Saab to shut down, for good ?

[Big_Richard]

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/24/gm-saab-koenigsegg-business-autos-hummer.html

Poor old GM (government motors) 

[TJ 450]

Yes, GM is in quite a bad way. So the deal fell through and it looks like it may well be the end of SAAB as a car manufacturer. Of course, there may be a last minute rescue.

The situation is not so dire with Volvo Cars at this point, but Ford wishes to offload them ASAP. Volvo is profitable however and has a much greater chance of survival IMO.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

why would Ford want to offload Volvo if its profitable? Ford is only in a slightly better position than GM at the moment.

[TJ 450]

My bad... Volvo Cars is operating at a loss.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2618092/

SAAB Automobile AB however, has been running at a loss for at least two decades.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

I read somewhere that GM looses 5K on every single Saab that gets sold.

Given that the things still need to have a warranty on them, theres a lot of money going down the toilet there.

[SELfor50]

I read somewhere that GM looses 5K on every single Saab that gets sold.

Given that the things still need to have a warranty on them, theres a lot of money going down the toilet there.

Saab's are sh!t, they deserve to sink.

As for volvo's, we need to ensure they keep going so we got drivers to laugh at.

Cam.

[TJ 450]

My first car was a SAAB 900. It ended up being a twisted pile of metal and plastic when I rolled it.

Personally, I reckon Volvo offer (or did offer) a much better product. They are a bit agricultural, but second only to Mercedes in terms of body and mechanical construction IMO.

Tim

[s class]

Why settle for second?

[TJ 450]

That's exactly why I now own MBs.

Nothing annoys me more than something that's not quite up to the task, for example poor quality trim that falls apart when you touch it.

Another example, the dash on my 760GLE detached itself from the chassis, where the plastic fasteners broke. Now, that would never happen on even a W126 of the same age. Admittedly, this occurred after driving on thousands of Km of unsealed roads, but that's still no excuse. Then there's the sagging headlining, PRV engines... oh, the memories.

The price of parts? Over a period of four years, the 760GLE cost in excess of $8000 AUD for parts and maintenance. The car was a $7200 purchase in 2001.

This is a reality check for anyone restoring a W116.

Anyway, this is going off-topic slightly. My apologies. 

Tim

[Big_Richard]

Saab's are sh!t, they deserve to sink.

As for volvo's, we need to ensure they keep going so we got drivers to laugh at.

Cam.

uh oh!

I think i can hear Timmy's therapists hands rubbing together with that pair of comments 

[Big_Richard]

Read this online, I am not the author of it, but found many truths in it regarless


---------------------------


The good professor Clive Hamilton (He's a professor of ethics no
less), Greens leader, has stated that democracy may need to be
suspended to get climate control measures happening.  Denying climate
change is as bad as holocaust denial the clever professor has worked
out though his amazing education.

Now the global warming folks at IPCC are have a few problems of late,
the satelites are saying the temperatures are actually falling
slightly since 2002 or so, the ARGO probes show no ocean warming and
hackers stole their emails and computer programs and they're showing
up a bit sus so I don't think Green World Government is due untill
later next year at Mexico.

In the meantime I thought how else can we improve society by
imprisoning folks in concentration camps that have been prepared for
the post ETS global world Government.

I figure imprisoning Toyota Camry drivers would derive the maxium
social benefit for all Australians far more than imprisoning poor old
Ian Plimer, Frederick Tobin or Bob Carter dangerous as they all are.

Camry drivers have a number of characteristics.  When stopped at
traffic lights they will take average of 3 seconds to get started.
(its actually between 1 and 5 seconds).   They will then accelerate V-
E-R-Y slowly to a random speed for 30 seconds in order to build up a
gap of 8 cars ahead of them and although many cars behined them miss
the lights they do this on purpose to save petrol space out the
traffic appropriately and prevent everyone from over accelerating.
As they reach the next set of lights they will establish a speed 10%
below the posted speed limit in the right lane next to a Daihatsu
diesel van.

