Just over a week ago, I did a phone interview with SBS Radio, a multi-language media organisation in my home country, Australia.
You should be able to listen to it on the embedded player, below.
If it doesn’t show there (it may drop off the playlist in the coming days) the you can go to the SBS Radio website. The interview should be here.
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My thanks to Johan Gabrielsson from SBS for the opportunity to talk about Saab and the role of that social media is playing within the company.
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I do this personal stuff from time to time…..
It’s Saturday evening here in Trollhattan and it’s been a wonderful day. I spent the afternoon with the family of one of my Saab colleagues in Vanersborg, where there is a festival on this weekend. The sky was bright blue, the sun shining. Their kids were having fun and laughing, we had good food and good conversation. What more could you want?
Well, this morning, hours before that wonderful afternoon, I had a special moment that started my day off just perfectly. It all happened during a Skype call with my wife back in Australia.
I should preface this story by stating that I love my wife very much and the fact that this little highlight from the morning involves my dog rather than her, shouldn’t cast any shadows across our relationship in any way whatsoever 🙂
It was evening back at home and I could hear our cocker spaniel (Charli, a girl) barking at the back door. She’d just eaten her dinner and wanted to come inside. I asked Trish if she could let her in so that I could say ‘Hi’ to her on Skype. I know what many of you are thinking, but the pet owners out there know that I’m not crazy.
Trish set the computer down on the sofa and went to the door. I sat waiting with no small amount of anticipation because the camera on the computer was pointing right at the spot where Charli always runs to when she first comes inside. Sure enough, 20 seconds later there’s a blurry black fluffball with a wagging tail at the other end of the sofa.
Whenever I’ve said hello to Charli on Skype in the past, she has recognised my voice without understanding where it’s coming from. More often than not, she immediately runs to the front door to see where I am. My boundless belief that I have the most intelligent dog in the world is dented momentarily, though it tends to return soon after – a process that I’m sure anyone with either pets or children is familiar with.
This time, however, whilst she looked towards the door, she didn’t run. I said hello again and she actually looked at the computer. Excited by this progress, I began some of that stupid talk that pet owners (and in a slightly different way, the parents of infants) tend to do and she kept on looking at the laptop at the other end of the sofa. Eventually, she even walked towards the computer and to my delight, a giant dog-nose filled my Skype video panel as she sniffed at it.
The penny had finally dropped!! My dog had just grown in intelligence once again!
It caused me some small amount of disappointment when she proceeded to walk around the back of the computer to see if I was hiding behind it. My hopes of her being the first canine Rhodes Scholar were dashed once more.
But the penny had indeed dropped. She had recognised me, even though all that was there in the room was a synthesized voice and a blurry small video image that she couldn’t really see. Somewhere in that tiny head of hers, some puppy-synapses had flashed and she’d finally recognised something that she knew all along.
Right now, though you’re mildly entertained, you’re probably wondering to yourself what the heck has all this got to do with Saab?
Continue reading What Saab can learn from a 4 year old cocker spaniel
As well as covering the corporate stuff on this website, I’ve also been covering a little of my personal journey as an Australian Saab fan relocating to Sweden and getting to grips with life at Saab.
One of my personal quests was to buy a Saab in Sweden so that I could proudly park it in the mothership’s car park, as well as taking in the beautiful surrounds in one of Scandinavia’s finest.
One of the criteria for this quest was to pick up something that I couldn’t easily get back home in Australia. I’d have to say that I’ve failed on that account and will have to keep it in mind for another acquisition in the future. I’d really hoped for a Saab 99 Turbo, but they come up for sale so infrequently here and the examples in good condition command prices that were beyond my budget.
A compromise was therefore in order, and what a delicious compromise it’s turned out to be.
Acquired last Sunday with the help of one of my colleagues at Saab (thanks Ingvar!), this is my new (to me) Saab 900 S turbo. It was built in 1991 and has a low pressure turbo 16-valve engine making 145hp and around 200Nm of torque. It has a cloth interior, no electric anythings and no sunroof. Quite the humble car, then.
What it does have is a great engine and gearbox and in this land of salted snowy winter roads, very little rust. There’s just one wheel arch to be cleaned of metal cancer and repainted.
Those who know me and my motoring history will know that my cars don’t necessarily remain in the same condition as when acquired for very long. I’ll be seeking to do the rust repairs fairly shortly and then I’ll quite possibly call on one of Sweden’s tuning houses to add a little bit of ‘personality’. It won’t be a red rocket, but hopefully it’ll have enough juice to put some steam in your strides.
As you can see, I’m one very happy camper.
