Sango comes after the end of D1
Anyone who passed the old Saab factory in the last few days could see an unusual picture. The delivery area full of vehicles, like last time in 2011. An ideal world ... what has changed in Trollhättan? The good picture is deceptive. At the latest when you approach the area and discover the logo on the vehicles, the good mood fades.
Around 100 to 150 new Volvo XC40s are parked in front of the former Saab factory. No electric cars, nothing from NEVS, and certainly nothing that would be “Made in Trollhättan”. The NEVS subsidiary NIS not only rents former Saab test facilities, but also parking spaces. Its sales are expected to double from around € 2018 million to € 4 in 8. A success story, and the only one that can be reported at the moment.
Beyond that, another bad weather front pulls over the stablebacka. On the 23. March reports the China Daily a new joint venture between DiDi and CHJ Automotive. CHJ, similarly unknown outside of China as NEVS on this side of the Saab Community, will produce electric cars for DiDi starting at 2020. It was clear that this decision had an immediate effect on the D1 project and the future of NEVS would have.
DiDi had decided, which was no real surprise, against the cooperation with NEVS. The utopia of the wedding of a mosquito with an elephant was over. There was no reaction from Trollhättan. It took until the 5. April, until in Sweden someone took notice of it. A message from the NEVS intranet became the Sveriges Radio passed. In it, NEVS announced the end of the D1 development, which started in January, and the future focus on a new project of its own.
In the following days the NEVS press department tried to gloss over the renewed defeat. You stopped the development of your own decision and in understanding coordination with DiDi. And only the schedule and the platform have changed, but not the cooperation with DiDi. An escape from reality at a company that seems to subscribe to failure.
In fact, the consequences cannot be foreseen. DiDi was intended as one of the main customers for the NEVS 9-3 electric car. The start of production in summer 2018 is in the stars, and the question remains of what about the other non-binding, large orders. Medium-term financing is also an open flank. Still.
Sango comes after D1
After the D1 development, Trollhättan focuses on the Sango project. A new platform that, according to press officer Fryklund, stands for what NEVS really is. Sounds exciting, but it is not. The Sango project is an autonomous pod. A study of this showed NEVS 2017 at CES Asia.
Autonomous pods are the transport solutions of the future for the metropolises of this world. Incredibly effective, but also absolutely boring. No emotions, even less individuality than an SUV. And the design as sophisticated as the design of a shoebox. Nevertheless, one would like to score here with Scandinavian design accents.
The Chinese startup from Trollhättan wanted to be a lot in the last 6 years. Saab's successor, Tesla Jäger, Saab Design legacy keeper, an innovative brand and global provider of mobile services. So now the future as a hardware supplier for fleet providers like DiDi.
A business model of which there are already dozens in China. Young companies that rely on the fact that their hardware will appear in the fleets of DiDi or other providers in the not too distant future. Was it worth it to smash the remains of a large Swedish traditional brand?
Dear people. You really do not have to have studied to understand that the hall is (unfortunately) history. I really do not want to hear about this misery anymore. Remember the good days, cherish and cherish your Saabs and rejoice over and over again when you see a Saab on our streets. I have written it here more often. There has never been a dead brand in automotive history. Never!!! A takeover to continue a car brand only worked if there was something to sell out of the current business. Saab has been dead for years (unfortunately!), Let alone anything that could be used for a resurrection. In addition, the name is unfortunately burned in Sweden. No one would (if Saab resurrected) take the risk of hiring there. Because the uncertainty of survival will be huge. There will also be no suppliers (based on past experience).
I do not want to hear anything from Nevs.
I wish all Saab drivers an accident-free summertime, and if you feel like having a nice chat, I like to invite you to a coffee at the A7 in the amount Bad Fallingbostel or Soltau.
.. Pity so it will be nothing, with the iSAAB on DIDI 🙁
but for a company without a product, they have been damned long, but respect! Yes, the same with capitalism is my opinion, who has the potency and the Mum = business idea, can knock on the SAAB AB. It is a pity, no other car brand was so aggression-free with similar technical background. Not that I would have to change my autotechnical but there is nothing that really triggers a Havewollenreflex with me, with big drawbacks maybe a Tesla or a Volvo if a daly driver is wanted. But it will then probably run on driving services and be a companion Names SAAB but only a car.
