Saab to go the way of Rover?

[j-j]

we could relaunch the 900.

- Saab 99 ftw!!

[Pillock]

It seems the part-myth, part-truth that was "All Saabs are Vectras in drag" has been their downfall. You and I know there's hardly a shared component between a 9-5 and a Vectra and it's all down to platforming, same as plenty of other cars.Sadly though, man-in-the-pub likes to spout stuff like this to make out he knows his stuff, it filters down through the general public and suddenly nobody wants to pay a £5k premium "cos it's just a Vauxhall, innit?".I rate Saabs but more for the quirky factor... I personally wouldn't buy a new one, but if it was the same price as a Mondeo/Vectra/75 I'd have it just to be different.

[r.welfare]

I think the "quirky" factor only works if the rest of the car is competitive and reliable, which I'm not convinced the 9-3 and 9-5 are at the moment. The 9-3 seems to be reliable now - overall - but is becoming less and less competitive; the fact that the 9-5 is still on sale today - with that restyle - is just a joke. I mean, it's into it's 12th model year now is it not? It's a 21st Century Suzuki Vitara...

 

By going into Chapter 11 (voluntary bankruptcy) and reorganising, I can't see how Saab will survive without some kind of industry sugardaddy who either has a decent platform for them to base future designs on or plenty of cash to invest. Can't see venture capitalists getting involved after what's happened at Chrysler, and I'm pretty sure that Toyota own a lot more of Subaru (or Fuji Heavy Industries to be precise) than they did when the 9-2X deal was conceived, so I can't see another linkup happening.

 

I also understand that Swedish labour laws are very lax and social benefits very high, which is why productivity has never been a strong point of their factories and indeed why GM were planning to shift production from Trollhattan to Antwerp or Bochum, I think.

 

Incidentally the BBC last night seemed to indicate Ellesmere Port was safe and due to start cranking out the new Ashtray in September.

[Mr Lobster]

Incidentally the BBC last night seemed to indicate Ellesmere Port was safe and due to start cranking out the new Ashtray in September.

I would suspect that it is. They have invested fairly heavily in gearing up for the new Astra.Just the 34billion unsold ones to sell first...Talking of Vauxhalls, at work we just bought a load of Vectra 150 TDi SRi's which are an alright sort of thing. £19k retail. Seems that we paid £7.5k each

[MrRegieRitmo]

Sadly though, man-in-the-pub likes to spout stuff like this to make out he knows his stuff, it filters down through the general public and suddenly nobody wants to pay a £5k premium "cos it's just a Vauxhall, innit?".

People were saying when the X Type came out "Oh it's just a Mondeo in drag!" but it didn't stop them selling in quite high numbers!

[Guest]

^^^ yeah and just look at the way Jaguar is raking it in now, single-handedly keeping Tata afloat. Or maybe it isn't

[RedSparrow]

Talking of Vauxhalls, at work we just bought a load of Vectra 150 TDi SRi's which are an alright sort of thing. £19k retail. Seems that we paid £7.5k each

Blimey! I wonder how much of a loss they made on each?They must be desperate to shift the stock piles!

[r.welfare]

The company I work for did a similar kind of deal on 1,100 Astras and Vectras recently - split pretty equally between hatchback and estate of each model, 1.3 CDTI Clubs for the Astras and 1.9 CDTI 120 Exclusivs for the Vectras. At that kind of discount, it's hard to say no, even if the equivalent Fords are better cars and hold their value better - the "whole life savings" just don't exceed the initial discount benefit.

[Pillock]

There was a dealer in yorkshire knocking out Vectra SRIs for £8k, brand new. It was almost Tesco Value style no-frills car shopping - if they didn't have your favourite colour, tough. If they had it, but it had options on it you didn't want, tough - you're not paying for them anyway. No deposits, no finance, no sit down with a coffee and cosy chat - you just walk in with £8k, point at a car and drive it away.Apparently it worked well enough for them to stay afloat and not lay off any sales staff....

[reallyloud]

Saab have shot themselves in the foot a long time ago with the demise of the 96 and 99 ranges, Saab were equally as respected for producing small, quirky, yet well built little cars with aviational inspiration. Land Rover and Jaguar should also have considered their roots - ther original Land Rover was a cheap, rugged affordable vehicle - not these premiership footballer 75K specials. Jaguar should have asked Ford to look at the excellent Mazda MX5, and got some of those talented designers in Coventry to come up with a sub 25k proper affordable sports car. Size isn't everything.....

[AnthonyG]

It seems the part-myth, part-truth that was "All Saabs are Vectras in drag" has been their downfall

Just like all the twats who think all Jaguars since about 1999 are based, to some extent or other, on the Ford Mondeo. Some cock said this about the latest XF the other day- what an ignorant c**t.

[r.welfare]

Ah BUT the XF does look like the latest Mk4 Mondeo from the back. As opposed to the X-Type looking completely different, but being based (in part) on the Mk3.I really do hope the XF succeeds because it looks like a really good car...

[Torsten2001]

^^^^ disagree entirely, it only looks like a Mondeo in that lots of cars have similar designs, the XF is an amazing car that feels nothing like a Mondeo, I had one for a while, I wish i didn't have to give it back

[AXrescuer]

It seems the part-myth, part-truth that was "All Saabs are Vectras in drag" has been their downfall. You and I know there's hardly a shared component between a 9-5 and a Vectra and it's all down to platforming, same as plenty of other cars.Sadly though, man-in-the-pub likes to spout stuff like this to make out he knows his stuff, it filters down through the general public and suddenly nobody wants to pay a £5k premium "cos it's just a Vauxhall, innit?".I rate Saabs but more for the quirky factor... I personally wouldn't buy a new one, but if it was the same price as a Mondeo/Vectra/75 I'd have it just to be different.

I thought the NG900 was based on the Cavalier? I have both and a lot of parts seem to be shared.

[r.welfare]

^^^^ disagree entirely, it only looks like a Mondeo in that lots of cars have similar designs, the XF is an amazing car that feels nothing like a Mondeo, I had one for a while, I wish i didn't have to give it back

Where did I say it's based on the Mondeo? Just it looks like one. And you are one jammy lammy for getting to drive one, I'd love to punt one for a bit.AXRescuer, the new 9-3 is based on the newer Vectra platform and I think the 9-5 is based on the older one (actually I believe the NG900 is Calibra-based), but I'm pretty sure there's a lot more changes to the basics than on the NG900. I've not tried a Vectra C so couldn't tell you how similar one drives/rides to a new 9-3...the 9-3 was competent in ride and handling but no great shakes, the seats were good though and all in all it wasn't a bad place to be for 25,000 miles in less than a year; certainly I would doubt that a BMW 318d would have made me happier for £150 a month more out of my (taxed) pay, anyway, although I do regret not waiting a couple more months for the Skoda Octavia vRS diesel to be launched but hey-ho, I drive shite on a daily basis now (and save a lot more money in the process)...

[CortinaDave]

The deals on near-new vectras at the moment are unbelievable. 6.5k for 6 month-1 year old jobs seems to be commonplace at dealers, which is a great deal.Its just a shame they are so offensively bland or I'd have been tempted. I quite liked the shape of the Vectra B, even if it was a BIT soul less, but the vectra C is bereft of any flair whatsoever.Still, for that price its a good deal to say the least, if i was running a fleet/taxi company id be buying them up sharpish

[Richard]

Do they go though? It sounds like a bargain until you consider it's likely to spend at least 50% of its life in the garage costing you money.