Comments on: Saab considering trendy Detroit suburb for U.S. HQ

By: e46Ne90

e46Ne90 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:23:11 +0000

saab needs to get the hell out of michigan and try to appeal to customers around coast area if they want to be successful in the future. this is a problem for all big 3. if they can appeal and sell more cars in east and we stcoast then midwest customers would automatically follow. never target a customer based on midwest, they are not the trend setters, imo.

By: darkom

darkom — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:32:32 +0000

Birmingham is the wealthiest Detroit suburb? Trendiest maybe, but the wealthiest has been Bloomfield Hills for quite a while.

As for putting the headquarters in Royal Oak, you have to remember something ridiculous like 75%(?) of US Saabs were sold in and around Oakland County, so it makes sense to keep the headquarters there. The only problem is that while the yuppies may be familiar with the brand their only loyalty was with the GM discount.

I owned a 9-7x thru under grad, and had no complaints, but I won’t look twice at anything SAAB now that we don’t get a discount on them.

By: netguru2000

netguru2000 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:08:23 +0000

Whoa! The sh*t talkin on this thread. “Detroit sucks?”, “I lived in Windsor?”, “It’s unsafe?”, “not trendy?”. Let’s get clear from someone who was born and raised in Royal Oak. And first, Detroit downtown, very safe, and quite frankly, not real cool (which is why i live in Chicago). The surrounding downtown, a dangerous pile of crap. The surrounding burbs, (used to be) the third wealthiest in the nation. Some burbs are boring, strolling pushing, strip mall yawn fests. Now is Royal Oak trendy? Yes it is and it’s one of the most desirable places to live anywhere. I’ve lived in Maine, California, NC. For the nightlife, the cost of living, the trendy youth, it’s a pretty cool town.

As for a city building terrible cars, I’ve yet to hear ANYONE not complain about some aspects of ANY auto company. Have they had some bombs? You bet, it’s what happens when you build cars for over 80 years (you’re likely to misstep). GM is on fire, Ford is putting out solid cars, Chrysler (let’s face it, it’s always been dangling by a thread).

If rice burners are your thing than drive one. Yes, they MAY be A TAD more reliable (though statistically right now there’s nothing to prove this) and they feel like… rice burners: whinny, stiff, uncomfortable, etc. German cars are great, and too expensive. American cars are a good hybrid.

By: SomeGreek

SomeGreek — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:10:53 +0000

Ktulu, you don’t have to steel his pasword i guess… If you insert the name at another language that uses latin it could accept it as different one, i suppose.

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:02:14 +0000

I don’t. I can’t afford one yet. lol. I have a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover. My college roomate has a 2002 9-5 Sedan and a 1995 Volvo 850. I’m also a fan of Volvo. He got me into Swedish cars.

By: ktulu

ktulu — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:12:45 +0000

Y?
SLC needs jobs.
detroit is hopeless.

Detrepit us a hellhole. Royalk Oakmand GHrosse Pointe also suck.
good (not gr8) cars R built in detroit.
did somebody stel NMO4GM’s password. I can;’t tell da diff detween da real an fale

By: save saab

save saab — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:11:35 +0000

Sweet, another person who is a Saab lover like me. Do you own a Saab, Zingo? I’ve got a 08 9-5 Aero Sportcombi.

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:37:37 +0000

I have some bad news for you Save Saab. As much as I love Saab like you do, the new 9-5 and 9-4x are rebadged Buick Lacrosse and Cadillac SRX respectively. GMs last insulting blow to Saabs face before its turned over to Koenigsegg. But luckily they have a short contract to maintain the GM powertrains until Saab uses their own. (Or maybe even small Koenigsegg designed powertrains >:D) Also. You don’t need to worry. GM can’t keep Saab. Even if they wanted to, they can’t for two reasons. A) They can’t afford it at this point. Otherwise they wouldn’t have killed Pontiac, Saturn, and gotten rid of Hummer. B) The Swedish government and even the american government won’t allow GM to keep Saab after their financial mess. It’ll be a heavy blow to Swedens economy if they lose Saab. Remember Saab doesn’t just produce cars. Industrial equipment and fighter planes are a big part of their industry.

