GM Car Czar Gives American Saab Some Sugar
Meet the new Saab, same as the old Saab. Or maybe not. In his online ego wall Fast Lane blog, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz gushes excitedly about his new favorite car company that's not Pontiac. In a not-so-subtle reference to Ford’s planned ejection of Volvo, Mr. Lutz begins by waxing lyrical about his decommissioned Czech fighter jet. The ex-Marine aviator then shares his newly found enthusiasm for That Other Swedish Automaker. You know, the precious “jewel in the GM crown” blessed with “driving dynamics” that “belongs in the GM family.” Tragicomically enough, Maxi Bob's favorite Swede is the 9-7X Aero, an American-made badge-engineered Chevy Trailblazer SUV holstering a 6.0-liter V-8. Maximum Bob’s beloved two-and-a-half-ton let’s-pretend-it-ain’t-no-Yank tank is the exact opposite of the quirky but crashworthy turbocharged four-cylinder front-drivers that once defined the Saab brand. With “family” like this, can abuse charges and foster care be far behind?
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If we're going to use the "Right Landing, Wrong Airport" analogy, I'm going to suggest this for the 9-7X Aero 6.0: supersonic controlled flight into terrain, several hundred miles off course.
Isn't the Trailblazer an outdated crappy SUV platform, how is this NEW then if it's based on ancient technology. It's pretty obvious that GM now has zero money in Saab's development budget since they can't even badge engineer one of the newer designs. Why are they wasting money pumping out more iron for a dieing segment? Especially since no one shops at Saab looking for an SUV, I guess since all the Saab loyalists have gone on to anything but a Saab they have to try and trick new buyers.
They need to figure out what this brand stands for and then build cars for that segment. Re-badging everything is not fooling anyone.