Brightwell on Saab 9-5 and Saab 9-4x and investor number three

That the Turkish Brightwell Holding would like to make an offer for Saab is not a new announcement. More interesting is what Zamier Ahmed said about the Saab 9-5 and the 9-4x to the press. Brightwell, unlike Investor Youngman, believes that it will continue to build 9-5 and 9-4x.

GM would be extremely unfair to Saab investors, customers, Sweden and Saab itself if the licenses were refused. In his eyes, the Saab 9-3 is an outdated product that he does not want to offer to the customer. Strong words and of course a lot of politics, because the “Beauty Contest” for Saab has finally started.

According to Zamier Ahmed, you speak to GM and you have received positive signals from Detroit. "Of course we don't speak to the press officer himself ... but to other people," he said.

These are just words, there is still no offer, nor is it a show. But the direction is clear. Three bidders, three concepts.

  • Investor Youngman just wants to build the Saab 9-3, 100% GM Free.
  • Investor Brightwell wants to offer the complete product range, with GM licenses.

And our nameless investor, who unfortunately still does not look for the public?

  • Investor Numer 3 has a different but highly interesting concept. I'll air the secret a little bit and hope that I do not lean too far out of the window. In Trollhättan products are to be produced on a group platform, which do not bear the name Saab. At the same time Saabs will run off the line on this platform, parallel to it. A premium product in the typical Saab design, very crisp, of course, with hot turbo engines and probably the desired product of many Saab drivers. The plant would be fully utilized, we would have access to very interesting technology.

Curtain closed, that's it. There is no more. And since some clever eggs in some forums without direct insight, we do not know what we write. A very clear indication delivered weeks ago, a dedicated commentator. Unfortunately, no one noticed it. Sorry guys, but that had to be.

Back to the Saab 9-5 again. At the moment there is a lively discussion here on the blog whether the 9-5 sports suit would have been a success or not. In Germany, two people outside of Saab drove this car extensively, and had an insight into the details and improvements of the 2012 vintage.

The driving reports of Mark and me and detailed pictures of the model year 2012 will follow in the next few days. Then everyone can decide if the sports suit would have been top or flying.

This afternoon there will be a press conference of the bankruptcy trustees. I hope to have internet access somehow. Updates follow.

Text: tom@saabblog.net

18 thoughts on "Brightwell on Saab 9-5 and Saab 9-4x and investor number three"

  • Actually, I did not want to comment on the car dealer, now I do it anyway:
    WHY do we buy SAAB?
    WHY are the fans fighting like that?
    My motivation:
    - SAAB stands for innovation, Saab is a car for technology enthusiasts - but others also build great cars, the innovations from VW / Audi cannot be dismissed out of hand (and better marketed, you can be mad about them, yes, the world is unfair - Autobild-VW-Bild, but that's the way the world is and whining has never been of any use)
    - SAAB is QUIRKY, whoever loves mainstream will never buy Saab, Saab is the niche of those who think differently
    - SAAB is something for drivers who like great cars, I drive a 9-5II with diesel, 160PS without Drive Sense, the car is simply beautiful, incredibly manoeuvrable despite its size, absolutely quick in city traffic and when you don't have the left on the highway Automatically leasing the track for yourself is also top here. I have not yet found the cheapest plastic and the service is “self-evident” - when our car dealers complain, I have to say whoever sat in it has never spoken negatively to me, on the contrary. You just have to get people IN the car and that's where the car dealer is asked, sorry and don't be angry, I know how difficult it is right now when it comes to survival. But the Porsche / Audi dealerships that I know have a professionalism that is championsleque, even if the manufacturers should not be entirely uninvolved. If there are new SAABS again, you have to sell them and to get the customer into the car !!!
    - SAAB stands out from the automotive crowd - I don't want a car that everyone drives
    - Perhaps there is also something impotent here that the money always wins, or the big one and / or we want the little one to win too ...
    - For me there is still the regional reason - not all of the Auto-Union stayed in Chemnitz / Zwickau after 45 or went to Ingolstadt, whoever looks at the first SAABs can easily misjudge the roots.

    All this and probably much more SAAB has made such a strong brand, which should not be according to the usual rules of analysts (see Dudenhöfer).
    But the world keeps turning and there's no way around it:
    SAAB needs great cars that appeal to heart, soul and mind, dedicated dealers, top service AND the right marketing (where cunning often outweighs money.

