Nostalgia Is So Yesterday: Saab Plans New Old 92

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The PT Cruiser lit the world on fire … then it fizzled. The new Beetle put a bug under many people’s bonnet – now it’s marked for extinction. That doesn’t deter Saab’s new owner Victor Muller of Spyker to think about a re-make of the legendary teardrop-shaped Saab 92 that was in production from 1949 to 1956.

“Discussions are already ongoing,” Muller said in a telephone interview with Automotive News [sub]. “That will be on my plate for the next 100 days.”

Spyker/Saab doesn’t want to build the car themselves, they are in technology/platform sharing talks with other (undisclosed) auto makers.

During the talk with AN, Muller shot down rumors that BAIC, the same company that bought the tooling for previous-gen Saabs, already has a distributor contract for new Saabs in China. A few days ago, Gasgoo had reported that BAIC would replace Shanghai GM as Saab’s new sales agent in China. Muller said Saab wants to reach an agreement with a Chinese distributor within a couple months.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 19 comments
Next