Saab News: The good news from Trollhättan

It's getting quieter around Saab, which I see as a good sign. After all, we've had enough excitement lately. If already headlines, then please positive messages. In Sweden, there is a lot that is happening, not just around Saab.

Salary payments to employees

Most Saab employees received wages for the month of August yesterday. This puts a lot of pressure on the families. Wages and salaries for September, secured by the state wage guarantee, come during the week.

Licensed funds from Youngman

No, the funds are not yet in the accounts. Actually, the approximately 650 million kroner was expected yesterday. The payment has been delayed, but is now expected during the week. So Saab press officer Erich Geers said. The payment gives Saab partner and future shareholder the non-exclusive rights to the Saab PhoeniX platform. With the receipt of funds, many things stand and fall. If the funds are on the Saab accounts during the week, then we could head for the first bottle of bubbly (or whatever). Because then Saab is not only a small step further but has made a big leap forward.

Subarus from Trollhättan

In January, the news went through the press that in the future Subarus should drive with gas-powered Saab tapes. The message turned out to be a rather fat newspaper duck. In Trollhättan Subarus were to be converted to gas propulsion. Due to the disaster in Japan, the project has been delayed, now it comes again.

Subaru Nordic, BRC Sweden and ANA are working on the project, which could start this year. Several thousand Subaru are to be converted annually to natural gas. For ANA, severely affected by the Saab Crisis, the project comes at the right time and is the lane on the horizon.

The conversion of Saab 9-3 to natural gas, a pillar of ANA, does not take place due to the lack of production for months, Suabru would be the second mainstay. Likewise the conversion of Saab 9-5 for the police. The orders were canceled after a long wait. As the old 9-5 in Sweden was and is popular with the police as a robust and resilient car, hopefully the orders will come back to Trollhättan with the start of production.

If the Saab production is running again, 2012 could be a good year for ANA. Then you would have two brands and several remodeling projects and thus a lot of work.

Text: tom@saabblog.net

51 thoughts on "Saab News: The good news from Trollhättan"

  • So I'll come and stay in Saxony ... and you don't need to tell me if there wasn't that much in the 80s ... 😉

    I don't find the new 9-3 so well done in terms of the typical SAAB, especially not in terms of the materials in the interior ... the crackling and the alleged leather seats are really a laughing stock compared to the 9000 and 9-5 ... but I drive SAAB and nothing will change there! 🙂 Don't want anything that is written on every corner and my 9-3 is only available 4 times in the whole of Saxony ... man and you don’t easily mix it up! 🙂

    But what I have to say is, so far 60 km, 2x oil changes, brake pads and nothing else! No oil consumption and no other workshop visits necessary… so thumbs up!

  • “The good news from Trollhättan” it was said up there… 😉

    don't mind if you talk about consumption, whether you use 0,05l more or less when you have the window open or closed ... 😉 is okay ... but it was completely over the topic HERE !!!
    And please what does that have to do with young people? No matter…

    I bought my first SAAB when I was 27, an old CD with an inclined nose and a red control unit and everything else in it. except for a machine ... the thing has shocked many a V6 V8 and other turbos ... consumption? Fill up empty 😉 definitely less than my current 9-3 convertible with a deer, it is with an automatic machine at 13l in the city ... but it doesn't matter, my bike also wants 9-10l over 100km 😉
    So now I've also written something about consumption ... 😉

    Philmos @ SAAB needs customers like you 😉 sorry ... for whom the new ones are too showy to drive to the customer and then prefer to show up with an "old" one ...
    Hope your customers don't think “oh dear, it's not going so well with him, he drives around in such an old car” ... but it depends on what and where you sell ...

    But SAAB has to sell new cars and advertise them ... that's what it was about, right? 😉

    So and now a sunny yellow convertible day ... 🙂

    • @ Alex
      I see that completely different. A dealer earns relatively little on a new car, that's a fact. Much more important is the spare parts and workshop business for the dealers. If I extrapolate what I've indulged in accessories my car, new LM rims, interior design, etc., and the workshop costs, then this is much more than what a leasing customer of a new car brings the dealer and the workshop. Anyway, we are (still) sufficiently courted by Saab, I can not complain.

