The future of Swedish car brand Saab is not really that bleak after all.
Commenting on speculation that auto company General Motors (GM) may drop Saab like a hot potato, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Saab is still part of the GM family and the company still plans to keep Saab.
Saab is a division of General Motors Corporation, the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer. Founded in 1937 in Sweden, the Saab brand was bought out in full by GM in 2000 and today sells cars in more than 60 countries around the world.
Lutz wrote in his GM Fastlane blog that he, along with other GM officials, is convinced that Saab is a “jewel in the GM crown.” Lutz added that GM is resolute in making Saab a successful brand.
Steve Shannon, the new executive at Saab Automobile USA, has been taking a carefully planned approach. With four brand new models in the next three years, Shannon’s mantra is: Keep it simple, keep it Saab. Future Saab models will share global architectures with other GM products. But the brand will have more distinctive sheet metal around the hardware, with more Saab design cues both at the interior and exterior, as well as specifically tailored driving dynamics, more horsepower, and a renewed focus on safety and the environment.
GM is ready to take some drastic measures if Saab’s managers are unable to sell enough vehicles at least to offset the cost of developing new products. At present, Saab sells about 35,000 vehicles a year in the U.S., which is more than the brand moves in Sweden, but it is also about 90,000 units less than Ford-owned Volvo moves in America.
For the meantime, the development of Saab’s new models—including the next-generation 9-5 and 9-3—are almost done. Shannon said the upcoming Saab models are going to please even the harshest critics. When the new Saab 9-5 debuts in 2009, car enthusiasts will quickly recognize that the looks and the driving character make it absolutely a Saab.” This despite the fact that the new model will share its basic underbody design with the Chevrolet Malibu and Opel Vectra.
However, Shannon is particularly enthusiastic on the new 9-4X, a five-passenger crossover vehicle designed in Michigan and based on a new midsize architecture. Shannon described the model as “the spiritual successor to the station wagon.” He said, though, that wagons will not be totally pulled out from Saab’s future line-up.
Another new Saab model, tentatively named 9-1, elicits the most passion from the Saab executive. According to Shannon, the vehicle is going to have an interesting body style and an iconic shape with a lot of design flair.
Saab will reinvent its marketing on virtues such as responsible performance, safety, and functionality, with pioneering technology as a common thread tying everything together. Shannon stressed that Saab “continues to fill a unique niche in GM’s multibrand strategy in the U.S.”
Meanwhile, the questions remain: Will Saab supporters return to the brand in sufficient numbers? Will they create enough positive buzz to entice newcomers to the fold?
