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"Frankly they've been on GM life support (for nearly 20 years)" - Bob Lutz on Saab (http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKTRE50B7G120090112)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/SAAB_Biopower.jpgNick Carey and Christiaan Hetzner - Reuters - – Jan 12, 2009

Who do you believe? -- Ed.

The Swedish government will not take stakes in either Saab or Volvo from General Motors or Ford Motor nor does it plan more aid for either Swedish automaker, a senior official said on Monday.

"I made it clear to General Motors and Ford that under no circumstances will there be a way that the Swedish government, the Swedish state, will become an owner of either Volvo or Saab," Joran Hagglund, state secretary of the Swedish Industry Ministry, told reporters at the Detroit auto show.

"They (GM and Ford) have to take the full responsibility for the actions that have to be taken to secure good futures for the brands of Saab and Volvo," Hagglund said...http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKTRE50B7G120090112

Anyone see the humor that Sweden's government may be taking a more capitalistic line on the auto industry than the US? :D

Sweden has universal healthcare while we don't.

Saab hasn't been "Saab" since the demise of the original egg-shaped 99 and 900. Since then, it has amounted to -
9-5 - Opel Vectra B
9-3 - Opel Vectra C
9-2x - Subaru Impreza wagon
9-7x - Chevy Trailblazer
Saabs have always sold to people who want something different - something with a higher level of engineering that one might expect from a car that is "Born From Jets". GM saw Saab as a quick way to slap little airplane logos onto restyled Opels and harness additional plant capacity to ship out cars to Saab dealers as well as Opel dealers. You pick up cash from all those sales, you keep the plant operating closer to peak efficiency, and the shareholders smile. But those loyal Saab buyers started to shop elsewhere when their favorite multi-purpose sedans became "A Saturn LS for Twice the Price". And Saab hasn't recovered from that trend.

For the Ford/Volvo relationship, the sharing has gone the other way, with the latest Flex and Lincoln MKS models being based on the Volvo designs. This helps to keep Volvo positioned as a brand that has some prestige, although a weaker economy will keep buyers out of Volvo showrooms to the point where the automaker will end up in trouble.

Automakers all over the world are hurting, and Volvo/Saab are in for some serious challenges in the next year or so. It's like a long roller coaster ride - once it starts, you can't stop and get off. All you can do is sit there and scream. :)

Ford will survive. They have a plan going forward.
Volvo will survive, for the reasons Maxx mentioned above.

GM will likely survive thanks to the US taxpayers.
Saab I think will face extinction.

Anyone see the humor that Sweden's government may be taking a more capitalistic line on the auto industry than the US? :D

Damnit, I was about to post that, you beat me to it! :flag:


And yes, I see Ford as surviving. OF the Big Three, they're really the only ones who deserve to at this point.

It's like a long roller coaster ride - once it starts, you can't stop and get off. All you can do is sit there and scream. :)

That sums up my investing strategy of late. :eek:

Harry

General Motors is set to make an announcement on the future of Saab in the middle of next month, with GM product chief Bob Lutz now describing the Swedish brand as "a luxury we can no longer afford''.

Saab has failed to make a profit since it was acquired by GM in 1990, and instead is understood to have cost the US carmaker some USD 800 million per annum.

A likely outcome is Swedish Government support for Saab, and a consolidation of the company's operations in Sweden.

Ha! Saab is on life support?! GM is the one on life support -- look at that IV tube of money running to them from the federal government!

But agreed, I'm sorry to see it go but Saab is probably done. Also agreed: Ford will undoubtedly survive. Volvo will also survive, with or without Ford.

Interesting that a country that formally embraces socialism (reminder: defined as government ownership of the means of production) won't go so far as to apply it to its automakers.

I was gonna say, Saab is supposed to be quirky cars from Sweden. Well it looks like the 9-3 and 9-5 are still made in Sweden so wouldn't that make them real Saabs?

Now with Volvo, they did have exceptional safety going for them, then they lost that. Now pretty much all cars are safe. Volvo tries to go for luxury, but come on, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi... which one of these 4 have the least prestige?

GM? They're strategy is the same as McDonalds, make mediocre products and hope people buy them cause they're cheap.

Ford seems like the actually make some quality cars, so they should be fine mostly. Well, I've never owned a Ford, and I know my parents never had one as I was growing up. We did have some GM products and they stank, and my dad had a Dodge product and that one stank too. Everyone I know with fords seem to get way up there in the mileage, 150k plus.

I still like Volvo if for no other reason than that they insist on building wagons. A V70 isn't the paragon of fuel efficiency compared to a lot of vehicles, but there are very few vehicles with comparable space that can touch them. Also, although increasingly rare, like Subaru they still insist on offering MTs on at least one model of the V70.