      On the other topic "used car customer bashing" from you:
      I think we come from other generations. You seem to belong to an older generation “higher, further, faster and everything is in abundance”. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case in West Berlin in the 80s and 90s, neither in school (had to glue school books together in order to be able to read something), during studies (no books available), nor at the first jobs in Germany mind you, at the end of the 90s. There was always a shortage in Germany, too little of everything. Too little or no jobs and no money for this reason.

      My generation has now also moved into management and knows just very well to economize. This includes also used cars with style and high quality, which are just sustainable, away from the throwaway cars of the competition. Amazingly, Mercedes just discovered this target group with their Yountimers, this is just an article in Financial Times Germany, in the online edition. This target group is immensely important for the image of the brand as well as of economic importance, it is there.

      If we, my generation, were to drive up with big new cars, that is neither authentic nor particularly credible for the offer. The customers would want to neglect and exclude us like that, because we obviously have it. But only very few people understand that, who show off their wealth and then, unnoticed, constantly pay inflated bills or have to let themselves be negotiated far too much on projects ...

      • I would also like to buy a 9000Aero, but I don't have any space, so a car and it's new and I hope that I can lease a 9-5 SC next year ...

        MB is also in a slightly different situation / situation like SAAB, they should now come up with a few numbers, because otherwise it will soon look bleak for the old boxes of spare parts ...

        and on the subject of generation ... I'm 37! 😉 and the CD was available for a 1000s ... and was a ridden bunch that I made fit again with Scandix parts ...

        So ... just buy a 9-5 NEW and support SAAB with it ... 😉

        • Then you're even younger than me 😉 I'm 39. But probably that may make the different areas, in West Berlin, everything was always too little, that has not changed in the new big Berlin also today. Because there were no well-paid or no jobs at the end of the 90er, I left 1998 Berlin and Germany, to Vienna.

          If a new Saab, then only the new 9-5 SC, which everyone is waiting for. With the current 9-3, I could never make friends with the shape, too confused.

  • ... is it now about consumption or about the survival of SAAB ????

    I can't believe it ... when the SAAB Germany reads then they laugh and think "We" have no more problems ... man man man ...

    • Pay attention to your blood pressure
      I mean ... everyone complains about Saab and their marketing ...
      Where is the positive feedback about these great cars ?! So far one only reads “You're doing this wrong, that is for the very least”, etc…. Instead of thinking about whether they don't have to correct their (!) Own problems and maybe just don't have the time or money for extensive statements and advertising ...

    • It was also about opening or attracting the brand to younger shoppers. We discussed this here. I think the two young brand friends with their 19 years as well as me with my wife show that the brand is also interesting for younger groups of buyers. Then maybe not as expensive leased or financed business car (mine are also company cars, but just deliberately chosen as good used Saabs. I could also lease a new 9-5 or two), but the old models appeal more to me. Makes a better impression on the customer than to act as Count Koks. There are already enough in the consulting industry with their BMWs, Mercedes-Benz and Audis. We distribute our immense annual mileage on four cars with two license plates. So there is always a roadworthy car left over. Consumption is very much an issue for the many miles a year, the German premium can not do it better, on the contrary. The German premium brands have failed miserably in our practice: BMW 318d Touring in winter use and practice consumption over 7 liters on long-haul, Audi and Seat better in winter, but even more consumption. If I need 6,2 to 6,5 with the TiDs, that's a definite advance even though the cars are technologically 10 years old. Absolutely speaks for Saab!

      Regarding the marketing, crisis management and the addressed business processes at Saab, I could well imagine a consulting mandate of my company at Saab, of course that would have to be compensated. I already realize that we have the finger in the wound here in the blog, but that needs a good analysis and situational in any case.

