I don’t want death to come to GM at all. However, Saab is an obvious lame duck that should’ve been dealt with years ago. Kick it to the curb please! Why maintain Saab, Buick, and Cadillac?

Buick definitely needs to go as well. Why does GM need several luxury brands?

This is just shameful. Before GM, Saab was a great (but certainly quirky) brand. GM really drove it into the ground.

(sorry, hit “submit” too fast) This is just shameful. Before GM, Saab was a great (but certainly quirky) brand. GM’s management of Saab really drove it into the ground. Now, it’s pretty much worthless and not really worth saving.

No wonder Saab is struggeling since GM refuse to invest in NEW PRODUCTS !!! A treatment like that would have killed even BMW. Give Saab to someone actually interested in marketing NEW PRODUCTS instead of doing idiot thing like spending millions on trying to sell Cadillas in Europe. And BTW again… How the hell is selling Saab gonna save GM finacially ? What is Saab ? Like 1% of GMs opeartions ? Lutz: you usually talk when you shouldn’t. Please open you mouth and explain this to me now…

Saab was outdated a nearly irrelevent when GM picked them up. Not much has changed unfortunately. I dated a girl with a 4yr old 900 Turbo in college (1991 about), I thought that car was very cool at the time. Then it kept breaking and was very expensive to fix and I did not like working on it.

Sorry Stevo:

Saabs have been handicapped by quality problems for years.
Jjunkyards have a lot of very nice Saabs the owners just gave up on.

Saabs have always been way, way overpriced. That wasn’t too much of a detriment in the past because as Stevo suggests there will always be an audience willing to shell out for something slightly out of the ordinary. Well Saab is far from extraordinary these days and, yes, GM is to blame. Whether or not they deserve to live is almost irrelevant at this point as who is left out there with the wherewithal to revive a brand essentially from scratch? And once you cut the cord with GM they have virtually nothing left to call their own. We all know things are going to have to change and that certain nameplates are not going to survive. The longer GM waits the more it costs them and that’s a luxury they really can’t afford right now.

Yeah, Get Real, you’re right. I learned to drive on a Saab, so for me the “greatness” of the old Saab brand is a sentimental thing. There, I said it.

To reiterate what Johnny said: GM did to Saab exactly same castration as Benz to ChryCo.

I think Saab is really the only innovative brand GM has right now. But I guess GM just doesn’t have room for an innovative, stylish brand in their portfolio right now. EuroDurance has spoken.

It sounds like everyone wants GM to run thier company like Honda……sounds like a good idea to me.

i see that getting rid of certain manufacturers is good, especially for GM, but SAAB has always been around for so long. it may be a lame duck but it does have its presence on the automotive market. i for one don’t own a SAAB but I like the quirkiness in their cars and the uniqueness of their designs. i see them as what Nissan/Toyota/Honda was in the 70s-80s, a car company that makes automobiles for people that love to drive. overall i hope that SAAB doesn’t vacate the automotive industry it would be a shame and i would love to own one of their quirky cars.

“The 9-3 and upcoming 9-5 and 9-4x are based on GM platforms and use numerous pieces from the automaker’s parts bins.” Well the new buyer can simply leave parts out. Leaving parts out has always worked for Fiat!

I hope Saab survives and goes to a better company I’ve had the luxury of owning two Saab vehicles an 9-3 and a 9-5 and yes while they was expensive to maintain, every morning I was happy to take a drive in that car. Maybe its the fact that nobody knows what kind of car it is and that people dont compare it to a BMW which I agree but it was my BMW and it was nice oh and also not seeing my car especially in los angeles on every corner like prostitutes.

If Saab stays the same as it is now, save the money and bury it. More packaging exercises aren’t useful except to employ additional marketing geniuses.

It’s been a long time since I heard Buick called “luxury.” They aren’t much different than Hondas, Toyotas, or even Chevys!

I was never a fan of Saab. They weren’t ever a real luxury company and their current offerings are bland. It’s pretty pointless to have when there’s Cadillac and Buick.

Oops forgot to post more. I still want them to survive because they have made some good concepts such as the Aero X with a tubocharged V6 and runs off of ethanol. And they made some kind of crossover thing. They were all very attractive and functional.

Steveo
While I find GM to be a vile company based on the inferior quality of their vehiles and refusal to make fuel efficient, reliable cars, Saab was no gem when GM got them. The old 900 s especially with the turbos were terrible in the 80s and 90’s. The 9000 were no better. GM kept them alive and let them dig in their parts bin and platforms so Saab owes them

I find tripleonefive to be an inferior poster, using tired and incorrect arguments. But that’s just me…

It would be silly of GM to dispose of Saturn or Saab. Both brands are now selling Opel variants and these are the best cars GM makes (all right, I’ll include the Pontiac G8/Holden Commodore in that category, too). Why not do what they used to do in Canada and sell Saturn/Saab through the same stores?

SAAB…….rebadged Trailblazers and Subaru wagons with Sabb grilles did wonders or the brand…………………

I found Injuraiv on the soup line…with a big spoon

Arbiter
You have a good point but that was Gm’s attempt at expandin Saabs lineup so the can make some $$$ on the brand. No they were not the wisest decisions but I do see a few 9-7x around plus most of the interior was done by Saab
They always say that the 9-7x was based on the Ranier so technically its a rebadged Buick ???
Brocoli and cheese tastes good inj

My 99, 9_5 was an awesome car.

Our local Saab dealer is selling new 9_5’s for 1/2 price, 21k. Wow, liquidation.

