Saab does not build cars, Saab builds Saabs.

Reader's contribution by Götz Welge

A Friday morning and an e-mail. Spontaneous phone calls followed, then I was already registered by name at the Saab press conference to start production! To live by grace in the north is a trip to Trollhättan, so to speak, a homerun.

NEVS SAAB
NEVS SAAB

So the usual suspects came together and in the befitting Saab 9-5, model 2011, we drove four on the ferry. The tension was undoubtedly there, what will await us tomorrow, is the work still capable of action? Do we perhaps see a zombie 9-3 accompanied by the mockery of the German motor press? One last action for the public before the plant is dismantled and disappears in China?

Questions after questions! In the morning when the weather is good, we first drive to our friend Leif in the middle of the Swedish forest on the old Uddevalla path. Fantastic Sweden scenery, but the tension rises ... to Stallbacka! Always cute, the small office building - every VAG dealer offers more. But we are in it, our name is ticked off, in the next room it is the classic 12.00 Turbo 900 in red! What a signal to all guests!

[sam id = ”9 ″ codes =” true ”]

Granted always summer we were together with Tom all at work on the occasion of the festival and could convince us of the well-maintained facility and the new exterior design. But at the sight of the classic 900 I get the feeling that there is a huge master plan going on with a clear commitment to Saab's history.

The action has already convinced us, devoutly we take place.

Tom now has sufficiently described what follows, a tight presentation of the master plan we all hoped for. Saab is back! Everything concentrated in a nutshell and yet there is a very friendly aura in the room, very Swedish. In Germany such an event would probably not have gone so harmoniously…. I was particularly touched by the speech in Swedish by the new Chinese owner Kai-Johan, although only English was actually spoken.

Dear trade press in Germany, even if you do not want to hear it:

The fun to drive is back! And not owned by a chronically underfunded Chinese mining king, but led by a Chinese / Swedish troop who knows exactly what they are doing! While Saab has been completely written off here, these people cleaned their weapons in silence and admittedly at the expense of our nerve costumes. This Monday they only showed a hint of their ammunition…. With a lot of passion they made a unique company fit for the future.

If an employee has solved 10 problems a day, 5 new ones are added in the evening. Not only is the financing regulated, but you also have your own battery production. Then a clear commitment to the Trollhättan location and the statement "we will offer combustion engines as long as customers want"

[sam id = ”7 ″ codes =” true ”]

Saab soul what more do you want, I think we were all very convinced of this day, the Saab Spirit (which many other companies dream of but do not have because they do not know what that means) was back! Outside on the outdoor area, we talk to the nice staff who led us to the hall: Daniel, are you an old Saab man? Yes he says and he is very, very happy today please send your pictures all over the world and report about Saab.

There is almost nothing more to be added, except that the small Saabs were previously affectionately called “jungle drum” or “Stallbacka moped” at a time when Saab was a small and fine manufacturer.

This time is back. Saab does not build cars, Saab builds Saabs.

Text & pictures: Götz Welge

 

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three takter
three takter
10 years earlier

despite everything ... all well and good. saab`s are cars! please leave the church in the village.
I immediately think of a dozen “cars” with just as many (just different) characters.

Gallix
Gallix
10 years earlier
Reply to  three takter

…… and all dead!
Except SAAB - they are just giving birth again.

Aero 9-3 / mountain goat
Aero 9-3 / mountain goat
10 years earlier

THANK YOU for the emotional report!
And logically it says: SAAB builds SAAB's! That's how it should be!

Josef Zabel
Josef Zabel
10 years earlier

Geil Gotz, that's how we know you! Nice comment, written from the belly, with a lot of emotions. You have everything in a nutshell! Now Saab should give gas, so we can order Saab's in Germany! My favorite is the 9.5 station wagon Aero!

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
10 years earlier

I have to contradict that. And indeed, I do it professionally - not to contradict, but to develop advertising and communication strategies and to look after.

SAAB has finally gone bankrupt after a long period of big and disappointing announcements. Only positive surprises can bring back trust and enthusiasm. NEVS can surprise only if they deliver more than you expect them to be. And NEVS can only deliver more, only then repeatedly surpass expectations, even if the expectations remain relatively low for a long time.

Precisely because they did not draw the ball and did not promise the big hit, the start of production in Sweden and the E-SAAB that followed surprisingly quickly in China were rated as “one success after another” as a cautious but promising initiation of a new success story .

And yes, all of this is in a single SAAB 900 that embodies the matter-of-fact sobriety and understatement that NEVS acts and communicates with.

The big clatter NEVS can still start when you want to open up more markets.
At the moment it is only important to sell the production of the MY 2014 reliably. And in China and Sweden. Whether or not an X-Berger can be spoiled by the presentation does not play any role in the considerations of NEVS.