  • Do you have the coupé or the sedan on the 9-3? That's a whole lot less than we use. On 4, x I've never had the cars. Is that the information from the SID or is it calculated yourself? What are the underlying routes? How is your driving style We already have a share of short journeys and city traffic with it, on the autobahn with the exception of construction sites and tunnels at least 130 km / h, in Germany significantly more, 150 to 160 km / h. We also have a lot of high mountains in Austria ...

    • For the wheels, we have 16-inch alloy wheels on 205er tires (9-3) and 215er tires (9-5), the air conditioning switched on in the summer, but not extreme.

      Compared to the information on Spritmonitor.de, I found our values ​​good, but when I hear yours. I compare it to the BMW 318d Touring, Audi A4 Sedan 2,0 TDI 120 PS and Seat Exeo Kombi also 120 PS TDI, all of which take a sip more diesel from the tank despite the start-stop and all the junk. The 318d can hardly be driven under 7,0 liters, was a bitter disappointment at the time, Audi and Seat need even more ...

      • I drive the limousine, depending on the circumstances, drive more gently with the accelerator pedal (between 1100-2800 revolutions), also have the standard 16 inch rim, air conditioning is on automatic ... Values ​​are calculated by hand and the SID spits out identical values ​​^^

        • For me synonymous SID and manual recalculations are absolutely identical. But my consumption is a good half to three quarters of a liter higher. Probably that's my driving style, the mountains and the hot summer (climate is always on automatic, we had here often for weeks 35 to 38 degrees). On the highway and when accelerating I turn higher, except when the engine is cold. I never use cruise control on highways, so consumption increases when the car accelerates again so sharply after braking. When I think about it, most of the others drive much slower, and I'm rarely overtaken, mostly by sports cars or high-powered luxury class cars.

          As I said at Tempo 170 to 200 km / h in Germany, I came to 6,8 liters / 100 Km.

          • I don't think it is because of the way you drive ... In the past, my consumption was at your values, if not higher. Strangely enough, it always varied with the quality of the diesel and engine oil.

  • @Creativ: Which oil do you take? I have the engine twice, sometimes three times in my cars, a brilliant engine, even with the timing chain. Tax and insurance favorable performance, but still enough capacity and performance. I have the engine in the 9-3, in the 9-5 and soon also in the 9-5 station wagon, get family growth

    We always drive 9-5 and 9-3 between 6,2 and 6,5 liters depending on the share of the city, for longer motorway distances 5,9 or less. At high speed 6,8 on average.

    But the German environmental zones do not seem to like the engine, so entry forbidden eg in Berlin. I still have a 9-3 coupe gasoline engine 2.0i 131 PS from 1999 for these purposes.

    • I'm amazed at your consumption ... I drive mine to 5,6 liters, even had it for a very short time to 4,3.

      Have now since 20TKm Castro EDGE TurboDiesel 0W-30 in it (on the recommendation of BMW). However, I wonder if there aren't even better types of oil ...
      Would be there for tips very grateful ^^

  • @Philmos
    Yes it is the old 2.2liter 125 PS ^^ That the engine is very strong you can confirm without much thought. However, you dare not go to the rev limiter if the car has more than 342TKm
    BTW. Do not let the semi-synthetic oil of GM eintrichtern and tank but rather times between Shell the VPower Diesel 😉

  • that is absolutely correct what you are saying, but everyone who does not read the blog who thinks SAAB is no longer there ... and a lot of SAAB drivers think that themselves (who have ordered cars and are waiting for the IO, only negative ones come on TV Messages and nothing from SAAB Germany) and there must! SAAB Germany come into their own, otherwise they don't even need to turn the straps back on!
    If I look at SAAB.DE then one could think one goes to the dealer makes a test drive and buy times fix new 9 5!
    No up-to-date information, no “hello we're still alive” nothing… and the newsroom, well… is another thing… I don't know how the other “older” people are doing, but my parents can't speak the English they want!
    They really have a few people who can do a mailing about the admission offices ... but they will already know what they are doing ... or not!

    • The fact is that the blog for Saab hinbiegt. When I look at the discussion like that, I wonder how this month's traffic is. The brand is not dead, For Saab Interested here is the first source of information and in D we have never had.

