Comments on: Koenigsegg prunes U.S. Saab dealer list

By: TomF

TomF — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:52:54 +0000

Saabs will never have a serious following in the red states. It makes sense to pare the dealer body back to a blue-state + SoCal emphasis. New England, mid-Atlantic, Chicagoland, and the west coast. That should be it.

Not much good if you’re trying to drive a Saab cross-country and you throw a rod in Cheyenne, but blue-staters don’t drive cross-country, they fly.

By: Borat

Borat — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:33:16 +0000

howsmydriving, good math

By: netguru2000

netguru2000 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:32:37 +0000

I just saw a ’89 Saab 900i on the road; it’s amazing how cool and different those cars were. After GM got a hold of them they used universal platforms and thought it would be enough to slap on a 3 panel grill. If Koenigsegg can realign themselves with Saab’s roots, they would surely bring back a following (as a long as they don’t bring back their reliability issues).

By: leftwingagenda

leftwingagenda — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:47:37 +0000

would be nice if those letters went out with the proper letterhead, but w/e…

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:47:04 +0000

Given the number of IKEA stores that will soon be selling SAABs, the overall number of SAAB retail outlets should remain constant, by my calculations…..

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:27:07 +0000

Smegley – The dealer was a concearn I had too. I thought Volvo had a much better shot of staying alive with whoever buys them out, and they’ve always had at least 3 dealers in my area including one next door to my work and have always been alot more popular in the midwest.

Saab closing these dealerships should be a concearn for those who have a Saab in a non-Saab friendly area.

By: Smegley Wanxalot

Smegley Wanxalot — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:07:23 +0000

Jake, sometimes the saabs in my area sound good but I also wont buy. They were advertising 12k off any new saab a month ago.

with 137 dealers and limited parts availablity I’d never buy a saab unless I lived enar a dealership, never planned to move, and never travel outside my city.

By: DenverGuy217

DenverGuy217 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:03:42 +0000

SAAB – Subaru would have made for an interesting company.

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:48:36 +0000

armstealer –

Yeah, needless to say I found out all that meant was that it was a metallic black car AND it was a $500 option! It’s still black!

I’ve owned around 5 cars since the redesigned ’03 9-3 came out. Every single model year I have looked at the Saab and I have yet to ever buy one!!!

By: And The Winner Is...

And The Winner Is... — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:42:11 +0000

Wow, that’s a huge % cut. Maybe they can feature SAABS at IKEA stores. You can get the $4.99 Swedish meatballs and a new 9-3, some assembly required.

By: armstealer

armstealer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:34:51 +0000

GM should send them offer letters to apply to be new Chevy dealers, ha.

JakeK- I bet the salesman’s response was “Oh, you don’t like black? I have a beautiful midnight charcoal 9-3 I can sell cheap!”

By: DenverGuy217

DenverGuy217 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:16:03 +0000

I’d rather see 137 dealerships remain open in the more prosperous SAAB territories like the Northeast and NorthWest and work out a long-term restructuring plan versus the other choice of no SAAB and no dealers.
It makes perfect business for the company, maybe not-so-much for the SAAB owners that live outside those areas

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:13:18 +0000

Oh, and I actually almost bought a Saab last month, they only had new black ones left that I could afford, and I hate black. My exact words to the salesman were “I’ll buy any color 9-3 except black”

By: JakeK66

JakeK66 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:11:12 +0000

As leftwing and I know, there is only one STL dealership and if they close that one, heck, there goes Saab for the (somewhat) large STL market – although there maybe one in Illinois – but no St. Louisian would dare step on that side of the river to buy a car.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:50:46 +0000

Yeah, but 137 total stores? That’s not a dealer network that’s an outlet mall.

By: Smegley Wanxalot

Smegley Wanxalot — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:49:38 +0000

What is Saab selling now – maybe 500 units a month nationwide? They should have 10 dealers max.

By: excrement_between_my_toes

excrement_between_my_toes — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:47:03 +0000

The best thing about GM selling Saab is that Saab’s can no longer be associated with that giant pathetic, poorly run automaker known as GM. I really wish GM did go under and all those over paid union assembly line workers lost their jobs and their pensions. That would be sweet!

By: Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:36:39 +0000

I truly hope that Koenigsegg can return SAAB to it’s glory days of old

By: Borat

Borat — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:32:59 +0000

So how many cars can 137 dealer network handle? It wasn’t that extensive to begin with. Perhaps overwhelming for Sweden, but for states…

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:13:08 +0000

There’s gonna be 81 dealers despising Koenigsegg for this.