Automotive News [sub] has more bad news for Saab dealers and customers. Saab’s prospective new owners have put the hit out on 81 of Saab’s current 218 US dealerships. If all goes according to plan, a measly 137 US Saab dealers will remain. Saab’s thin and uneven sales and service network has been an issue for the brand forever, and this isn’t going to make it any better. “The target date to close the sale of Saab is Nov. 30, but it could take until year end, says Mike Colleran, COO of Saab Cars North America in Detroit.” Don’t count on it.
Posted in Dealer News, News Blog
Tagged as dealer cull, Koenigsegg, rejected dealer, Saab, saab dealers
Tagged as dealer cull, Koenigsegg, rejected dealer, Saab, saab dealers
15 Comments on “81 Saab Dealers Slashed...”
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Why are they keeping any dealerships open?
They sell 95% of their cars in Connecticut. Why would you need 218 dealerships to service CT?
Yet another SAAB story. It really is quite amazing how well GM can make a brand completely irrelevant.
By the logic of market interventionists, the federal govt should pay to keep those Saab dealerships open to save the related jobs.
I don’t know how they sell anything. I kept my sis company on a car shopping expedition recently and the BMW dealership was across the street from SAAB. So, I wandered over and had a look. THE PRICES! Is GM kidding? They were nice enough cars but the MSRP was absurd for what you are getting. Crazy.
MSRPs are way out of whack, but they typically sell way below that. A 9-5 sedan can be had for $9K or $10K off MSRP. Still too much considering the decade-old design, but I doubt anyone pays sticker. In other words, typical GM.
A guy I work with said that a dealership in Troy, MI was selling a 9-5 for $13K below MSRP, better than my GM employee discount with incentives. They made the CR recommended buy list this year. My husband is on his third one and everyone who drives a Saab ends up saying they love it, despite the unrefreshed designs. Did you test drive one? I don’t know how many miles your sis drives in a year, but she should be able to get 200K on this car with minimal trips to the service department.
Here in Houston we’re down to one dealership about 20 miles outside of town. Not that I’ll see more than one Saab a day on my 30-mile commute.
Meanwhile, if you want to risk it, they do sell for 30-35% of msrp.
Oddly enough, I’ve have two other 9-3 convertible owners in my posse….and yes, we’re all CT ex-pats….
Still waiting for GM’s official disclosure of their dead dealers. And now, Saab’s, too. I’m sure they have simply been too busy to get back to the press.
If 95% are sold in CT, then the remaining 5% are sold in Seattle/Portland. Large reservoir of ancestral Swedes in the area seems to help, so they probably sell a few in Minnesota, too.
My family has owned three, a couple of late 99 models and a 9000 Turbo. All with manual transmissions and the were all wonderful to drive once you learned to adapt to the rubbery shifter; especially annoying if you spend the rest of your traveling on a Japanese motorcycle that has quick, precise shifting.
What a cool pic. Where ever did you get it John? What is the point of this test? NASA quality heat dissipating paint. I want some.
I think the pic was a screen grab from some old Saab TV commercial and was posted on saabhistory.com
Saab is a very popular brand in Northern New Jersey — popular with women, since I almost never see a man driving one.
GM just announced some new Saab incentives for employees/retirees/family. They must be desperate to get rid of them. You can now get a new 2009 9-3 starting at less than $19k. Very tempting.
Very tempting. Or not, to use the TTACism. My next-door neighbor went through two 900s, then switched to Mercedes. He was getting a good deal from his friend, a Saab dealer, but said the quality problems was just too much. Ironically, though, I see him bringing home a Mercedes C-class loaner car every now and then.