SAAB News: Freizeit, the Greif, the Saab 9000 and new jobs

The Saab griffin has disappeared at work, which also causes discussions in the Swedish Saab community. However, the dismantling was not surprising. Before we write about our weekend and our free time, a few words about the bird ... Removing the heraldic animal and putting up the pylons again without a griffin does not look like a good mood, but rather after demolition and shows how awkward NEVS is currently acting.

In Sweden, opinions about Greif differ widely. Well, say one, it would be time to start again. The others, instead of the griffin, want the aircraft symbol, which was the first trademark of Saab.

Saab himself would probably have focused on lettering with the 4 letters in the near future and trusted in the radiance of the cool, white writing. Saab would have become something Nordic, modern and perhaps zeitgeistiger.

The Scania Griffin symbolizes an era of Saab that 1968 began and ended with the complete and unfortunate takeover by GM. The Saab-Scania era is one of the good times of our brand, even though there were crises again and again. The wild turbo years are one of them, and never was Saab more creative and innovative than back then. The proud bird is one of our Nordic cars, but the loss is only the end of an era, and still has Trollhättan the great opportunity to create something completely new.

Unfortunately, things are slow and somewhat unfortunate in Sweden, and it can only get better. The first position advertised by NEVS concerned facility management, but up to 75 further jobs are to follow. Håkan Skött of IF Metal reported through the local newspaper that former Saab workers from NEVS are also needed. The new jobs in the plant are intended for the maintenance of the systems, which are to be kept functional until the start of production. According to Skött, significantly fewer than 50 of his former colleagues - but also more than 3-4 - should find a new job in the plant. It couldn't have been more concrete, and the TTELA was happy to announce a positive announcement to the world.

Things are not going well in Sweden, and due to the production adjustment at Volvo - the plant will cut 10% of its capacity in October - the suppliers will also lay off employees. First of all, as is now the case with Plastal and IAC, are the recently added former Saab workers. This is just the beginning for Volvo, because Volvo boss Stefan Jakoby spoke of 30% overcapacity in the European plants last week. In Sweden, the short-sighted economic policy is taking revenge. With two manufacturers there was more stability, a decline in demand from one producer could usually be compensated for by new projects from the other manufacturer. Now the entire industry is attached to Gothenburg.

Leisure & Saab

What else do we do on the weekend? Somehow everything has to do with our Saab hobby! A Saab 2012 was in action at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland 99 around Trier two weeks ago. It was steered by a team from Switzerland. Cars from Trollhättan are always welcome guests at all sporting events. Because in the armada of brands from major manufacturers, a Saab is always an eye-catcher that provides variety. Porsche, BMW or Mercedes pilots who do not get a starting place because the field is overcrowded with these brands should consider changing brands. There is almost always a starting place in the Saab. Thanks to Achim, who took the pictures for us!

Apart from being with vacation pictures for ours last week Photo competition flooded, which can be seen as proof of how alive the brand is, was also my weekend from the topic of Saab. Now on Sunday, the submissions are processed, which takes hours. On Saturday, the leather interior was installed in Achim's Saab 9000. This is a Saab 9000 more in Hesse on the road.

A complete Saab leather interior, consisting of front seats and rear seat, can easily be transported with another Saab 9000. Strangely, this leaves more space than in the Saab 9-5 sports estate, which again speaks for the hatchback concept of Saab. I'm a big fan of this design, and maybe someday in the distant future, Sweden will surprise us with a combo buzzer. Dreams are allowed, and as written at the beginning, Trollhättan still has all the odds!

Reading material about the automobile hobby

Since Saab no longer builds new cars, the brand from the engine press has almost completely disappeared. From time to time, Saab appears only in the Youngtimer magazines and in the old-timer press, which is reason enough to buy one of these magazines. Which publication is fun reading, even without the Saab theme?

There's the old venerable one “Oldtimer market”which is good, but a bit too dogged about the topic. Or the “Autobild Classic”, which offers many topics for the money and delivers one or the other good story. So cult and really good but both are not.

Good, young and refreshing, on the other hand, is “Abgefahren Magazin”, which appears quarterly. In the past, Saab topics were repeatedly presented. The current number is without Saab and a little more Opel-heavy. But the pictures are so good and so are the texts that you can also read facts about Opel design studies. The tip for automotive reading material.

Text: tom@saabblog.net