The General bought Saab with apparently know idea what it would do with the brand.

That hasn’t worked out for anyone

‘The General bought Saab with apparently [no] idea what it would do with the brand. That hasn’t worked out for anyone’. I agree and as someone has stated, they really did not try to do anything with the brand save for re-badging vehicles from other brands and automakers.

If i was buying an SUV, a used 9-7 would be up there on the list

ochy.. which is nothing more than a rebadged and overpriced Trailblazer. You have described exactly what is wrong with SAAB under GM ownership! The only people who aspire to one have no interest in the REAL SAAB models also sold outside of the US.

Before GM Saabs were junk, as the old platforms were replaced with new models during the 90s they greatly improved, but today they are trying to be something that they aren’t, which never works.

A lot of the ’80s cokeheads I ran around with in Vermont years ago drove Saab turbos. They were always talking about what great snow cars they were. The ignition was of course on the floorboards between the seats. You would jump back into your Saab from a day of skiing, shake the snow off your sleeve, and the snow would fall on the ignition and short it out. Yeah, great snow car. Saab has always struck me as an emperor-has-no-clothes brand… the people who sink big money into Saabs can’t admit to themselves that they’re cranky, poorly built pieces of ****.

Lets see, we have owned Saab’s since 1987, a 9000 Turbo was our first Saab (30mpg) after 11 years and 196k miles the car was in very good condition. For a 1987 vehicle 5-door hatchback with heated seats, heated side view mirrors, etc. it never left us stranded in those 11 years. Winter driving in the snow was very enjoyable as we passed the Merc’s, BMW’s, etc stranded on the roads in Michigan and New Hampshire. GM had no influence on this vehicle and we appreciated that.

Over the years since 1987 we have owned a total of 8 Saabs that were all very distinctive and equal to or better than most vehicles on the road. At the present time we have three Saab’s in the family. A 1999 9-3 Viggen (106k), a 2001 9-3 Viggen (165k) and a 2008 9-5 Sport Combi. The Viggens are outstanding vehicles and put a smile on my face everytime that I drive my 1999. Each of the vehicles will average
22-24 mpg in the City and 28-32 on the Highway. The Viggens also are hatchbacks that are capable of carrying almost anything that you want such as Lumber, PVC pipe each 10 ft long, furniture, etc.

I guess if GM gets rid of Saab because of GM’s unbelievable ineptness, then my Saab will be the last GM vehicle that I will own. My first GM vehicle was a 1964 Corvair (50k) after 2 years sold it and purchased a 1966 yellow(427) Corvette Coupe; 7 years later sold it with only 58k miles because the odometer broke after the third year. The Corvair was a joy to drive and won a few drag races at the San Antonio Dragway in 1964.

If Saab exists after GM’s ownership stops; we will gladly look to purchasing one from the new owners. It would be great to own the first production Aero-x, 9-x BioHybrid ,etc. concepts that should have been produced that would have expanded the Saab’s lineup to compete head to head with Audi, BMW, etc.

I really think most of the posts don’t reflect the Saab history. I’ve had Saabs since 1991 as well as a Toyota and Acura and find the fit, finish and quality equal to the Acura.
Saab design has always been advanced. They invented dual diagonal braking, had a 21st century aerodynamic drag coefficient in 1947, and have been the leader in production car turbocharging since around 1979. The were always a leader in safety, too. I think they were first production car to have standard seatbelts. These are just from memory. To be honest, they also were the dubious inventor of “opera windows.”
I had no qualms about modifying my 1988 (pre-GM) Saab with 140 Kon the odo to boost horsepower about 40%.
The dealer network, sucked in the old days, but there were skilled independent mechanics.
Chevrolet innovations? As far as I know, it was pushrod, overhead valves that they still use in their high performance models.
Saab started going downhill at the time that they partnered with Lancia to produce their “upscale” model 9000 circa 1985. They wanted to compete with both the BMW 3 series and 5 series and the result was becoming cash-strapped.
It wasn’t until this year that Saab returned to serious innovation with the most advanced AWD system around. Unlike everybody else, it is programmed to avoid wheelspin, not to sense it and react.
GM has huge problems and Saab is a jewel that can be sold off. Who’d buy the Buick or Pontiac badge engineering divisions?

Believe it or not, for some people SAAB is the only car they want to drive For those it was horror from the beginning: the take-over by GM. Nothing good came out of it. SAAB didn’t have the money to develop new models. GM stept in, but the new models have never arrived. Only rubbish like the 9-7X (yep, in essence American junk) or 9-2X (yep, a Subaru in real) came out of it and yeah, a slightly better sub model of the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra (not a bad car, to be honest). I enjoy everyday my SAAB’s 93B of 1959 and 9-5 of 2000. Not so often encountered on the highway as the VW’s, Audi’s or BMW’s and maybe not the best buy you could buy, but what an emotion, what a fun, what great cars. I think SAAB (and VOLVO) should be saved. Free the Swedish brands of the American junk builders!

Johan – Netherlands

http://tictacdo.com/ttd/Comfort-Someone-Who-Is-Sad – This is for all the shareholders that have lost money due to GM’s destruction of Saab. This has mismanagement written all over it as in 2006 Saab was enjoying record sales. GM threw out the innovative and truly energy-saving Saab guts and replaced them with cheaper Opals (also going under, as I understand). Anyone know what actually happened over there? Smells like politics to me. Was the Swedish gov stepping on GM’s toes? What a waste – what a shame.

I recently learned that Saab engineers jets for the Swedish Air Force- are they still doing that? Does anyone know?