It has been understood, however, that the (now) fragile image of the SAAB brand can not expect any (too) big announcements and disappointments. That you have to be surprised with real successes (even if they are so small), a little positive and the brand and its image carefully rebuild.

For the consequence of this, NEVS has my full respect.

Ziehmy
Ziehmy
10 years earlier

I can only agree with 100% ig!
I interpret it as well: you could have made a huge event with a lot of noise and stage show! Surely you could have started loud and aggressive to scare the last boring that SAAB is back!
But that's not the style that goes with SAAB! If you had done that, we would be back to the topic “they didn't understand SAAB”!
NEVS has just achieved exactly what the goal was: SAAB is back and the world is talking about it! There is no need for a huge TamTam!
And exactly the subtle demeanor, the Swedish reluctance to do more than you publish straight away - that's exactly what you expect from our brand, which is what gave SAAB its good reputation at the time.
And exactly to these virtues SAAB should now return!

Surely I too was disappointed at first, everything went much too slowly, one learned nothing, one had to puzzle.
Sure, nowadays we almost only know that all companies throw around with shrill, loud marketing. But there is another way - and exactly this other variant simply fits better with SAAB!
SAAB has always been different, SAAB always wanted to be different, SAAB drivers wanted to be different, then please, with all the consequences, make the marketing somehow different!
Everyday porridge we already have enough in the world!
Keep it up NEVS - the way is right!

Frank Urban
10 years earlier
Reply to  Ziehmy

Professionally I can counter hehe, but sometimes factual. It's more about the fact that we Saab fans should also find a critical word.
What was in the comments, nothing of the great history of this icon and the technical highlights Saab has developed, the brand and message was only perceived as arose from the bankruptcy and manufacturer of an old car builds again.
My commentary was not about a production arc, but about the tradition and history of this brand, this iconic Saab.
And that was not conveyed, neither in the presentation the public was still in the presentation. The Saab 900 was just not enough. More please NEVS

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
10 years earlier
Reply to  Frank Urban

"My comment was not about an arc of production, but an arc of the tradition and history of this brand, this icon Saab."

I understand and yet I stay with it. It is superfluous to put the delicate plant of the restart with big pompom in huge footsteps. No other car than the 900 embodies in the SAAB tradition to the same extent a peak that SAAB would have achieved in the entrepreneurial state of technical and economic independence. That and nothing else is the message he embodies.
Previously, Saab has long bought gears and engines. And even the 9000 was the child of a larger joint venture. The rest (GM) is well known.

"(...) the brand and the message were only perceived when awakened from the bankruptcy (...)."

Well please, goal achieved.

More does not have to go through the global press at the moment, because SAAB does not have more to offer its potential customers at the moment. Only a handful of Swedes, who want to settle for a reissue of the 9-3 Limo, already form the currently complete target group within the entire (!) Western world. NEVS must presuppose that this target group knows the history of the brand.

No exaggerated expectations, no false hopes, no more disappointments! For the beginning small but positive surprises (gentle emotional conditioning and a new confidence gain). The same is true and SAAB can come back.

If I had driven this strategy exactly the same way? I do not know, but I would like to claim it. NEVS seems to have received excellent advice.

Frank Urban
10 years earlier

Sorry I'm a spoilsport ... in the interests of our beloved brand.

The blog is really great, and I do not mean that personally to the author; but a Saab 900 makes a master plan? In the hip Berlin Kreuzberg master plans are then in every second street around. Well, and what I saw was not very glamorous if you do not mention the present name of the member of the government. A bit of a stage and a show may already be on stage, etc. This is about the reviatlization of an automotive icon !!!

Has the presentation shown how to keep the history of Saab alive and how to handle the genetic material that so few know? Is there a sense of the great history in the electric future?

That the plant has been brought back to work, the GM computer programs released, the machines are working again after an eternal standstill ... all that, what a mega-performance!
Respect, but marketing hmm, let's hit the Junx in Sweden and do not celebrate for a Saab 900.

That is not enough for our beloved brand, since 92, 96, 99Turbos etc. should have been in a row. So the Swedes are driving ... to make progress with 200 cars a day, it makes a modest 50.000 a year 🙂

Christoph
Christoph
10 years earlier

Lace !, your article!
It's nice to look back on tradition: Yes, a Trollhättan moped is a fine car. Even after 57 years, it still does its job first-class - even if people smile or turn up their noses at the TwoTaktare.

Arne
Arne
10 years earlier

Respect, great contribution ...

Ziehmy
Ziehmy
10 years earlier

Thank you Götz - a great contribution!