What the **** is Saab thinking?!?!

C

C-MDX

New member
I don't know about this but can Saab copy another car's design??? The side looks 99% like a, hmmmm, you be the judge :o



Saab 9-2x

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Subaru Impreza

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you are seeing more and more car companies getting together to desigin a platform that they both can use. Helps keep the design and other costs down. Another Example: Issuzu Hombre and Chevrolet S10's
 
Saab desperately needs more product and the 9-2 is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to expand their product line. Saab has been losing a great deal of money in recent years and simply cannot afford to develop a new car on their own. GM now fully owns Saab and is no longer willing to pump hundreds of millions into the company without some kind of payoff so they're leveraging their ownership of Saab and their part ownership of Fuji Heavy Industries to come out with the 9-2. Its very controversial with both the Saab and Subaru enthusiasts but most people recognize the fact that Saab needs a car like this badly in their product line.



If you think this idea is a bad one, wait till you see the new Saab 9-7. An SUV based on the GM360 platform (Chevy TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainer). As much as I don't like the idea of Saab using an unreliable and unremarkable platform like GM360, I accept the fact that Saab is one of the few carmakers *without and SUV in their product line*. They need one and this is the quickest and cheapest way to get one.



If Saab is to survive in the global marketplace, they need more product, regardless of origins. If Saab can mod the vehicles enough to give them some of the unique character Saab is known for, the cars will sell and the profits generated can go towards a REAL Saab sometime down the road.
 
bretfraz said:
Saab desperately needs more product and the 9-2 is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to expand their product line. Saab has been losing a great deal of money in recent years and simply cannot afford to develop a new car on their own. GM now fully owns Saab and is no longer willing to pump hundreds of millions into the company without some kind of payoff so they're leveraging their ownership of Saab and their part ownership of Fuji Heavy Industries to come out with the 9-2. Its very controversial with both the Saab and Subaru enthusiasts but most people recognize the fact that Saab needs a car like this badly in their product line.



If you think this idea is a bad one, wait till you see the new Saab 9-7. An SUV based on the GM360 platform (Chevy TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainer). As much as I don't like the idea of Saab using an unreliable and unremarkable platform like GM360, I accept the fact that Saab is one of the few carmakers *without and SUV in their product line*. They need one and this is the quickest and cheapest way to get one.



If Saab is to survive in the global marketplace, they need more product, regardless of origins. If Saab can mod the vehicles enough to give them some of the unique character Saab is known for, the cars will sell and the profits generated can go towards a REAL Saab sometime down the road.
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SAAB definetly needs a boost. I hope that they can do a better job of masking the gm360 platform, and making it look their own then the 9-2. But the 9-2 definetly looks better from the front than from the side.

I wonder how traditional SAAB buyers will feel about an american built saab SUV. With GM combining organizations of SAAB and its other european brands, things could get interesting.
 
bretfraz said:
Saab has been losing a great deal of money in recent years...
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On a side note, with all the money GM has poured into Saab and Hummer for new product, revised product, advertising, etc, Oldsmobile in 2003 sold more vehicles than Saab and Hummer put together...



Yeah, I miss Olds... :(



Hey Bret, why do you call the GM360 unreliable? Because of all the early recalls? I think it was released too soon, but other than early vehicles has been a pretty solid platform.
 
A quick check on AllData shows 7 safety recalls from 2002 and 2003, most recent being May 2003, one general recall, and as many as 152 TSB's. These are for 4WD models which is presumably what Saab will use in the 9-7.



Last month's Car & Driver wrapped up a long term test of a TrailBlazer EXT. They had some problems with their truck and were not sad to see it go after its year of service.



Edmunds.com's Car Discussions have plenty of posts and threads from owner with problems.



Consumer Reports ranked the S10/S15 variant as one of the most unreliable vehicles they've recorded since they've began compiling reliability statistics. I know the GM360 is all new but GM's track record isn't very good when it comes to mid sized SUV's.



By contrast, Saab QC has been improving steadily over the years. The 9-5 had its teething problems when introduced in 1999 but since then its won quality awards from JD Power and has been a very good car when compared to other European models. Everyone expects the 9-2 to be rock solid out of the gate. Sooooo....... some valid concerns if ya ask me (and ya did :) :) )



I really hope Saab can seriously improve the GM360 suspension and interior. Both have been widely criticised, but more importantly both are historic strengths of Saab. A lot of Saab enthusiasts are very concerned about the 9-7.
 
2001civicex said:
GM has been doing this a lot lately....

Saturn will have Honda Engines in 2005
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If I'm not mistaken, I think this is already happening. The Saturn VUE has a Honda 3.5L 250hp V6 in it. :eek: This doesn't surprise me one bit since the Honda Passport/Acura SLX were both Isuzu models (GM owned) and the Isuzu Oasis was a Honda Odyssey.



Toyota and GM have been doing this for years! The old Chevy Nova (late 80's) was a rebadged Toyota Corolla. The Early 90's Geo Prizm was also a rebadged Toyota Corolla, as was the newer Chevy Prizm's.
 
It does look quite similar.



However, the Vibe and Matrix thing was a joint venture between the companies so they are based on the same platform.



And VW owns Audi so it would make sense that they have similar things.



Just thought I would throw that out, not to try and prove anyone wrong.



Speaking of cars looking alike, has anyone seen the new VW Golf? It looks like a Ford Focus and a Honda Civic had a child.
 
blkZ28Conv said:
Nothing new:

Ford - Mazda, VW - Audi, Chrysler - Mercedes, Izusu - Honda



etc, etc, etc



Cookie cutter cars/trucks are now the norm.
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But like mentioned above, Ford owns part of Mazda (or some other tight business relationship), VW owns Audi, and Mercedes owns Chrysler. I can understand cross platforming among "family" but using a Subaru and spiffing up the interior and exterior really kills the reputation of Saab (IMHO).



Saab-Scania were innovators in many areas of automotive technology (turbocharging, front wheel drive, saftey cages, ergonomics for example) and had a "functionality equals beauty" attitude. Look at the older 99 model or the late 80's 900 models. Not the most luxurious of interiors, but exceptionally practical.



Really a shame in my opinion. I agree that Saab has not performed well financially since GM bought them, but I'd rather seem them "roll the dice" on a new and innovative model than re-badge someone elses design. :nixweiss
 
Let's not forget all of the badge engineering by Toyota/Lexus (Camry/ES300, Land Cruiser/RX470), Honda/Acura (Accord/TL-CL, Civic/EL, Pilot/RSX), and VW/Audi (Passat/A6, Tourage/Cayanne), etc.



Everyone does it these days.
 
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