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I’ve written few times here about my own personal automotive situation. It’s an interesting conundrum for the devoted Saab fan living in Sweden – there are so many Saabs here that are hard to get elsewhere, and usually at pretty good prices, too. Which model to choose?
Adding to the dilemma is the fact that I absolutely hate not having a car. I bought my first ever car several months before my 18th birthday, the date when I was first eligible to sit my licence test. That little blue Holden Gemini (there, I admitted it) tortured me with daily invitations to see new, exotic places as it sat there in my driveway.
Surprisingly, I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to catching the bus to work in the morning, though missing the bus by a minute (which happened today) exposes the frustrations of public transportation. Not having a car also means that you can’t get to the bigger supermarkets outside of the city, you can’t get down to Ikea to pick up the one or two things that you need for your flat, and you can’t easily get around to visit friends in the area (which is even more important when you’re new in town).
My budget is 30,000 SEK, around A$5K and whilst there’s a fair bit on offer – I can theoretically pick up anything from a 9-5 SportCombi down depending on age – there’s only a few cars that are rare enough to pop up on my radar, which I think I’ve covered adequately in previous posts.
The one criterion of particular importance for me is to get something that’s a bit more difficult to get elsewhere, especially back home in Australia. As much as I love our Saab 9000 back at home, I’m not going to pick one of those up as my main personal car here (maybe I’ll reconsider that in winter). It’s got to be something that I’d find difficult, if not impossible, to access back at home. It doesn’t have to be a car that was never sold back home – I’m not looking for a 600, for example, as cool as it might be – but it should be an edition that was particular to Sweden, or one that is hard to get unless you’re here.
It looked just like this one…..
I was devastated. I really loved that car and it looked even better in person that what it did in the photos – inside and out. It even had the seal of approval from Mrs Swade, who considered it “a cutie” and appreciated the fact that it would be more difficult for me to drive too fast in such a vehicle.
Last week I had a close encounter with one of my other most-wanted dream Saabs – an Acacia Green Saab 99 Turbo. It would have been a miracle had a purchase come about in this instance, but it was worth a try.
This is not the car, but it looks the same…
That was particularly disappointing for me as a 99 Turbo really was a priority on my list. I could spend more time and accumulate some more money, but there are other unique options for less and getting the 99T suddenly seems like a matter that would confer responsibilities that I’m not sure I could meet in terms of preservation, housing, etc.
A new option has popped up. I’ll be looking at it this Sunday, all going well. It’s turbocharged, it looks pretty darn good and best of all, the owner seems like an absolute Saab nut. He’s only selling it because he’s just bought a Saab 900 Aero with only 30,000km on the clock and needs to make room for it. It’s a limited edition and it’s well kitted out, even if the performance is a little less than what I usually go for.
Will I get it?
That, of course, depends on the condition of the car when I see it on the weekend. It seems to tick almost all of the boxes, though. From the description and photos that I’ve seen, it seems to be a very likely candidate. All I can do is cross my fingers, inspect the car and see what it’s like. Hopefully I’ll be in a position to share some photos with you on Sunday evening!
A few people have asked me what it’s like to move from Australia to Sweden to do this job for Saab Automobile. The obvious answer for a Saab nut like me is that it’s a dream come true! The more considered answer, however, is that there’s a lot of things to adjust to and a lot of local ‘stuff’ to get your head around.
For example, what do you do when you get on a bus for the first time only to find out they don’t sell tickets on the bus? Get off and walk?
Continue reading On living in Sweden when you’re not Swedish
For those who haven’t heard yet, Saab has secured short term financing in the order of EUR 59.1million to re-start production at the factory. We are also set to announce a strategic partnership with Hawtai Motor Group, from China. The nature of that partnership is yet to be revealed, however such an announcement can only bring positive benefits for Saab Automobile.
I was in a meeting this afternoon when the short term funding announcement was made and I can tell you that the dual feelings of relief and excitement in the offices at Saab was palpable.
As an enthusiast, I’ve commented several times to the effect that there was no way that I could imagine this company going down. As with the sale from General Motors, there was just too much excellent product in the pipeline – product that is now imminent – and too many interested parties for that to happen.
That’s not to say, however, that the company hasn’t been stretched in an almost unreal manner over the last few weeks.
The factory hasn’t produced a single vehicle since I’ve moved here to Sweden to commence work with Saab. That’s a difficult scenario both for the workers idling at home and the office staff trying to function as usual, making plans for when things get better. It would have been easy to take a doomsday type attitude in the last week, for people to drop their heads and lose some hope. All I’ve seen, however, are people 200% committed to making this company work.
