before they conclude that No, the reader shouldn’t buy a Saab, or a Volvo, for that matter.
My advice – check out the cars for yourself. You wouldn’t go to a butcher to get your shoes repaired so why go to a newspaper to get a definitive answer on what car you should buy? Newspapers are to there to provide opinions, but your own opinion is just as valid as theirs and the only way to make your mind up is to check the car out for yourself.
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The Motor Report recently tested the Saab 9-5 Vector in Australia. They complained about the price of the vehicle but found it to be a good driver, over all.
What got me confused was their comparison at the end, comparing the 9-5 Vector to a BMW 325i (amongst others). They concede that the BMW feels asthmatic and cramped compared to the 9-5, but feels more ‘planted’ on the road. The last comment is fair enough because that is BMW’s forte, but it just seemed like a strange comparison to make given the different emphasis each vehicle has.
As I said, check them out for yourselves, according to your own priorities and tastes.
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The last few years have taken their toll and we have some work to do in Australia when it comes to customer satisfaction levels.
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It was nice to see our batch of Saab 9-6 images got picked up by a few motoring websites. There are a lot of interesting stories to tell here at Saab and I’m looking forward to sharing more of them – especially from the Saab Museum.
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And finally, for those with an interest in advertising…… Business Insider has a study into which parts of an advertisement get the most viewing time from both men and women.
There are three ads used in the study – a woman in a bikini, a woman in a pair of sneakers (yes, just sneakers) and an ad for the Saab 9-5.
Check it out and see some of the finer details that ad people have to think about. (link is to the 9-5 pages only, if you want to look at ladies in bikinis and sneakers then you’ll have to do so consciously 🙂 )
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The end of the weekend saw my wife and I attend the conclusion of Fallens Dagar here in Trollhattan. The fireworks were something to behold as they go off right above your head. There’s also the release of water from the Göta älv, which is quite picturesque at 11pm.
If you want suggestions for a good time to visit Trollhattan, either during the Saab Festival or during Fallens Dagar are pretty good, and occasionally those two events are on at the same time.
There’s an event on Facebook called Save Saab. We didn’t create it, but I’m sure all Saab employees and fans appreciate the fact that it’s there.
The event is tomorrow and the location – the whole world. It’s a non-geographic event. A show of support. Go to the event page and click “I’m attending” to show your support. We really do appreciate all of you.
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Whilst our executive team are working their tails off to ensure the liquidity we need to proceed, there are plenty of pundits lining up to write our obituary. We’re a big, fat, easy target.
With that in mind, it’s been nice to see someone looking at alternative points of view. Matt De Bord at BNET has taken a look at three ways Saab might survive the current situation.
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At what age do you consider it OK for your booster-seat-age child to buckle themselves in?
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If you’ve ever wondered if, or how, your Saab addiction might effect your partner, then this article is for you. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story of Saab addiction written by Barbara Scully, a Saab-widow from Ireland.
I felt so moved by it that I left a comment in support (of her husband! 🙂 )
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Some reviews that are worth a look……
Car and Driver have done a short review of the 2.0T version of the Saab 9-5 sedan. I found it quite heartening because the 2.0T has been my personal preference when it comes to this car. It was nice to see they also commended the ‘smaller’ 9-5.
…..the 9-5 sedan is by far Saab’s best product in recent memory……
[the 2.0T’s] competent dynamics and roughly 10-grand-cheaper point of entry make it the deal of the lineup.
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The Age newspaper in Australia has reviewed the Saab 9-5 and think it’s a great car, but the situation with the company stops them short of recommending it strongly. (Video)
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The Independent (UK) has published a very good review of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi based on a pre-release drive. It makes for some very good reading…..
Would it make me buy a 9-5 Sportwagon over an obvious German rival? I do believe it would
……And the picture accompanying it is one of the best photos of the Combi I’ve seen.
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I’d like to send a small note of well-wishing to some good friends, Rune and Anna, who got married on the weekend.
You might remember them from the 2,000km trip to northern Sweden that I took a few weeks ago. That trip was to pick up Rune’s car after some accident repairs. Today, the same car played a role in their wedding day.
Congratulations, guys. Wish so much that we could have been there.
It’s been another week where Saab has been covered with some great stories out in the Saabosphere. Let’s a look at some of the links we liked this week.
There’s nothing like a good spirited discussion and Saabs United had one a few days ago, debating the various options available for marketing and pricing Saab cars in the US. I read through the entire discussion when it was around 180 comments in length. It’s at 358 comments as I write this and that’s substantial, both in terms of quantity and in most cases, quality.
‘BaileyUSA115’ has a fantastic set of photos from the Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals held a week or so ago in Pennsylvania, including some great shots from the Saab Heritage Collection displayed at the show, and other Saabs that were gathered at the event (close to 300 of them!)
Saab was involved in sponsorships of two different golf events in Wales over the last week.
PowerPlay Golf is a new type of golf tournament, with the rules formulated to make the short form of the game more interesting and engaging for viewers and players alike.
For the golf fans out there, Colin Montgomery can explain it better than I can…..
The first PowerPlay Golf Tournament was held just over a week ago, at Celtic Manor, in Wales. With Saab sponsorship in place it seems fitting that the tournament, which features men and women playing in the same competition against one another, was won by a Swede:
Caroline Hedwall upstaged major champions and Ryder Cup stars by winning the inaugural PowerPlay Golf event at the Celtic Manor in Wales.
The 22-year Swede scored 32 Stableford points, 18 of which came on the final three holes, in a new shortened version of the game played over nine holes.
And in a rare double for Saab, Golf and Wales, last weekend saw another Swede winning a Saab-sponsored tournament, the Saab Wales Open.
Alexander Noren of Sweden beat Denmark’s Anders Hansen and Gregory Bourdy of France by two shots to win the Saab Wales Open at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.
Noren began the final round one clear of the field and he fired a solid closing 70 that included two birdies and just one bogey at the driveable par-4 15th. It was a second European Tour title for the Swede and he was delighted with his consistency through the week.
Congratulations from Saab to both Caroline and Alexander for their success this week!
