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Saab Bankrupt - Sad Day

unit731

By unit731
in Future GM News & Rumors

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unit731 Senior Enthusiast

unit731

Posted
Posted

"Washington —Saab Automobile AB, the 64-year-old quirky Swedish automaker that turned out thousands of hatchbacks, has come to the end of the road.

 

The automaker filed for bankruptcy on Monday and said it expects to liquidate."

 

 

LINK

 

They made a good car. One of my first good cars was a Saab 96. Four speed on the column. No radio. Darn good car. High quality Swedish car back then.

 

 

I think they lost there way awhile back. GM didn't really help. Too many upscale type pseudo-luxury cars out there now. And most overpriced.

 

I think Saab manufactured the last station wagon. Saab 9-3X. Lot's of sports wagons out there. No station wagons. Unless you consider the Subaru a wagon.

 

 

I have owned a Studebaker, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, and a few more I can't remember. Hate to see any brand disappear.

 

Sad days for the automobile.

truckofwinandawesome Senior Enthusiast

truckofwinandawesome

Posted
Posted

I can kind of get why GM didn't want Saab to sell out to the chinese; Saab has the Keys to GM's Technology Kingdom, and they don't want the Communist Chinese Government to get their Grubby Hands on ANY of it.

MikeNH Senior Enthusiast

MikeNH

Posted
Posted

Actually it is GMs fault, just like it was GMs fault for Pontiac, Olds, Saturn, and Hummer.

 

 

Saab was a niche manufacturer before GM took them over and by then they were already on their way out. During GM's ownership it gave Saab probably two of their best vehicles- the 9-2x (basically a Subaru WRX wagon) and the 9-7 (a Saab-modified Trailblazer). The 9-2 was probably faster and a better handler than anything that Saab ever built, it should've sold like crazy but because it wasn't a "real" Saab, the loyalists never latched onto it. Same for the SUV- aside from the Trailblazer SS, this was the only short wheelbase model of the GMT360s to get the 6.0 LS2. But Saab nerds didn't want a SUV so it didn't sell. GM tried to mainstream the brand and I don't blame them for that at all. I also understand not wanting to sell their latest tech to the Chinese because like anything else they get their hands on, they'll just reverse-engineer it and re-sell it, patents be damned.

Doug_Scott Senior Enthusiast

Doug_Scott

Posted
Posted

China does not need to own the company to reverse engineer something, and if they did own the company, there is not need to reverse engineer something, they have the plans already, came with the company.

Debo511 Enthusiast

Debo511

Posted
Posted

I can kind of get why GM didn't want Saab to sell out to the chinese; Saab has the Keys to GM's Technology Kingdom, and they don't want the Communist Chinese Government to get their Grubby Hands on ANY of it.

 

 

 

+1

unit731 Senior Enthusiast

unit731

Posted
  • Author
Posted

China does not need to own the company to reverse engineer something, and if they did own the company, there is not need to reverse engineer something, they have the plans already, came with the company.

 

 

Yes, but they still have to be able to read and comprehend the English language. Not an easy task from some of the products I have seen come out of China.

RockySierra Enthusiast

RockySierra

Posted
Posted

I really liked the SAAB products. My brother had an early 90s that he never maintained very well but it still kept running with close to 200k on the odo when he got rid of it because it had started to give him issues with starting.

unit731 Senior Enthusiast

unit731

Posted
  • Author
Posted

As I stated above, I had a Saab 96. Mine was a later vintage with a V4. Earlier versions of the Saab 96 were 2 stroke 3 cylinders.

 

In the early days here in snow and mountain country the Saab with front wheel drive was the kingpin for in the know. Very reliable with almost a cult following.

 

When Saab dropped the small car began the slide downward. Should have kept the small car on the market. I have no idea if Saab had funds to fedrealize and safety reg. those cars as Saab was always on the fringes. Then later all (most) cars went to front wheel drive.

 

Then came along the Wiz Kids from GM.

 

Yes, the car market is a fickle one.

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