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SAAB saved! Again.

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I do think Saab deserves to be saved. (I don’t really understand all the hate going around)
As far as I am concerned, the more brands the better.

I mean, looks at these guys above. This is still a good looking bunch. (Except that illustration of the Phoenix platform based future 9-3. Bottom pic)

Now it looks like Indian company Mahindra is about to acquire the brand. And its current parent company NEVS. (Who was not able to produce more than a few of the old 9-3 sedans…)

Mahindra was already trying to get Saab a couple of years ago. Before that, they also went for Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.

The question is, what are they going to build?
The gorgeous 9-5 and the 9-4X were GM based. And GM didn’t allow the new owners to produce them. The “next” weird looking 9-3 looks like the only thing on the drawing board so far. (Sedan and convertible)
And there is also the (huge) problem of trusting a brand that almost died so many times within the last few years…

What do you think?

Conversation 9 comments

  1. Stick a fork in it. I like all the designs shown here. But without GM they're just drawings. (No engineering). Mahindra has a reputation for cheap, poor quality, unsafe cars. (They build the lowest price car anywhere–which is also the car with the most fires of any car ever–by a W I D E Margin! It will take an astronomical amount of cash to pull this off. If Mahindra is tight enough with the Indian Government they may actually have access to "more money than God". But if the Chinese can make a go of it with Volvo–given China's reputation for building horrifically UNsafe & problem-prone vehicles, then I guess anything is possible!

  2. As far as I know, the cheapest car is the Tata Nano.
    Made by Tata, NOT Mahindra.
    Tata also owns Land Rover and Jaguar. So they're not doing too bad…
    The "next" 9-3 was already engineered without GM.
    So it's not just a drawing.

  3. Two thoughts.

    First, GM should have held-on to Saab. They have nothing to offer in the premium sector internationally, and even in the US Cadillac is selling less than Acura. Premium is where the money is right now, and every other brand is "doing a Saab:" C-segment cars/SUVs with front/all wheel drive and 4 cylinder turbocharged engines.

    Second, Mahindra could do really well. The Indian market is booming, the Indian middle class is starting to care about Saab values (safety, durability, low pollution, practicality). They still need to follow-through, but they are gathering-up the key ingredients. It hardly matters what Americans think of Saab, they have half the planet to satisfy before they even need to care about us.

  5. Was: SAAB … Born From Jets.
    Now: SAAB … Born From Tractors.

    Mahindra makes decent farm equipment and utility vehicles used the world over. I'm all for their saving SAAB if they have a good, well-thought-thru plan and don't just buy and say "now what?" Tata has done pretty well with Jag/LR if you ask me, so not necessarily being an obvious marriage made in heaven does not preclude a good long term romp in the hay, so to speak. Another case in point: Geely seems to be doing fine by Volvo also – so I think a lot of this is knee jerk nonsense that good vehicles, designs, and quality can never come from certain parts of the world … a misconception that has been proven false throughout human history.

  6. I loved my Saab 9-3 and thought their interiors were especially well done….if Saab can be resurrected I think there are lots of us former Saab owners that would love to get their hands on a truly Saab (non-GM) designed version. My Saab cost less to run than my wife's Honda accord (really).

  7. Vince, what hate? It simply did not sell. That is why it went out of busness. I do not see any mystery, since the votes were not there from those that count…the customers.

  8. I have never been a Saab fan, but I hope Mahindra can make a go of it. I hate to see brands die, especially when they have been mismanaged in the past.

  9. I've never met a person who found Honda ' s Accord to be as economical, problem-free, & long lasting as Consumer Reports claims. I think that says more about CR than it does about Honda. As for saab, our 90 turbo was great fun to drive. But it did have trouble starting when left out in the cold; and was noticeably slower than the Chrysler LeBaron Convertable we had at the same time. It also went through gas quicker and spent some tome in the repair shop (unlike the Chrysler).

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