    Therefore I would be happy, if SAAB lives on, otherwise my 9-5 will stop as a Yountimer and would advise the dealers, who not only complain about the current situation but also their products, either to switch to another brand or to merge and what to improve to communicate with the manufacturer (if it continues).
    Sure you can complain now, he has no idea, is not a dealer, etc. - is also correct, but complaining doesn't help, only the deed (with luck can help).

    PS: I rode my son's 9-3 today and was shocked how tight it is in there ...

  • The committed YES to the 9-5 II is really a pleasure. and thats the way it is. When my acquaintances and friends have ridden with me in my new 9-5 AERO, then they think about their high-volume models again. No question about it, other mothers also have great daughters. I (we ??) don't have to do anything bad! But the 9-5 can go with you! Yes, with a mischievous: "It can't be!" I like to answer the astonished statement: “It drives better than mine…” (5-threesome, A6, E-Class) And most importantly, I am very satisfied with my decision. I've never had more comfort and peace when traveling. No more space either. (Thanks to the 5 m.) And every now and then I wait until the CD has finished playing because the stereo is terrific.

  • @ Matti
    by “potato box” I mean the yawning design of the Passat, not the technology. Although after 8 years of running a VW dealership from 1998 to 2006 I saw as much misery there in one year as I had not seen in the entire 9 years before at Ford. But: VW has a lobby and that is why a Passat built in 96 would still win against a brand-new 9-3 in the “objective comparison test”.
    For me, one thing is certain: Never a car that I find on the Kaufland parking lot on Saturday morning 12 15 times even in copy and color and leaving the Kaufland parking lot left at the traffic lights next to me Anatolian music (not pejorative meant !) sounds from the open window of the identical car.
    No way!
    SAAB is something special and I do not see small weaknesses as such, but they belong to it.
    As I said: 9-5 II - no alternative.
    SG
    Klaus

  • ... people are all speculation - we need whoever buys the store and makes the best of it, then we can still turn up our noses.

  • The new Saab 9-5 is an absolute top car. I am one of the happy few who can definitely judge that: I've been driving a new 9-5 II TTiD XWD for a year now. I drove almost 40.000 km with it; the new Saab drives better than its predecessors with me (e.g. 530 Tdi BMW). The strength of the new Saab 9-5 II is its chassis: this is precisely where it is clearly superior to the competition from southern Germany! The chassis is firm, but not simply hard; the road is excellent for the driver. Other manufacturers have not yet succeeded in such coordination. I mostly use the “intellegent” mode in the Drive sense system.

    It would be a pity if this car would not be built!

    Carsten

  • Can I only fully agree! The 9-5 II is the best and of the number of deficiencies (= 0) the most inconspicuous car I've ever had!

  • Hello!
    Maybe you should only talk about other brands, but not so
    denigrate. Had the pleasure of Insignia, Passat and Co. in Benzin u.
    Diesel variants to test. Bad was none of these vehicles, each had
    many advantages and little quirks, but a potato box was not among them
    find (bitter, if any objectivity is missing!).
    Personally, “Saab survival” is very important to me, especially since we are in the region
    Dalsland near Trollhättan often stay in our cottage. The empty one
    Factory / Neuwagenparkplätze hurt there a lot, quite apart from that
    the entire region suffers massively.
    It is hoped the Saab survives as individually as possible and eventual
    Investors notice the possibilities behind the name Saab and that too
    rescuing engineering. Should then have a capable management
    to be able to implement this and, above all, the Swedish trade union a little bit
    could react more flexibly, it could actually work out.
    Drive my 9-3 sedan '09 with pride (for me the “nicest”, if
    also supposedly “out of date”.
    Good luck for SAAB and the region!

  • Right, right, saab95 II!
    I started with a 96 (last year of construction) and currently drive the 9-5 Tid Aut Vector, Bj 2011. Dream long-haul car with low consumption and also completely ok in city handling! Small weaknesses after a year such as broken seat heating and the back light strip can be easily remedied. A car with “distincton” and “that is a SAAB? Looks great !! " I keep all three fingers crossed that it goes on.