      Sweden would have to build cars, Saab D would use the blog and would then have a real chance of a comeback. Because there would also be a platform for dealers here. You could also get young people to Saab this way. Just spun on the future ...

  • Nevertheless, I think that a little more relaxation would do us all good. Be it through a message from Saab D, to mend the church here or by resuming production. But we just can not influence it !!! Some just have more patience, some just less. The blog here should provide a platform for both mentalities, right?

    • TM 7374,

      It's not about someone being put in a mild mood here - it's about normal information policy from SAAB Germany. But hardly anything comes here and this is exactly the problem (primarily for Saab itself)!

      We know SAAB drivers who would like to buy a new car soon, but who went straight to SUBARU because, for example, they did not have a time window for the 9-5 station wagon - if this time window were within reasonable limits, a waiting time would have been possible. But no information regarding the start of production and subsequent delivery times is simply counterproductive!

  • It's funny. Since Tom is trying hard to spread optimism and objectively present the current situation and yet come thereon almost always only negative comments. People relax, a reconstruction takes time. And consider that now all (financial) decisions (also concerning marketing, internet presence, etc.) must first be approved by the insolvency administrator. And he certainly has quite different construction sites at the moment. I'm sure SAAB Germany would like to communicate more or invest more in communication, but independent action is currently not possible.

    • TM,

      Unfortunately, this came across as a bit “senior teacher” (“People relax ... -” etc.) - a comprehensive statement from, for example, SAAB Germany is a must and does not cost huge sums!

      Only with relaxation does nobody get on the right track - the people who demand significantly more activity from those responsible in the SAAB management are of course absolutely right.

      Greetings from the Hanseatic city of Hamburg (at present there is still a so-called loyal SAAB fanbase)

      Joachim

      • “I like it” 😉

  • they may not want to sell any more ... 😉
    Let's see ... I'll wait a week, if nothing happens, my shares will be on the market ...
    Why do not you hear anything from SAAB Germany?
    My parents ... 2 × 9000 CSE / AERO and 2 x 9-5 SE only have the press release that SAAB is bankrupt and can no longer pay wages ... what about these customers who are not reading here?

    !!!!!! I HOPE THE DOMINATIONS READ THIS HERE !!!!!!!

    • Real Your parents also have four Saabs? I thought so, I'm the only madman here with four Saabs (1x 9-5 I Sportscombi Diesel, 1x 9-5 I Sedan Diesel, 1x 9-3 I Coupe Gasoline, 1x 9-3 I Sedan Diesel).

      I am also surprised by the lame marketing, especially in this highly competitive industry ...

      • Sorry sorry ... of course they were in the yard one after the other! 🙂 Now it's 9-5 and he gets his Knadenbrot from us ... 😉

        TM7374

        I know that, and Tom's work is awesome, I said ... but the mass, the mass that SAAB'S have to buy !!! she doesn't know that things will continue and the car dealerships don't do much either ... which disappoints me a bit about my dealer, because it's a very good one! From mine in my hometown I would have expected nothing or nothing anyway ... 🙂 he doesn't even say hello when you meet him in the SAAB! Extra ugh !!!! 🙂

        So, the criticism went only to S and D and not to Tom! 😉

        Topic above ... with the youngsters ... how should they know that SAAB has beautiful turbo's and little deer, if not even the blogers know !!! that it goes on ...

        • Topic adolescents or young people: For most of course, every euro counts, the others anyway get a new car from German production as Abigeschenk placed in front of the house 😉

          But the others should know that there are not only unaffordable high-powered engines at Saab, so the small engines are fun enough and also consume little, so are very economical. So the high car tax and insurance premiums as well as repairs and wearing parts such as tires make turbos, aeros and deer unaffordable for young people. This is not even something for average earners. Besides, you can not extend that anyway. For most parents, even the basic models are way too fast for the offspring as a driving license newcomers.