By: Smegley Wanxalot

Smegley Wanxalot — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:37:36 +0000

All I know is SAAB will need to double the price of their cars to afford the headquarter office insurance. Sounds like a joke until you consider that they are only selling 500/month right now.

By: leftwingagenda

leftwingagenda — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:27:16 +0000

detroit suffers from the same marketing problem as many midwestern towns…i’ve spent over 10 years in cleveland and st. louis, and they’re pretty similar…st. louis city has a high crime rate and definitely lots of “places one doesn’t go”, but there are many towns in the neighboring county that nobody who reads this site could afford to live in…serious old money affluence…

there are a lot of towns with bad reputations that have pockets of good living, though…you just have to look hard…and pretty much every town with a glowing reputation has a dark side nobody likes to speak about…

By: e46Ne90

e46Ne90 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:13:14 +0000

ROFL Failed…get out much? try nyc or at least cali

By: detroit_sucks

detroit_sucks — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:10:47 +0000

Saab should instead call it their North American HG and Locate it in TORONTO, where the economy isn’t totally dead yet…

By: ICEMAN

ICEMAN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:57:18 +0000

Dudes, seriously, STFU already, I hear Kate Moss is moving there this week…….

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:56:42 +0000

Don’t worry Need More Oil for GM. The Swedish government will make sure one of their countries most important companies is in the safe hands. And that’s NOT GM.

By: NRG

NRG — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:29:52 +0000

Detroit has a trendy suburb????? Ha, ha, ha.

Need more KoolAid for GM. Just shut up already.

By: alb_4552

alb_4552 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:25:45 +0000

The Metro Detroit suburbs are actually some of the wealthiest suburbs in the country. Oakland County, where Royal Oak is located, is full of cities that rank among the wealthiest in the country according to size. I have family from Birmingham, and my visits to the Detroit area sure don’t match what I see on TV. You don’t drive through Detroit to get anywhere in Oakland county. Oakland is north or Detroit, while Winsor is actually south of Detroit. Telling your experience from Windsor doesn’t make an argument for why Saab shouldn’t put their headquarters in Royal Oak.

By: save saab

save saab — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:17:59 +0000

Yeah, yeah I know the deal hasn’t been completed but I know it will, Saab is not part of the new GM and why don’t you read this http://wot.motortrend.com/6541991/we-hear/new-9-5-too-good-gms-henderson-reportedly-rethinking-saab-sale/index.html.

By: Need more oil for GM

Need more oil for GM — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:53:37 +0000

Yes, I do have my head up my a$$.

GM. An American Embarrassment !!

By: Need more oil for GM

Need more oil for GM — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:38:25 +0000

The deal with Keoniggsegg hasn’t been finalized ^ Might want to get with the program instead of posting old hat news.

SAAB offers nothing that General Motors doesn’t already excell at. They are a waste of resources as GM paves it’s way towards global conquest. “30″ buttons will be retiring by 2010 with zero help from SAAB.
GM. An American Revolutiion

By: save saab

save saab — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:28:27 +0000

85ZingoGTR: H3ll yeah I can’t wait till Saab becomes Swedish again, and not owned by GM, *ahem* NMOFGM’s boyfriend. Also, even though Saab may have gone bust if GM didn’t buy Saab, they struggled to gain much profit from Saab. And I have one big question for you NMOFGM, why did GM sell Saab as they are about to come out with 2 new cars that will be great? I bet when the new 9-4x and 9-5 come out, Fritz, and Lutz will be hitting them-self’s saying, (why did sell Saab? why!? WHY!?)

By: KarLoveBoy88

KarLoveBoy88 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:13:05 +0000

This would be a cool image for the company. How many companies do you know that will place their business front in a suburban area where their core clientele is based? Not many. But i like the sound of this plan. Best wishes to the new owners. GM will no longer be able to screw with their designs anymore.

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:31:35 +0000

okay, I now clearly see any more attempts to have a worthwhile conversation regarding this would be as fruitful as a debate with a two year old. Good Luck all of you with your eyes wide shut.

By: debtno

debtno — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:22:14 +0000

pitbull – Creativitiy is not restricted to the “waste coast”.