A lot of people have asked me what got Saab into this situation and the honest truth is that I just don’t know. I wouldn’t tell you if I did – that’s a job for someone with greater responsibilities than mine – but I simply don’t.
What I do know is that all the people I’ve met who work for this company, love working for this company. And those are exactly the people we want. My colleague in Saab’s social media area left a more secure job at Ikea to work for Saab. I know guys back in Australia who have come from Mercedes Benz and BMW to work for Saab. People want this company to succeed and they want to be a part of it. Now we have to execute.
We know that the Saab community gets passionate about this brand and we have to be just as passionate about developing, selling and serving the best we can. We have to prove to our customers, our dealer network and most importantly, our suppliers, that we have what it takes to succeed.
We believe the range is in place. Sales of the 9-5, in prior and more ‘normal’ conditions, were growing slowly but surely and the key model for Europe, the SportCombi, is on its way. The Saab 9-4x is already receiving extremely encouraging reviews and more press is on the way next week after a short-lead press introduction in the United States. Finally, the 9-3 Griffin – like wind-up models before it – is the best iteration of the Saab 9-3 that we’ve ever made. It still looks absolutely fantastic and the addition of the new direct injection engine will give the model a new lease of life. And don’t forget the low-emission 9-3 diesels that free owners up from road taxes in a number of countries in Europe.
With the range in place, it will be time for us to execute. I know there are things that need work in my particular area of interest (the web) but I also know that upgrades in that area are coming very, very soon. I know that we have very creative people looking at the best ways to promote our vehicle range in a way that gives us great value for money and will offer the opportunity for great experiences for the public.
We need to play our part, and we will. We also need you to play your part. We have a good order book ready and waiting for the factory re-start, which is very encouraging. Of course, we’ve always got room for more 🙂 .
Thanks for your support and your interest in Saab already. This company just keeps on fighting and we couldn’t do it without you.
So, here I am, sitting in a hotel room in Trollhattan. That’s not a bad place to be on a beautiful Spring day in Sweden, but I’d rather be in a picture like this…..
I’m sort of living in Sweden and sort of not. I don’t have an address here and I’ll be heading back to Australia next week after five weeks away from home in Hobart. But then I’ll be back again, and that’s the way things will go for much of this year. Sweden sometimes, the US or Britain or ….. wherever…… at other times. But mostly here. And that means that after getting an address sorted, I’m going to need some wheels.
You’re going to think I’m food obsessed, but anyway…… whilst we’re waiting for a resolution, it gives you a little time to think.
I’m not normally a person who’s given to ordering room service when staying in hotels. It’s expensive, for starters, and it’s rare that there isn’t at least one other option available.
I had a stopover in London a few weeks ago on my way to New York, and the lateness of the hour combined with the tiredness of my body caused me to relent. I was a staying at a well known hotel chain near Heathrow thanks to a good value, last-minute internet deal and I figured the money saved would be reasonably spent satisfying my growing hunger.
The menu looked reasonable, however given that they’ve got you over a barrel at these just-remote-enough airport hotels, it was also rather expensive. I ventured down to the restaurant area but there wasn’t any reasonably priced relief there, either. Somewhat chagrined, I reluctantly opted for the comfort of a late dinner in my room, ordering one of the hotel pizzas, which you can order to your own specifications from a limited number of ingredients.
To say the result was disappointing would be an understatement of significant proportions. At a cost of around 15 pounds, I was expecting a base overflowing with my chosen toppings. As it turned out, I had more fingers and toes on my extremities than I had bits of ham on my pizza. It was more like bread parmagiana (which, if you’re unfamiliar, is a tomato and cheese topping popular on Australian pub meals).
While I was waiting for my ‘pizza’, I thought it a good opportunity to log in and check my email. I work on the web and it’s my main method of connectivity. I can’t recall the price to connect, but given my exasperation at the price of my dinner, the sum they were asking for internet access was sufficient to make me think twice. I was only going to be awake for another two hours at most, so the thought of ploughing another double-digit sum into the hotel’s coffers wasn’t overly appealing.
My hotel in New York offered a similar deal, only this time you got to pay an exorbitant amount for your room (hey, Manhattan’s expensive) and then you can add an additional fee for a scratchy internet connection that doesn’t work if others in the hotel are also trying to access it.
Why is it that small hotels, like the one I’m typing from in Sweden right now, can offer fast internet access for free when the big hotel chains, who pride themselves on reputation and hospitality, feel empowered to charge like wounded bulls for the same service?
And what, I hear you ask, does any of this have to do with cars?
Continue reading What can we learn from a really bad pizza and an absent internet connection?