          When I look at the fire brigade pages on the Internet here in Styria, most people in BMWs crash and die. It's always the same scenario, woodland, wet road and then the damn rear-wheel drive, so uncontrollable when the car is traveling too fast. Mostly ends up between the trees and is then cut apart from the rescue. But preferably BMW, actually there should be no old BMWs more, most end so, 3er, 5er etc.

          • This is partly due to the rear-wheel drive, but mainly due to the lack of experience and merciless SELF-VALUATION of some young people….
            In the meantime, I am also very much in the mood for the hand, as some people just constantly think I have to knock on the trunk, because you drive your 100 ^^

          • Hello Creativ,

            you also have the 9-3 series I 2.2 TiD with 125 PS or? I have the year 2002 in silver. Subject: Call waiting on the trunk. In Germany, this was basically done with me, especially BMW 5er, E-Class and Audi A6 mostly with xenon headlights and tight opening, so clear coercion. I'm certainly not a traffic barrier, but at 160 to 170 km / h, I think this drill behaviors for only sick. Probably these people do not care if they arrive at their important date or land in the box. Otherwise not explainable.

            On the Radstädter Tauernstraße I was harassed by a 6-series Golf GTI petrol current model. I then got involved and saw it down with the right switching technology. He was amazed. The Golf has 250 hp, twice as much, but only 250 Nm to 280 Nm with the 2.2 TID, which are already at 1500 rpm, that made the difference ...

  • Why is there still no configurator for the 9-5 Combi?

    There is already intensive advertising for this model in China - what is actually going on at SAAB Germany? Are only people sitting here who have somehow missed the fact that marketing and a complete Internet presence (including configurator) must be started early on before production starts ...

    We are actually all laypeople in this field here in the blog - but we seem to be equipped with more “common sense” than these so-called experts!

    Anton

  • The silence is also noticeable here in the CH. No writing, nothing at all ... for a long time

  • Thanks to the previous speakers ... I also can't understand the silence of SAAB in any way!
    They have mega loyal fans and they are only fed by such great blogs like this one with information!
    No information from SAAB S. No information from SAAB D and the dealers only have spring and autumn promotions with viewing offers in mind ... great ...
    There are so many uncertain things here ...
    I'm slowly getting tired of it ...

  • Stop painting the devil on the wall, please ...
    In the end, even we, as SAAB drivers, can move a lot and represent our steadfast opinion, as well as do some “advertising”!
    Actually, one would sometimes have to draw the attention of the youth to this brand, before this on VW, BMW and co. crashes.

    Greeting, Creativ

    • Now I have to ask what you mean by youth? Everything under 40? Or even younger?

      But it also seems to me that it would rather be based on German brands or Italians.

      • Not the whole youth * laughs * I myself drive a 93 TiD of 2001 despite my tender age of 19 years ^^
        In the end, however, you have the youth completely correctly classified by taste and age!
        Sadly, today's people only know SAAB by name but would not even recognize the car when it overfires it.

        • That's really young, congratulations. I think that's extremely intelligent, driving Saab so early. I've been so 12 since 1984 so was on Saab and Alfa as well as the big Citroen sedans. With 18 I drove then Italians and finally a real Alfa, with 25 then an XM. At the time, in the 90s, Saabs were prohibitively expensive, even needed. There were simply no decent used Saabs. So I drove forever Alfa, Lancia and Citroen. I've been driving Saab for a year now, and meanwhile I have four cars in common with my wife, luckily there are change plates in Austria

          I think used Saabs is absolutely cool, as long as I can still speak for the youth at 39. But in terms of lifestyle, I stayed young, would never buy a new car ...

        • ... how can you afford that.
          But I'm sticking to my old 900s and 99s ... so I recently got from a group of young people sitting around on the Rhine while driving by "What is that ?!" "An old Saab!" to listen.
          But ... an old Saab is not a new car. That doesn't help the workers up there. You can produce with pleasure, only if nobody knows that SAAB is still around - to whom do you sell (apart from the several hundred customers ...) ?!

          • ... noted that I am happy to read as a 19-year-old that even more 19-year-olds drive Saab.
            Good greeting!