  • This eternal Miesmache of the current models here.
    In addition a nice report in the current autobild side 59.
    It is exactly as it is there: If everyone who mourned SAAB had bought a car, SAAB would not have these problems. Worth reading !!! And that in the VW newspaper ... Auto-Bild
    SG
    Klaus

    • Klaus says:
      21. January 2012 at 1: 27 PM

      Hello Saab friends.
      Thanks to tx driver, to Saabansbraten and Saab 9-5 II. Let's not let our wannabe Saab drive our cars bad. I'm a mechanic since 1981 Saab and can only say one thing. The new Saab 9-5, no matter which version , is the best car Saab has ever produced. To the 9-4X I can not say anything because this car did not run with us and everyone has the experience. There is no perfect car. I myself already had S-class Mercedes and Jaguar. But even there there were and are weak points and processing defects (lights, indoor
      In addition, Saab has always done well with GM technology.
      Just because GM responds to the licensing so it is incomprehensible to make such a statement on the quality of a 9-5 or 9-4X.
      I personally am proud to have a Saab 9 5 Tid Vector, Bj 2011 and wish it to last a long time.
      So, to all the critics who do not know about good cars and still want to have a say, lives on in your wannabe Saab world but keeps your crap that you wrote the next time for you.

      In the best of hope for Saab.

      • I think it's good that the SAAB fans also have different opinions. Finally, they also show the market's opinion of SAAB and not all of them see SAAB doing well under GM.

        So I think it's a bit wrong that you label all critics here as “wannabe”.

        • Above all, it's just the case that almost all manufacturers build good and (depending on your taste) beautiful cars.
          But that alone is not enough with SAAB, it has to be something special.
          Something that no other manufacturer offers. Not so much in terms of the technology, because that's pretty much "uniformity" anyway, but in terms of styling, flair and esprit - SAAB -GEIST!
          Whoever builds cars under the name of SAAB will not succeed if he does not understand that.
          As already suggested by other writers, an automobile APPLE-WEG would be an option, for example.
          Computer only - but something special.
          Whether real or in the mind of the customer - it doesn't matter, the main thing is that it works.

    • There were indeed orders and some Daueroptimisten keep these even still upright. Saab has been persistently refusing 2011 to build and sell cars since spring

  • @saab 9-5 II and mac 9-5: I think so too !!

  • Yes, because anyone believes that if SAAB to VW or whoever would belong to everything would be better?
    Then we have the same steering wheels and switches as in a disgusting Golf or Passat!
    100% SAAB will never be there again, so we have to settle for that!
    If that bothers you, you better buy the ever-victorious Skoda Superb with the strangest design!
    For me personally is a relationship that you do not see a modern, pretty Insignia rather than a potato box Passat, right?
    To the recurring rumors here, the chassis of the 9-5 II is nothing: I am a spoiled Citroen C6 driver with probably the best comfort chassis of all time and drive, inter alia, Citroen DS 21 1972 and I clearly state here:
    Even my chassis on the 9-5 II without Drive-Sense with 18 ″ wheels is absolutely fine. Tightly tuned (also due to the tight seats) but by no means uncomfortable.
    It is a shame for this no-alternative vehicle!
    Greetings!
    Klaus

  • Nice report, interesting information.
    But is the “invisible third party” so happy about the veiled clues!? 😉
    I'm curious to see who it is when he shows up in public. 🙂

    And as for the discussion in the other post, I can not quite understand everything that way.
    I found the 9-5 SC and 9-4x “visually and haptically” really great at the presentation.
    Although I think an Opel steering wheel is not great, but I would not bother synonymous.

    What I could also see as one of the few points of criticism, however, is the length of “over” 5m for the 9-5 - that's a lot.
    And how it goes, unfortunately, you only learn from driving reports of a few / others.
    And they were usually quite positive, right?

    What astonished me, however, was the statement from the “dealer” that nobody really wants the 9-5 sedan.
    But I think that there are several reasons for this and that it is / was certainly partly situation-dependent (and therefore should not allow any conclusions to be drawn about a generally only “bad” car).

  • Who will be the 3. be well?
    Mercedes is cured after the Chrysler disaster and has enough niche products
    BMW has determined enough after the deal with Rover
    PSA I can not imagine, they have nothing to do with premium and upper class on the hat
    Renault with Nissan, Samsung and Infiniti probably not
    Fiat will probably lack the necessary money and they have production in Poland and Turkey free
    Who stays?
    It can only be VW.
    They have platforms, modern technology, production is largely at full capacity, so that one or the other vehicle could be produced in Sweden - see Porsche, didn't the Boxster come from Uusikaupunki for many years?
    Goal: With all of the Group's products in first place worldwide

    Personally, I would prefer the Turks with the licenses: I would like to replace my 9-5 II sedan with a Sport Combi and my Citroen C-Crosser SUV with a 9-4X next year ...

  • Dear Tom

    Thank you again for your great contributions and the enormous business interest for the car brand from Sweden.
    If there was a recognition (Federal Cross of Merit) for job retention in Germany, I would hand it over to you...

    Many greetings from the southern neighbor.

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