Saab is Dead - Or is it?; Yes, yes it is

  • Thread starter Famine
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Speaking of Saab...

Has anyone seen this awesome story on Jalopnik on one of the 9-5 SportCombi prototypes?
ku-xlarge.jpg

http://jalopnik.com/how-i-made-this-saab-9-5-sportcombi-prototype-road-lega-1471197722
 
@MedigoFlame Actually, it was a different story, I linked to one on Reuters, not Jalopnik. My brain had derped.

False alarm.
 
Is Saab dead again?
Jalopnilk
A Swedish court decided that National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB — the quasi-Chinese company that owns Saab — didn't have enough money for bankruptcy protection. That's right, they're too poor for bankruptcy as the WSJ reports.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, or NEVS, said Thursday that it petitioned a local Swedish court for bankruptcy protection to reconstruct its business and to "make time for ongoing talks" with potential investors. The court, however, said that NEVS doesn't have the liquidity required to fulfill its obligation during the restructuring period. Mikael Östlund, a spokesman for NEVS, said it plans an appeal of the court's rejection.

NEVS said negotiations with two major international automotive companies for joint product development and a potential ownership option "are proceeding," but that the discussions have taken longer than initially anticipated.
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Jalopnilk

And the reason they are needed bankruptcy protection cause they couldn't pay a $22,000 bill from one of their suppliers.
 
Can someone explain to me what was wrong with the last generation of the Saab 95?

I know it was rushed into production and then was poorly received by reviewers and had poor sales eventually leading to Spyker throwing in the towel but what were it's deficiencies?, it certainly looked great inside and out.

If it had been a brilliant product the company could have been saved.
 
JC_Dude
It was the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia for a much, MUCH higher price.
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That can't have been the only reason, Saab's where always expensive compared to their Opel/Vauxhall equivalents and sold OK. I meant more specific reasons like was the ride poor? quality poor? etc.
 
Saabs were always very different from their Opel/Vauxhall counterparts and they weren't THAT much more expensive.
 
Robin.
That can't have been the only reason, Saab's where always expensive compared to their Opel/Vauxhall equivalents and sold OK. I meant more specific reasons like was the ride poor? quality poor? etc.
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The Insignia went upmarket compared to the Vectra it replaced, the 95 was already upmarket and they had to increase the price to keep the gap to the Vauxhall.
You used to get a lot more for your money by upgrading to the Saab, in the last gen you didn't.
 
JC_Dude
Saabs were always very different from their Opel/Vauxhall counterparts and they weren't THAT much more expensive.
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Looks wise yes. But the last models were nothing more than Opels in a fancy jacket.

The last 95 was a Insignia. From engines to bushings to exhaust. Pretty much every part that helps to move the car or that keeps it on the road is the same as that of the Insignia.

Insignia wishbone:

Screenshot_20160629-000141.png


Saab 95 wishbone.

Screenshot_20160629-000324.png


Discs Opel.

Screenshot_20160629-000713.png


Discs Saab.

Screenshot_20160629-000504.png
 
That's what I'm saying... When the Vectra was around buying a Saab actually added a lot of value to go with that extra cost, while the 95 was an Insignia with a different body and an even more ridiculous price than ever before.
 
Robin.
Can someone explain to me what was wrong with the last generation of the Saab 95?

I know it was rushed into production and then was poorly received by reviewers and had poor sales eventually leading to Spyker throwing in the towel but what were it's deficiencies?, it certainly looked great inside and out.

If it had been a brilliant product the company could have been saved.
Click to expand...
I think people above are overstating things somewhat.

The simple answer is that there wasn't much wrong with the last 9-5 at all, but Saab was already spiralling into doom by the time it was launched. The company disappeared far too soon to give the 9-5 a chance to sell in decent numbers. Perhaps if it'd sold like absolute crazy in the few years it was on sale then things might have been okay, but its death was a direct result of Saab's death.
 
Saab lost its quirkiness when GM got involved. The rebadged Impreza wasn't much better in terms of what a Saab is.

I feel the Viggen was too late, when Volvo's performance hand were already racing in BTCC/ETCC/ATCC. The T5/T5R came out swinging, S40, V40, the deal using the Focus engine and the then new S60. GM just handled Saab all wrong.

Had the last 9-5 come out with an awd system, there may have been a different outcome.
 
05XR8
Had the last 9-5 come out with an awd system, there may have been a different outcome.
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You mean this one, the XWD.

homeforsummer
I think people above are overstating things somewh
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No and yes. The last generation Saab was an Opel. Plain and simple. And that's what GM wanted. No sneaky Saab engineered underpinnings. Because that costs money. But Saab themselves didn't have enough money to make their cars somewhat true Saabs and profitable. The early 2000 Saabs still had their own parts here and there. And that wasn't the deal GM had in mind. It was either a GM partsbin with a Saab badge or it was death. And death it was.

Still a shame though because the last 9-5 was looks wise a true Saab.
 
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Well, you look at how Ford handled Volvo, and you can see that it was mostly an acquisition that was meant to borrow engineering prowess and patents for safety equipment. As for Saab on the other hand, it was more or less an encroachment of GM as time went on, forcing them into smaller and smaller boxes when it came to producing products and parts. Sure, Saab got to be a bit of a skunkworks when developing drivetrains, but they still had to deal with the burden of the Epsilon chassis. Even when the writing was on the wall, they still turned out pretty cool models as long as they could. I'd really be curious to know how the brand would have done if they got the same attention that Geely has given Volvo. Producing models like the Phoenix, 9-2, and so on would have been great entries into a market that, at least at the time, didn't have a mid-tier GT or an affordable premium compact.
 
A sole performance model similar to a Ford GT or 911, wouldn't be half bad with the name Saab Viggen.
 

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