Saab done for?

[awsrock]

Sounds like it might be true..

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6434441/corporate/saturn-saab-and-hummer-are-done-for-gm-and-chrysler-need-billions-more/index.html

But, who owned Saab before GM took them over? Were they ever their own company? Frankly, I'm glad GM is letting them go, so now we won't get such jokes as the 9-2x (Subaru Impreza) or the 9-7x (guh..)
I just hope that they keep making cars!

Also surprised to see them getting rid of Saturn..it seemed to me that Saturn was one of their better selling brands.

Saturn has had a lot of problems as far as consitently good cars go. I have known a lot of saturn owners who get good cars and a lot who get total crap buckets. And Saabs are ugly ugly cars who never live up to their crappy tag line of "born from jets" Jets are not that ugly or slow but are that expensive.

[raymr]

GM should really keep a captive import brand and Saturn is mostly that already. Ditch Pontiac and give the G8 to Saturn. There is absolutely nothing else at Pontiac worth keeping.

[awsrock]

Originally Posted by helpplease

And Saabs are ugly ugly cars who never live up to their crappy tag line of "born from jets" Jets are not that ugly or slow but are that expensive.

Lol, yeah, I HATED that marketing scheme. "Born from Jets"..more like born from some other manufacturer's model with a Saab badge on it. Too bad Saab only had one jet at the time that the automobile company came out.
Anyway, that's too bad. I've always been a Swedish car fan, and ever since GM and Ford took over Saab and Volvo, it just hasn't been the same.

[awsrock]

Originally Posted by raymr

GM should really keep a captive import brand and Saturn is mostly that already. Ditch Pontiac and give the G8 to Saturn. There is absolutely nothing else at Pontiac worth keeping.

Exactly! At least until the past few years, all Pontiacs and Chevys looked exactly the same. At least Saturn tried to look a little different, despite sharing frames and whatnot.

That would be like Ford getting rid of Mazda but keeping Mercury...
Ok, maybe not quite like that, but you know..

raymr I always had high hopes for Saturn but they are nothing like the imports. I have seen numerous Saturns just self destruct. Imports don't do that. (by imports I mean Toyota and Honda) and awsrock yeah Saab and Volvo haven't been the same but my favorite was Jaguar.....my God when ford took the escort or whatever it was and made Jaguar put their badges on it I thought England might declare war on us.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by awsrock

...such jokes as the 9-2x (Subaru Impreza)...

To each his own, but I would take an Impreza over anything made by Saab, except maybe the 9-2x. I've seen those around, but don't know much about them.

Is the 9-2x a true Subaru labeled as a Saab?

I don't have anything against Saabs, but I like Subarus more.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Saab used to be owned by the Saab company which does make jets. GM bought them and turned them into an Opel clone. I liked the older models like the 900. It was a very weird but great car.

It would be a shame for Saab to disappear.


As for Saturn, my cousins have bought them since they first came out. They have always been decent and reliable cars. They have not bought one of the new Opel based ones yet, but I drove the new Vue and it was a nice little SUV. I wonder why GM would close them down when they have finally become profitable...

[Honus]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

...I liked the older models like the 900. It was a very weird but great car...

The 900 was a very nice car, especially the sedan. The convertible Saabs have terrible visibility for the driver.

The Saab that came before the 900 was also nice. Was that the 90? My sister had one. It was fun to drive.

[awsrock]

Originally Posted by dculkin

To each his own, but I would take an Impreza over anything made by Saab, except maybe the 9-2x.

Is the 9-2x a true Subaru labeled as a Saab?

I don't have anything against Saabs, but I like Subarus more.

I know what you mean. I guess I am more angry with GM for trying to sell a Subaru as a Saab, making it seem like Saab has this great new car, etc, when it was blatantly obvious that it was an Impreza. I didn't mean that the Impreza was a bad car, just that it was a joke that Saab is trying to label it as it's own. (Just like the VW minivan that is a DODGE!!! )
I'm sort of a loyalist, if you will...before GM, Saab had two models, then GM tries to make them have more, but just takes someone elses and slaps a label on it, instead of trying to get Saab to actually produce one of their own.

And yes, the 9-2x is the same thing as the Impreza, minus some suspension modifications (according to wikipedia). It was assembled in Japan and only sold in N America.

[awsrock]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

As for Saturn, my cousins have bought them since they first came out. They have always been decent and reliable cars. They have not bought one of the new Opel based ones yet, but I drove the new Vue and it was a nice little SUV. I wonder why GM would close them down when they have finally become profitable...

See, I personally think that if GM (or any of these companies) want to survive, they can easily start making some progress by just importing some of their euro models..especially with diesel engines!!! But instead, just like GM would do, they want to axe a good brand and keep their crap. Heck, they don't need to import anything..just liscense them to be built in place of..oh, anything Pontiac?

My grandma had an older Saturn coupe back in the day..she totaled it in a crash, though. It wasn't so bad..but, I wouldn't want one. To this day, she still wishes she had it (Grandpa bought her a Buick after that, lol)

[450slcguy]

Saab won't be missed.

[PaulC]

The current 9-3 is an unremarkable car; The 9-5 was decent, but GM sat on the current design too long, and should have brought a AWD version on the market to garner more snow-belt sales. The 99 was a quirky and cool little car, but the Opel successor was pasteurized and homogenized to the point where the quirks (and their attractiveness) were gone.

When you take a cult car and turn it into a Mercury Topaz, you risk blowing off brand loyalists, and the public-at-large wonders why they should pay Saab's cost premium over a nice, shiny Honda Accord.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by awsrock

See, I personally think that if GM (or any of these companies) want to survive, they can easily start making some progress by just importing some of their euro models..especially with diesel engines!!! But instead, just like GM would do, they want to axe a good brand and keep their crap. Heck, they don't need to import anything..just liscense them to be built in place of..oh, anything Pontiac?

My grandma had an older Saturn coupe back in the day..she totaled it in a crash, though. It wasn't so bad..but, I wouldn't want one. To this day, she still wishes she had it (Grandpa bought her a Buick after that, lol)

I agree. GM could be bringing in decent Opels, Vauxhalls, and Holdens into this country. They would get better MPG and have better build quality than the usual Chevy or Pontiac. While I would hate to see the end of Pontiac or Buick, replacing them with Opel and Holden would be a good idea.

[awsrock]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

I agree. GM could be bringing in decent Opels, Vauxhalls, and Holdens into this country. They would get better MPG and have better build quality than the usual Chevy or Pontiac. While I would hate to see the end of Pontiac or Buick, replacing them with Opel and Holden would be a good idea.

Many of the Holdens or Fords from Australia (not sure if they are the same as in europe) that I have read about are pretty impressive. Lots of them have turbo options, and they look pretty good too. (Ford Falcon comes to mind)
Granted, the GTO didn't seem to do as well as people hoped, but that market is pretty small, as it is. The only downside I can think of to these Aussie models is that they don't get very good mpgs, but that might be partly due to them often having "Boss 5.4 V8s" in their family sedans