Breaking news! Saab is NOT dead (yet) and the new 9-5 gets the green light.

I definitely think that the market is ready for a large hatchback again:

BMW-5-Series_Gran_Turismo_2010_photo_2f.jpg


So if Saab survives, it'd be crazy to not offer a 9-5 hatch.
 
I definitely think that the market is ready for a large hatchback again:

http://photo.netcarshow.com/BMW-5-Series_Gran_Turismo_2010_photo_2f.jpg

So if Saab survives, it'd be crazy to not offer a 9-5 hatch.

The Audi A5 Sportback is more akin to a modern 900 hatch than the 5 series GT. The 900 was never an ugly car :lol:

Even if SAAB survives, it's too late for the new 9-5 to be launched as a hatch. It's already in limited production in Trollhattan, and the company needs sales now. The return of the hatch may have to come in the form of the replacement of the 9-3.

(As an aside, it would also be nice for an independent SAAB to return to the old 90/900/9000 nomenclature rather than the GM era 9-3/9-5. SAAB isn't BMW and shouldn't pretend to be in its naming system.)
 

Saab-9000_1997_photo_05.jpg

Saab-9000_1997_photo_25.jpg


:hmm:

I'll have the Saab thanks.
They are very similar though, and I've never noticed that/thought about it this way. I've always considered the 5GT to be nothing more than an abomination to the auto industry.
 
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Saab-9000_1997_photo_05.jpg

Saab-9000_1997_photo_25.jpg


:hmm:

I'll have the Saab thanks.
They are very similar though, and I've never noticed that/thought about it this way. I've always considered the 5GT to be nothing more than an abomination to the auto industry.

Well the SAAB works better for a few reasons. The FWD saves space all around so a smaller car has similar interior space to the 5 GT. The SAAB isn't as massively overpriced although back then it was a little over priced. The SAAB gets very good mileage while still being fairly sporty and doesn't way as much as the Bismark.

OH it also isn't jacked up to near SUV levels in order to avoid the apperance of a wagon.
 
Hey, don't get me wrong, I agree with everyone else that the old Saab hatchbacks looked much nicer than the 5GT does...it was just an example of how a company is going to make buttloads of money selling a big hatchback (and we all know that despite it's painfully bad looks, the 5GT is going to make BMW buttloads of money).
 
Oh yes it will make them a butt load.

Since it shares most of its components with the 7 series with just slightly different sheet metal and the rear hatch its development cost was near zero. It starts what in the mid 60,000 range right? About $15,000 less then a 7 series so they can bump up the volume on that platform and get some significant economies of scale going.
 
Considering what has gone on with them for the last couple months I won't belive anything until SAAB has been transferred to another company.
 
CNBC just said again that it was a done deal.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35079458/site/14081545

General Motors and Spyker Cars are close to concluding a deal for the Swedish brand Saab, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.

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A deal for sports car maker Spyker to acquire Saab from GM could be announced within hours; however, the deal has not been finalized and complications could arise, said the person, who asked not to be named as the negotiations remain private.

"They are close," the source said, adding that an announcement could be "imminent."
 
Jalopnik said:
The long-negotiated deal between GM and Spyker has finally gone through; Saab will be sold to the Dutch supercar maker. Should Saab fans rejoice or worry that this is just another cruel twist in Saab's long, quirky road to b?rking?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Spyker will contribute $74 million in cash for the deal and the European Investment Bank will provide $556 million. GM will maintain about $326 million in shares, or 1% of voting rights.

This continues GM's attempt to focus on the four core brands ? Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac ? that have maximum badge-engineering synergy potential. The Swedish brand has languished under GM ownership, losing much of its fabled quirkiness in the corporate drive to bean-count out character and replace it with vaguely Swedish-looking bodies sitting atop crappy mid-range Opels (GM's European badge-engineered brand).

So what value is left for Spyker? Other than a brand with a decades-old image problem and some mildly competitive platforms, it gets a factory in Tr?llhattan that employs 3,500 Nordic superworkers, the brand-new (but GM-based) 2010 Saab 9-5 and, perhaps more tellingly, the $600 million in promised loans from the European Investment bank.

That last thing is thought to be most appealing to the ailing Spyker; it hasn't turned a profit during its 10-year history. In the worst case scenario, it's thought that Spyker could use that money to shore up its own operations, neglecting Saab in the process. In the best case, Saab, an unpopular brand with much-publicized financial woes, is now owned by a company with no experience mass-manufacturing cars during the toughest period for the car sales ever. It's hard to be optimistic about Saab's future.


I don't know why they're so pessimistic about this deal, but as far as i can see, this is great news
 
I don't know why they're so pessimistic about this deal, but as far as i can see, this is great news

You don't see why they're pessimistic about a brand with one single new product heavily based on another manufacturer's car, almost no image apart from a small group of fanatics, and which is now owned by a never-profitable niche manufacturer which has had no experience making mass-market cars?
 
Finally it's done!!
 
The long-negotiated deal between GM and Spyker has finally gone through; Saab will be sold to the Dutch supercar maker. Should Saab fans rejoice or worry that this is just another cruel twist in Saab's long, quirky road to b?rking?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Spyker will contribute $74 million in cash for the deal and the European Investment Bank will provide $556 million. GM will maintain about $326 million in shares, or 1% of voting rights.

This continues GM's attempt to focus on the four core brands ? Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac ? that have maximum badge-engineering synergy potential. The Swedish brand has languished under GM ownership, losing much of its fabled quirkiness in the corporate drive to bean-count out character and replace it with vaguely Swedish-looking bodies sitting atop crappy mid-range Opels (GM's European badge-engineered brand).

So what value is left for Spyker? Other than a brand with a decades-old image problem and some mildly competitive platforms, it gets a factory in Tr?llhattan that employs 3,500 Nordic superworkers, the brand-new (but GM-based) 2010 Saab 9-5 and, perhaps more tellingly, the $600 million in promised loans from the European Investment bank.

That last thing is thought to be most appealing to the ailing Spyker; it hasn't turned a profit during its 10-year history. In the worst case scenario, it's thought that Spyker could use that money to shore up its own operations, neglecting Saab in the process. In the best case, Saab, an unpopular brand with much-publicized financial woes, is now owned by a company with no experience mass-manufacturing cars during the toughest period for the car sales ever. It's hard to be optimistic about Saab's future.

I will continue to have doubts until ownership has been transferred. GM's management is that inept.

As for if SAAB cam survive: those running it will continue to run it, so the mass manufacturing experience will be there. Turning a profit will be an issue though.
 
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