Saab Brand Going Nowhere, Slowly

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

While GM CEO Rick Wagoner is busy talking-up his plan to consolidate Saab, Hummer and Cadillac dealers into some sort of weird ass "luxury car" salon, Auto Motors und Sport [via Reuters] reports that Saab sales are slouching towards Bethlehem. Saab's head honcho, Jan-Ake Jonsson, told the German buff book that the erstwhile Swedish brand sold just 125k cars last year. That's down eight thousand cars from the year previous, and 35k less than Saab's recently revised internal goals. (In June, GM European Prez Carl-Peter Forster predicted 160k '07 Saab sales, down 10k from the previous estimate.) So, uh, where does that leave Saab's plans these days? "It is our target to sell 150,000 to 200,000 units per year," Jonsson told Auto Motor und Sport. "But in order to reach such annual sales we need the new models." Not if they're like the old new models…

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Storminvormin Storminvormin on Feb 11, 2008

    Nice Yeats reference. I love reading this site. I also love my '89 900. If Trollhatten Saab is right, these sales could inject some much needed R+D funding into Saab. PS: Don't use those funds for more SUVs please!

  • Kjc117 Kjc117 on Feb 11, 2008

    The big question is among all you current and past SAAB owners, do you want a re-badged Opel as a SAAB?

  • Revjasper Revjasper on Feb 11, 2008

    kjc, I want a Saab. Not an Opel. Not a Vauxhall. This is why I still drive a 9000, even though it's a Fiat. Still a better car than the 9-5. It's the third Saab I've owned, and probably not the last. The 9-7 is a travesty. 9-2? That one still confuses me. Saab should understand that their entry level car is a used Saab. Don't pander to the GM marketing fools. And if you want that SUV, then go somewhere else.

  • Anonymous Anonymous on Feb 12, 2008

    [...] and 35k less than Saab’s recently revised internal goals. (In June, GM Eu source: Saab Brand Going Nowhere, Slowly, New Car Reviews, Ratings & Pricing, Auto News for New Models | The Truth About [...]

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