  • I had just heard from my workshop that Saab parts are probably harder to get than before. These are chassis parts for the old 9-3. Delivery time over a week. That does not seem normal, says the workshop. I can not judge that, I've been driving Saab for only a year, so I see it as neutral, but if the workshop means that.

    At my Italians used to have to wait forever for the parts, sometimes weeks or months in the interior. Citroen was very fast.

    • A week delivery is normal in the Black Forest and also very well represented.
      Just in passing: The workshops also like to order from third-party manufacturers who do their job at least as well, if not better.

      MfG, Creativ

  • Somehow, I do not understand a lot anymore when the salaries were paid for August but not through the state guarantee. Where did the money come from when the Chinese did not pay?
    Also, I'm still skeptical that the Chinese will still buy Saab when the platform rights are already in their hands ...
    Does anyone have a comment?

    Gruss Frank from Berlin

    • The money came from the state wage guarantee. As well as the September wages. Only saab has to repay that after the reconstruction.

      Greeting Leif

    • Hello Frank Urban!

      The takeover of SAAB Sweden is not about any platform rights - this is about an old traditional company made in Sweden, which is to be brought to a new bloom under the aegis of Youngnman-Lotus.

      Pang Da, the other partner company, is already busy promoting the 9-5 (should we finally get started)!

      The sale of automobiles worldwide should of course take place with the SAAB emblem (griffin and lettering) on ​​the hood - this is only possible with a complete takeover including the plant in Trollhättan. Otherwise it would go as wrong as with Rover (here Rover has only become a pitiful Roewe due to the legal situation) - with a clear handicap in terms of marketing and sales of the vehicles.

      Joachim

      • Hello Joachim,

        Well, let's hope so - I just don't see that the Chinese want to tie an underutilized work to their legs and a name that first - outside of our community - has to be reanimated (unfortunately).
        They clearly want the technology Saab has to offer.

        Best Regards
        Frank

  • This is all too quiet for me. My experience is that when Tom writes little, nothing good is in the suit. Even Saab D does nothing, at least could write to customers or put a letter to the situation here on the blog. Where is that?

    You have few opportunities, have stalled the customers for months. Now you have to go on the offensive anyway. It would be time.

    Leif

    • Hello Leif!

      A few positive messages from SAAB Germany should really come. As was already stated weeks ago, they did not have a “good hand” there in the past - it seems that not much has changed here ...

      Even from personal experience (family and acquaintances), these are unfortunately still the circumstances. Personnel are urgently needed changes here!

      Julie

      • Saab seems to be the brand of missed opportunities. Instead of publishing the reconstruction as a chance of survival for the brand to the drivers and interested parties, nothing works instead. Still the lake is resting.

        The big shouting comes in February when the orders are processed and too few new ones come. Because nobody has more Saab on the screen. But that's the big surprise for Trollhättan.

        Car buying is a tedious story. The decision takes and does not come so quickly quickly spontaneously. Now, you have to do something. Yes, yes, even with little resources would go something. With eyes water, when I see that, and above all that nothing happens.

        • trollinger 9-3,
          You have described the sore point very aptly.

          You are welcome to submit more complaints from all federal states on this topic - and please forward them to Trollhättan! Letters to SAAB Germany do not help with the staff there anyway.

          DR

          • In Sweden you can see what would happen. Hirsch, Maptun, ANA, Saab, inside saab and saabsunited host the Oktoberfest. There it is no problem. New cars for test driving, suddenly everything goes.

            Probably one has booked out in Trollhättan D as not sustainable. If we did not have the blog, we would not have anything up to date.

            It's a pity that's all

      • Na Julie and Trollinger, I think we should give Saab Germany a chance. The administrator has not worked yet and nothing will happen without an administrator.

        Tom

  • Why are payments repeatedly delayed, whose receipt was announced weeks ago? This is actually incomprehensible without a plausible explanation.

    Everyone involved (including the Chinese) knows that geade is currently looking at SAAB and its partners. It is not enough for Eric to inform Geers again about a delay - it somehow has a strange aftertaste.

    Joachim

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