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:11:42 +0000

I dont know about that Need More Oil For GM. Sounds like you’re the one who needs to pull his head out of his @$$ and see the big picture. Everyone here seems to know that GM is only good for making crap and turning cars that were good into crap. The only of these american companies that can do this purchase foreign companies thing right (only recently though and not counting the major screw up they did with the Jaguar X-Type) is Ford. I’m not even gonna get into Chrysler because they have a big F for FAIL slapped onto their forehead. Oh and did it ever occur to you that virtually the majority and I mean MAJORITY of the small cars GM has are rebadged copies of Opels, Holdens, or Daewoos? Pretty freakin pathetic from one of the largest companies in the world and they can’t build small cars to keep up with the market. In my eyes, GM continues to fail in keeping up in this competitive market.

By: detroit_sucks

detroit_sucks — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:10:11 +0000

Detroit is an absolute sh*thole, I used to live across the Border in Windsor, on, so trust me I know.. A few of the suburb area’s are nice but you have to drive through the slums to get to them… Lets put it this way, i was lost in detroit one time(trying to find my way back to the border) and a cop pulls me over.. I was thinking sh*t what did I do wrong, as it turns out nothing.. He asked me if I was from “around here” I said “no sir” , he says where are u guys heading… I say “trying to find our way back to the tunnel” he says well let me escort you outta here because this is not a safe area for you boys to be in and I don’t want anything happening to u” so we thought it would be a good idea to listen to the cop, and followed him out…

When Jeremy C from Top Gear drove the Ford GT through De-toliet, he had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 Cop cars following him the whole time to keep the Top Gear crew safe.. Michigan is the Last place on Earth Saab should choose to locate their US HQ..

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:29:23 +0000

ICEMAN, that’s kinda Ironic, the BMW3 is known around the world as a car people get to make just that statement because they want to look hip when they are not. I didn’t say we were hip (didn’t have to) BBC has a show Top Gear, they love the BMW3 for that reason and make fun of it all the time… BAD EXAMPLE, LMAO.

American_Cars_Crap; hmmm, the article nor anyone defending Detroit associated it with Trendy, Royal Oak on the other hand has been given many accolades for being trendy, both state and country wide.
and regarding your sigin-on name, wow… , wow…., wow…..

ICEMAN, the CTS-V holly s3$* we agree on something… but I don’t consider it the only one.

By: ICEMAN

ICEMAN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:19:32 +0000

Sorry again Mr. Kent, but put it this way, if you want people to perceive you as being hip, you keep your lips shut & just roll around in a BWM 3 coupe, that’s all you need to do……… but if you have to EXPLAIN that you are hip then……….. chances are that you are not.

my 2 pesos.

By: ICEMAN

ICEMAN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:15:27 +0000

The only GM car I would consider would be the CTS-V. Now that’s hot……..

By: American_Cars_Crap

American_Cars_Crap — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:14:12 +0000

the word trendy and detroit just don’t go together. Words that go with Detroit… depressing, murder, poverty, unemployment, ghetto, urban decay, city known for building terrible cars.

By: Need more oil for GM

Need more oil for GM — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:02:40 +0000

Wow, ignorance is strong with 85Zingo. Get your head out of your a$$ you moron. GM saved SAAB from destruction in the 90′s and without them, SAAB would be no more. GM got the safety and technological advancements it neded from SAAB and now since they can offer no more to the General, they are being sold off. And it looks like even the Europeans know a good thing when they see it which is why they chose the Automotive capital of the world for future business.

GM. An American Revolution

By: 85ZingoGTR

85ZingoGTR — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:56:49 +0000

I actually can’t wait till SAAB becomes all swedish again and stops puting GM junk into their cars. I miss that about SAAB. Thank god Koenigsegg bought them before GM poisoned the hell out of them and killed them like they did with every other company they purchased. GM is a freakin plague that destroys everything it purchases.

By: jayjc08

jayjc08 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:31:35 +0000

Maybe they could convert the old Home Improvement office to suit their needs? Tool Time, anyone?

pitbull64- Der ain’t nodin in dose boondocks en South Carylina!

