SAAB location Trollhättan: Development work for Chevrolet
We were traveling from the north gate, where Saab Parts AB has its offices, towards Trollhättan. "What's going on there ...?" Mark asked as we came across a camouflaged, small SUV coming from the main portal. Spontaneous acceleration, the good Nikon that luckily accompanied me almost everywhere I was still in my hand, and off we went.
The driver of the SUV was at least as surprised as we were and instead of disappearing further in the direction of the Hunneberg reserve, he turned into the street between the plant and the airfield. A mistake. In the direction of Hunneberg he would have driven away from us, on the (almost) dead-end street between the airport and the test track he was due to be shot down. The prototype didn't stand a chance and before it could turn, pictures of the front and rear were in the box. And Mark's offspring in the back seats must have thought their part about the crazy ones in the front seats.
A decommissioned car plant is a good location for development work. Because no journalist in the world is interested in it and how confident the test drivers feel is the fact that prototypes without any escorts are in the area around Trollhättan. General Motors, the former Saab owner, still seems to appreciate Sweden's competence. Vicura and Saab Powertrain work, not only, for the Americans. Some of this money flows into the coffers of the administrators.
Trollhättan is active mainly in the field of consumption and emission optimization, but also in gearbox development. In the past, expertise has been proven over and over again, such as the world's most powerful environmental diesel, which was the benchmark for the competitor with 119 g / km CO2 in 9-3 Griffin. At that time, this project was developed in silence and against the resistance from Rüsselsheim. At Opel, the project was considered impossible at that time and sent the Swedes home.
The fact that GM still assigns works to Trollhättan shows us how the in-house competence is assessed. Our prototype is a Chevrolet Traxwhich will roll out to dealers in 2013. The Opel Mokka is the derivative with the lightning bolt, Trax, Mokka and the structurally identical Buick Encore are produced in South Korea.
Of course, the largest quantities will be the Trax. That Chevrolet is the GM world brand and Opel only a local label, you can now see in Sweden. In the meantime, every middle-sized town has a Chevrolet dealer and in road traffic, the perceived number of modern Chevrolets surpasses that of the Opels many times over.
Saab competence in the future in a Buick, Chevrolet or Opel. GM has benefited a lot from Swedish engineering in the past and still does. But not only. Volvo also works in Trollhättan, as well as Jaguar and Land Rover.
For the location Trollhättan and the developers on site a good signal. We see it and are happy for the small friendly town in Västragötland. But we also had a crying eye. Because Mark and I would rather have a prototype with the griffin in front of the camera.
Text: tom@saabblog.net
Pictures: saabblog.net
GG towards Trollhättan? Well then I ask in Dudenhofen. There you should know reliable.
We shouldn't want to classify every occurrence as “proof” that no more vehicles with the SAAB logo will be manufactured in Trollhättan in the future.
These test vehicles from GM were definitely not started in Trollhättan by any help of the new owner, Kai Johan Jiang - Bergqvist + Co. seem to have given the “green light” again (of course, as Tom mentioned, brings money in the attorney's cash register).
Just wait and see what will happen over the next few months - I think it really is a good signal that KJJ will have his place of residence in Trollhättan in the future.
Finally, a special remark about electric automobiles: The last few days, almost suspiciously, something on the topic of electric automobiles was on TV on almost all channels that deal mainly with automobiles - here, too, there seems to be a great interest in this technology!
Greetings from the Hanseatic city of Hamburg
How true, I would rather have seen a prototype on the last test drives of a blogging Swedish company.
Good for THN but what remains as comfort. SAAB is history and we should enjoy what we have. SU still gives persistence slogans but that's more the whistling in the woods.
The caravan moves on and only the true fans stay behind.
I used to visit SU many times - daily during the sale to Spyker in December 2009 / January 2010. But lately there has been a lot of screeching - little substance, but a blind following for NEVS. And the culture in dealing with critical users who do not immediately put their full trust in NEVS has also suffered a lot there - they are simply ironed out in comments.
Well ... GM has managed to continue to use the know-how, but no competition in the form of a car manufacturer.
And what Opel will blossom in the next few years, is also becoming more and more: Opel is developing more and more into a brand that will be distributed only in Europe, soon probably only in Germany. In all other markets, GM is making a name for itself with Chevrolet. And even in Germany, Chevrolet is marketed more and more widely and thus Opel driven cornered.
Is sad, what a group like GM, which has actually gathered only several brands under it and juggles with it, but does not have any auto-competence, so causes.
After SAAB, Opel will now follow. Hummer and various other brand names have also quietly disappeared in recent years ...