Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Bad Moon On The Rise For Saab
CEO bails sinking Saab - Autoblog - www.autoblog.com
One of my favourite automakers is looking like it may be in trouble. I feared this when they were taken over by "Big, Bad" GM, but it seems that some of those fears I had are coming to fruition now.
After recently losing a battle over where his vehicles would be produced the CEO of Saab, Peter Augustsson is leaving. He's upset.
I understand why. Saab has become increasingly influenced by GM, and not only have they been taking away some of things I found endearing and unique about the Saab line, but they have shown that they don't know how to market this type of vehicle properly. (GM Executive somewhere in Detroit says:"Duh, what's a turbocharger?") Not to mention that it's plain to see that GM has no respect for the "Swedish Way" of supporting themselves, and helping themselves, and being so very proud of their nation state specifically for their swedish-ness.
Cultural insensitivity aside, Saab is not doing as well as they should be, and I think it's directly related to the fact that their parent company is American. I see some of the same things happening to Volvo, though I think they're faring better with the slightly more open and innovative (read "desperate") Ford.
One of my favourite automakers is looking like it may be in trouble. I feared this when they were taken over by "Big, Bad" GM, but it seems that some of those fears I had are coming to fruition now.
After recently losing a battle over where his vehicles would be produced the CEO of Saab, Peter Augustsson is leaving. He's upset.
I understand why. Saab has become increasingly influenced by GM, and not only have they been taking away some of things I found endearing and unique about the Saab line, but they have shown that they don't know how to market this type of vehicle properly. (GM Executive somewhere in Detroit says:"Duh, what's a turbocharger?") Not to mention that it's plain to see that GM has no respect for the "Swedish Way" of supporting themselves, and helping themselves, and being so very proud of their nation state specifically for their swedish-ness.
Cultural insensitivity aside, Saab is not doing as well as they should be, and I think it's directly related to the fact that their parent company is American. I see some of the same things happening to Volvo, though I think they're faring better with the slightly more open and innovative (read "desperate") Ford.
