Yet another auto maker suffering in bad economic times, Sweden's Saab files for bankruptcy protection - Yahoo! Finance

 

Dosnt surprise me they don't seem to be able to sell many cars

 

I always heard good things about SAABs from those that drove them.

But boy, they depreciate faster than the seats warmed up.

 

I am not surprised either. Sort of surprised they didn't go belly up before now. Saab was a division of General Motors until the government takeover. The government said GM would only have four divisions and they would be Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick. All the rest were to be sold or shuttered. Just like that and Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, and Saab were gone.
Saab was a very different and distinctive car. GM unfortunately rather than develope the brand futher decided to place Saab badges on other GM cars and tried to peddle them as Saabs. It didn't work at Oldsmobile, it didn't work at Pontiac (although they almost survived), it didn't work at Saturn, so why did they think it would work on an upscale brand like Saab? GM practically gave Saab away to be rid of it.

 

Yes, the people I know that have them like them & gave them many years of good service...
It's always sad to see a good product fail or have problems.
It makes me Saab

Saab has a very interesint history in the automotive industry.
I hope that can find a way to save the company 4-sure
Thank's Keane for posting

 

I remember them being a division of general motors. Of all the things they cut i really wish they hadn't cut pontiac.... I think that was the one brand that should and probally could have kept going. Maybe if they brought back the trans am like they had originally intended.

 

They stopped production of their cars in June, so it was only a matter of time.

IMO they ruined Pontiac. Pontiac was always the performance division of GM. And it just became a sportier looking version of all the same cars from other lines. They had to cut it, especially since the Government didn't even want GM to produce SS versions of cars anymore.

When they bring it back, they need to remake it the performance division. We don't need rehashes of cars with the Pontiac badge, we need real performance cars.

 

It's a real SAAB story.
GM won't bring Pontiac back. As a matter of fact the Obama administration is trying to kill off the American automobile industry. They cut GM in half and like a rooten fruit kept half and threw half away and just like with fruit some of the good does with the bad. Although I am not a fan of new cars and not a huge fan of General Motors either, Pontiac was making great strides to become profitable again. I was sad to see it shuttered. The government didn't have that right. They should have given GM a loan as they did Chrysler back in the 80's. Hell they bailed out Wall St., AIG, and the banks with no strings attached and no requirement of repayment. Chrysler they just gave away to the Italians. Pisses me off. If that isn't bad enough they have increases safety mandates and increased the CAFE numbers. The days of performance cars and trucks are almost over. The government has no right.

 

Re: Badge Engineering. GM was selling disguised Subarus as Saabs. I wondered if they moved the ignition on them to mimic the Saab.

Saturn should have stuck around and weathered the times. Economy & reliability were strong points.

Remember the 70's GM midsize lineup? All based on the Nova, and even named so they spelled out the platform:

Nova - chevy
Omega - olds
Ventura - poncho
Apollo - buick
Seville - caddy

 

If memory serves me correctly, they were also selling a rebadged Trailblazer and Malibu. I don't know if they moved the ignition switch or not. Not everybody liked the switch between the bucket seats. I hope Saab survives,but I don't see it happening.