Motivation of the administrators. My condolences to PSA!
In the next few days, there will be less to report on the blog, because other things require more time. Real life requires attention, Saab will have to wait. At the beginning of January I had a long conversation with a friend from Stockholm. We talked about the administrators and their possible motivations for accepting the challenge. My friend said that he could see Hans Bergqvist's ambition to lead Saab into a new future.
In a possible motivational package, this idea may also play a role. Each of us has things that drive him to peak performance or not. Another factor is the location policy, which plays an important role in Sweden. The Süddeutsche Zeitung puts it in a nutshell and reminds us that the Swedish state is by far the largest Saab creditor. What goes with a certain possibility of influencing hand in hand.
Saab is Sweden?
At first glance, Saab is heading in the right direction. All bidders who have a good concept for Trollhättan have opportunities. Unfortunately, there are not only parties who want to continue using our brand. Perhaps, in addition to location policy, the administrators should also incorporate some national pride. A little more focus on maintaining the Saab brand. I wrote it months ago, I'm rewriting it. Saab is Sweden and almost every Saab driver is somehow connected to the Scandinavian country. Many spend their vacation in Sweden, buying other Swedish products. Every Saab on our streets is an ambassador for Sweden. National pride, dosed correctly, would be another source of motivation.
Did Brightwell speak to GM or not? Do the administrators speak to GM or not? In the Brightwell Holding case, statement against statement. GM denies, Brightwell says yes. Turkish investors are history, and Victor Muller is finally out of the boat. Muller could imagine playing an active role in Trollhättan again with Brightwell. We value Muller as a brave man who wanted to save the brand. But as CEO he is also responsible for bankruptcy. Muller back at Saab? D rather not. In a few years, the memory may make the events appear in a milder light. Maybe then we'll judge Victor Muller more mildly.
Saab 9-4x and 9-5 are history. GM will no longer play a role in Saab's future, we can assume that. Potential investors like Youngman want to build a GM-free Saab 9-3. For a transition period only with automatic transmission and diesel drive. But maybe also with Saab e-Power. We could live with it for a period of time. Other investors are planning a completely new product range for Saab. GM also has new plans in Europe. A participation of the Americans in the PSA Group is to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show. Reuters said 5% as a first step today.
GM - PSA - Opel?
Do Opel / PSA / GM match? Experts see the coming connection negatively. Others should write the analysis on this topic, but the layperson also realizes that it doesn't fit at first glance. Opel is currently testing costs and vehicle quality. Every part is checked for savings, as if GM hadn't learned anything from the past. José Ignacio López de Arriortúa, the name has Donnerhall and should be a warning. The former GM manager drove quality and costs down at Opel in the 90s, profits at short notice. Then to massively lose market share.
PSA has this procedure in front of it. Citroën, traded as an alternative for some Saab drivers, could then become the new, misunderstood GM brand. A dubious perspective for the avant-garde from France.
GM is over for us! With the PSA marriage, the group repositioned itself in Europe. A competitor will never get licenses from Detroit.
Brightwell over, Muller over, GM over. Bad? No! In every end there is a new beginning. And there is magic in every beginning. Who protects us and who helps us to live. That was now poetic and not borrowed from me, but partly from Hermann Hesse. He'll forgive me for being used on the lowlands of an autoblog.
We have the end of many dreams behind us. It's time for a new beginning! Spring is approaching and it is time to end hibernation in Sweden. Time to restart. Time for good news.
GM is like a plague. like migratory locusts. Eat everything and spit it out. GM will rage in Europe until there is nothing left except the big German companies. The Eu should put a stop to that. Fuck globalization.
Sorry, I am drastic:
the well-known heartless GM was, is and will be consciously controlled to be a purely arithmetical “booth” trimmed for profit and stay as long as possible!
The micro heart of this big corporation, yes, there was actually, was once the small department Saab automobiles in Sweden, which was in spite of their many brilliant forward-looking ideas unfortunately only exploited in all respects and finally deliberately helplessly and insignificant was deposited as a rubbish bag aside , as it was clear early that this small department could never form a real danger to the size of the grumpy GM! Saab has never fit into this concept, so the whole scenario around Saab is not really a surprise, but still an ice cold disappointed defeat that has fallen to the donkey load thanks to heartless GM accountants and now leads to incomprehensible background discussion worldwide!
What else does GM hide with its conspicuous and incomprehensible behavior? Are you slipping your fingers unnoticed or are you hoping for other big corporations to generate positive financial benefits?