I feel (almost) the same with the want-to-have reflex ...
Only Tesla and Volvo are included or excluded. There is no new car that triggers the reflex.
If I meet an eye-catcher, the eye falls on an exterior mirror, which is not only electrically adjustable and heated, but also contains a camera and displays. Maybe more? For example a mini indicator ...
Second look and cinema in your head: parking aids, cameras, distance radar and much more in the “bumpers”. Such as optical sensors for the lane departure warning system, the automatically opening tailgate or the trunk lid ...
Complexity, automation, assistance, connectivity * and patronizing. It's all too much for me.
In the dictionary of synonyms (Duden 2007), under * connection, by the way, (among others): appropriation, taking possession, taking possession, incorporation, conquest, takeover, annexation, annexation ...
Do I want to pay for it (a lot of money)? No.
And yet I know the want-to-have reflex. A number of used cars, young and old timers of different brands trigger it reliably. Including, of course, many SAAB models ...
Thanks for the info, about what's going on in Trollhättan.
The one parking space (!) Rented, allows a lot of mind games.
I save the further remarks. The Fa is not worth it (in my eyes).
In 2 years, so I type, the Fa is history.
Let's see…
These are incredibly sad photos ...
They remind me of the transit facilities for transit traffic on the GDR side, a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, that is, inanimate and decaying. SAAB and GDR border installations. What a sad association.
Parking places. After all, you have so much to do with (auto) mobility.
What are these sentimentalities - SAAB or SAAB - yes, I am also a Saab fan and love my 99 convertible hotly and dearly!
But did not the commentators understand that we live in capitalism and that its law is valid?
I do not like whimsy!
Even in capitalism there are design possibilities. However, it can be doubted that these possibilities in terms of SAAB have so far been fully used - neither in the past nor at present.
This is just an assessment of the events and has nothing to do with moaning!
I am not sure if it would be desirable for Saab AB to re-assign the naming rights. And in and of themselves they had after the withdrawal of the naming rights to NEVS also announced that they did not want to forgive them. What would happen if the naming rights were reissued to VW, for example? It would have nothing to do with Sweden and Trollhättan. For example, in any factory of the VW Group, an Audi A4 with a changed sheet metal trim and Saab emblem would roll off the line. And what do we get from it ? Anyone who wants to, can also buy any new car, and provide for salvation at the Saab Service Partner with new Saabemblemen and mount this on his new acquisition.
To revive the Saab car division, this would have to happen, at least in the form of a joint venture with Saab AB and an automaker, but in any event, Saab AB and / or Sweden would have a major role to play. Which is already no longer the case with NEVS in both cases.
I do not understand at all that nobody uses the brand name and Saab AB does not consider capitalizing on the trademark rights ...
An interview with the board of Saab AB would be interesting on this topic.
Nevs is like a ship without capitals and without direction over the sea. Dan left dan right but the ship will never arrive. Thoughts have enough of these people but practice is lacking. Other manufacturers are already much more advanced in some years with the development of electric powered cars and where is NEVS; still nowhere.
I am very happy that this entrepreneurial has been taken the name Saab.
I don't quite understand why no automobile company plagued by Dieselgate has access to at least the naming rights. The nimbus of the brand is clearly higher than that of Skoda or Seat, for example, before their takeovers. Speaking of old traditional brands: the BX5 from Borgward should be presented in Germany in May….
The first Borgward BX7 arrived in Bremerhaven last week. Not very many, like the 30. It seems to be easy to tackle.
The (temporary?) Loss of the traditional automotive brand SAAB does not seem to arouse much interest among the Swedish population itself - strange, I had fundamentally assessed the Swedes differently before 2011.
Not even the parent company at the time, SAAB AB, showed any interest in a rebirth - with the sale of the SAAB automotive division to GM in 2000 and the associated decline, the matter seemed somehow to be over there. So far, I have not heard of direct contacts between SAAB AB and investors other than NEVS. It's actually a shame, because with the licensing of the name you could certainly make a lot of money with a financially strong and suitable investor - the corks would pop with the global SAAB community!