Smegley- Some parts of Detroit are ridden with criminals, other parts aren’t. Detroit has some very nice suburbs.

By: andy

andy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:29:52 +0000

clearly they want to move there because their front “yard” is a golf course.. google earthed it btw

By: AtWork

AtWork — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:29:14 +0000

Does no one realize that Royal Oak is not exactly located in downtown Detroit?? While the stereotypes of Detroit are hard to argue with; Royal Oak, Birmingham, etc. are a little step up from a ‘crime-ridden hellhole’. Find me another place to fear for your life with a Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin dealer in the immediate area. I’m not vouching for Detroit, but it isn’t a status holder for the rest of the state. Just some input from someone in the area, let the tirades begin about my post haha

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:25:25 +0000

BTW, Detroit’s Metro problems are similar to that of the Big3, Reality vs. Perception.. Doesn’t matter how good a product is if people refuse to review the facts for themselves and educate themselves.

By: Need more oil for GM

Need more oil for GM — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:24:20 +0000

The only thing you can do wrong to get yourself in trouble around here is to drive an import. If you are caught driving one (if it isn’t already in the scrapyard) there will be tons of us Americans who will make sure to run you right off the road. Blow your POS into the weeds.

Get with the program, buy a GM vehicle and support our American Car companies. Don’t be a sh1thead. Don’t be unAmerican. Otherwise stay out of Michigan.

Be American. Buy American. Buy GM. An American Revolution

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:24:03 +0000

Now I think I’m being baited! but here goes anyway.

Smegley; Yes I’m saying Detroit Metropolitan area is NOT. I was raised in Troy MI which has consistently been rated in the top 20 safest places ANYWHERE in the USA for every year I can recall. You have captured the essence of my issue; if you are speaking of the neighborhoods of the Detroit “proper” City yes it is statiscally one of the most impoverished and crime laden areas of the country, just like the South Side of Chicago or Compton in LA. However the Downtown area of Detroit City is one of the safest in the country in lists compared to NY, LA, Chicago, Houston, etc… However this article was speaking of Royal Oak a suburb of Detroit which is totally different, first; it’s in a different county of Michigan (Oakland) which has always ranked upon the top wealthiest in the country and the first county in the country to pass a 3year line item budget this year even in this economic recession. Also, Detroit City has “most likely” after 2010 census less than 800,000 residents where as Detroit Metropolitan area has a population of 5.4 million. BTW, the trouble areas of Detroit and its distance to Royal Oak is similar to the distance between Compton CA and Rodeo Drive in CA..

By: ICEMAN

ICEMAN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:10:25 +0000

A GUN?? they will rob that off of you in a blink of an eye.

By: Smegley Wanxalot

Smegley Wanxalot — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:03:44 +0000

Kent, are you saying that Detroit isn’t one of the most crime-ridden hellholes in the country? To be certain I am sure there are worse, but I wouldn’t venture anywhere near Detroit without a gun for protection.

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:01:04 +0000

ICEMAN, you did not.. just don’t understand why people perpetuate unfounded ideas. Thanks for the apology though. .. pitbull64; and if your statement is true why does Nissan and Toyota also have design centers (huge centers) in Detroit; large collection of talent and immigrants from many countries coming here to contribute as well. have you ever been to Detroit?

By: ICEMAN

ICEMAN — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:54:33 +0000

sorry, didn’t mean to hurt you feelings

By: pitbull64

pitbull64 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:52:23 +0000

It will be very hard to find talented people willing to relocate there. I’d put it someplace like South Carolina or Oregon. Personally, I wouldn’t move to Detroit for any amount of money…

By: vicdub85

vicdub85 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:52:13 +0000

Jets aren’t trendy. What happened to “Born from Jets.” Make the cars more jet like.

By: Kent

Kent — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:45:48 +0000

wow ICEMAN and Smegley, I live in Royal Oak Michigan… I could rant about the ignorance of both your statements for paragraphs upon paragraphs. And the least trendy thing I know of is the word “ain’t”

By: mitzo

mitzo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:40:01 +0000

Come on SAAB, get your mojo back. And introduce a trendy small car.