What a pity this negative situation and especially the lost time around the Saab end! Or hopeful start again?
Giampi
A Hesse quote on a SAAB blog. SAAB drivers have level. Thanks Tom 🙂
Dear Tom,
an excellent inventory - especially when it comes to GM. This club should really not be dealt with in the future. There are far more important things in life than constantly dealing with these amateurs. Zamier Ahmed will see it similarly.
Greetings from the Hanseatic City of Hamburg and please keep “on the ball”.
Citroen in the hands of GM? Such things should not be. A participation should consider Peugeot well again. I thought Peugeot and BMW build engines and move closer together. Am I thinking wrong?
PPE has huge problems, the hut is on fire, so to speak, so any solution is apparently welcome. Somehow GM breaks everything that I once thought was good. My old favorite brands Saab, Alfa Romeo and Citroen. First Saab is taken over, then thanks to the unspeakable Fiat-GM partnership (which then became history) Opel engines in Alfas and then the whole Peugeot-Citroen stew is made (there is nothing left of Citroen anyway, since then only hydropneumatics still rarely can be ordered in top models) still infused by GM ...
As a fan of the brands SAAB and Peugeot, the announcement that PSA / Peugeot Citroen wants to cooperate with GM shocked me, to say the least. Precisely because the models of both manufacturers that are really interesting for me are a bit older (the Citroen XM, for example, which I see parked opposite my apartment every morning, or the Peugeot 406 Coupe, which I almost bought instead of a SAAB), I had hoped that PSA again in the near or medium future designs similar great models. I can probably bury the hope now.
And as far as Opel is concerned ... all you have to do is shake your head at how little a company can learn from its own mistakes. One must not forget that Opel has had quite successful times with GM - it was precisely the American, road cruiser-like type that made the old Opel models so attractive. Unfortunately, an American image no longer has a positive effect on a car brand and its models. Opel would really have to become more independent, invest more instead of saving at the wrong end.
“A factory is a factory. The assembly line or the workers don't care which branding is on the grille. "
Timothy E. Lee, GM's president and supervisory board member responsible for international business, when asked by the Swiss trade magazine “Automobil Revue” whether he could imagine the production of Chevrolet cars in European (Opel) plants.
Quoted from "technology and engine" of the FAZ of the 28.02.12
If the quote is correct, ALL says what you need to know:
about unrecognized needs of premium customers
about the brand ambassadors of a country mentioned by Tom (Made in ...)
why GM's badge engineering is not working
why VW, Porsche, BMW celebrate successes in many markets and market segments (Made by ...)
GM has not understood SAAB and its customers in 20 years ago.
Even if I'm a silent reader, I have to say thank you, Tom, for this blog!
I have not only been driving SAAB myself since I got my driver's license, but I have been driven home in the SAAB after my birth: 1975, when even in HH a SAAB was a real exotic. Maybe that's why the passion comes?
And by the way: pure GM bashing is alien to me, after all, I love to drive, our Cadillac SRX V8 - a great four-wheel drive SUV with a sporty-comfortable driving feeling thanks Magnetic Ride.
Regarding some details and of course the individuality he reminds me of SAAB.
Not to mention that the current SRX and 9-4X have at least common genes.
Kind regards
Jörn from HH
The quote really speaks volumes and shows that GM got stuck in the days of Taylorism. Is it any wonder that SAAB never worked?
Quoted from "technology and engine" of the FAZ of the 28.02.12
If the quote is correct, ALL says what you need to know:
about unrecognized needs of premium customers
via the above-mentioned brand ambassadors of a country (Made in ...)
why GM's badge engineering is not working
why VW, Porsche, BMW celebrate successes in many markets and market segments (Made by ...)
GM has not understood SAAB and its customers in 20 years ago.
Even if I'm a silent reader, I have to say thank you, Tom, for this blog!
I have not only been driving SAAB myself since I got my driver's license, but I have been driven home in the SAAB after my birth: 1975, when even in HH a SAAB was a real exotic. Maybe that's why the passion comes?
And by the way: pure GM bashing is alien to me, after all, I love to drive, our Cadillac SRX V8 - a great four-wheel drive SUV with a sporty-comfortable driving feeling thanks Magnetic Ride.
Regarding some details and of course the individuality he reminds me of SAAB.
Not to mention that the current SRX and 9-4X have at least common genes.
Kind regards
Jörn from HH