Sometimes a motorist will figure this is not for him or her and decide
to overtake the Camry on the inside in the rare cases they escape the
traffic jam behined the Camry.   (Carmy drivers like to drive on the
right lane).   The Camry driver knows this is wrong as he has been
driving an optimally Camry safe 10% below the speed limit and to
prevent the driver and society from speeding will accelerate brisky to
ensure the potential speeding driver can not over take before the cars
parked in the lane ahead.   They will then drive 10% above the posted
speed limit for a while to show the restraint he had.   This is
especially so for W-I-D-E body camrys which are excellent at cutting
of other motorists  as the Camry driver can see over his boot and
isn't frightened by other cars.  (they were widened just for this
purpose.)     If it is a multilane road the Camry driver has been
known to find another car to drive alongside inoder to allow the
potential overtaking speedster to "cool down" to a speed 10%-15% below
the posted speed.

However, despite their good intentions toward road safety Camry
drivers also cause traffic congestion, force billions of dollars of
extra roads to be built and are causing too much carbon pollution.

Therefore, we need to arrest all the Camry drivers and put them in re-
education camps.  As soon as someone buys a Camry they will be put on
a list and randomely disappeared so as to not alert other Camry
drivers or potential Camry buyers.  Soon the roads will be clear of
Camry drivers.

I was thinking of including Volvo drivers however they seem to have
reformed.

[TJ 450]

That was amusing, to say the least.

Tim

[Niclas]

Saab - I'm sitting about 1 km from the factory so for me it's more than a brand since the whole town is somewhat depending on Saab.

I can't really say they are my type of car, but to sort it out a bit: the Current Saab 95 is shit. It's a twelwe year old car that was not really good from the beginning. They have just started the production of the new Saab 95 which hopefully is a good one, it's a quite big car which can be a bad thing in Europe but I guess it would not be a problem in the US.
The 93 is however a really good car for it's price segment (it's NOT a Mercedes...) the road handlig is great for an instance.

Poor GM? No.
What kind of company let's a car manufacturer produce a car for twelwe years?
The 93 with four wheel drive was released this summer, it was ready for production several years ago but GM said stop to "save" money. They have made several strategic decissions like that - all short sighted.

/Niclas

[Big_Richard]

Saab Sale Cannot Be Concluded
Brand to be Wound Down

2009-12-18

Detroit. General Motors announced today that the intended sale of Saab
Automobile AB would not be concluded. After the withdrawal of
Koenigsegg Group AB last month, GM had been in discussions with Spyker
Cars about its interest in acquiring Saab. During the due diligence,
certain issues arose that both parties believe could not be resolved.
As a result, GM will start an orderly wind-down of Saab operations.

"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear
that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction
could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain
operations, Saab needed a quick resolution," said GM Europe President
Nick Reilly. "We regret that we were not able to complete this
transaction with Spyker Cars. We will work closely with the Saab
organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible
manner. This is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation process.
Consequently, we expect Saab to satisfy debts including supplier
payments, and to wind down production and the distribution channel in
an orderly manner while looking after our customers."

Saab will continue to honor warranties, while providing service and
spare parts to current Saab owners around the world.

As part of its efforts to become a leaner organization, GM began
seeking a buyer for Saab's operations in January. Last week, Saab
Automobile AB announced that it had closed on the sale of certain Saab
9-3, current 9-5 and powertrain technology and tooling to Beijing
Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd. (BAIC). GM expects today's
announcement to have no impact on the earlier sale.

As the company continues to reinvent itself, GM has been faced with
some very difficult but necessary business decisions. The focus will
remain on the four core brands – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC –
and several regional brands, including Opel / Vauxhall in Europe. This
will enable the company to devote more engineering and marketing
resources to each brand and model.

A media conference call with John Smith GM Vice President, Corporate
Planning and Alliances will take place at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time.

General Motors Company, one of the world's largest automakers, traces
its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM
employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does
business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce
cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles
through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM
Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling and Jiefang. More information
on the new General Motors Company can be found at www.gm.com.

[TJ 450]

That was to be expected. At least spares and servicing are being looked after.

Tim