Look guys, I wanted to tell you that I am a GM employee. I've had an interesting career and worked for several other popularly disdained employers, so I permanently live in a flame-proof suit. I'm also very interested in marketing and brand equity issues, and I just bought a 9-2x, so I've been following a lot of different threads on many different Saab boards with interest. Let me tell you how it looks from my side of Detroit.
I think the chairman of GM, Rick Wagoner, is doing a good job with a lot of serious business issues that have been with the company for decades. Since I work for GM, I am familiar with the company's problems as well as its strong points, and I can say that I have seen enough GM bashing to know that a lot of it comes from very uninformed sources who just want to take the easy road and say nasty things because it's easier than thinking about the facts. GM is short of money, short now, was short two years ago, has been short for a while. On the Saab side, Saab does not sell enough vehicles today, did not sell enough two years ago, and has not sold enough vehicles for a while to be a profitable business in which to invest (though, yes, perhaps, GM might have been able to clip Volvo's wings a little bit more). There are many products (mouths) to feed here, and it's a fact that GM is supposed to try to make money, so yes you can say that GM has not adequately funded Saab. On the other hand, throwing good money after bad doesn't help pay the utility bills around here. Hence the 9-2x and 9-7x, which WERE adapted (of course not designed from the ground up) with involvement from Saab designers and engineers in Sweden. Somewhat of a Hail Mary pass I agree, but if you were running the ship, not sure if you'd have a more brilliant idea given the circumstances. Ford may have done well with Volvo, but they are losing their shirt on Jaguar.
I was not in any way involved with plans to build these two newest vehicles, and to be honest, I don't really like SUVs either, even though I wouldn't have a job or a paycheck without them. That said, I think the 9-7x is actually pretty nice-looking outside and inside and should not be considered a discredit to the brand (if you can recover from the idea of adding trucks to the Saab lineup). I hope you can give it a chance because people in the market for luxury vehicles are definitely interested in luxury SUVs. Keep in mind that GM was late to the party with the Cadillac Escalade because our executives didn't think that a luxury car brand could successfully sell a big truck. Well, see where that ended up? Late to the party, but it did very well once introduced and made good money for GM and improved people's perceptions of the coolness of the Cadillac brand. Regardless of whether or not you like SUVs (and I don't myself, because I love small sporty cars), this was a correct business decision and it is helping to rejuvenate Cadillac. Hopefully, the 9-7x will do the same for Saab. I'm sorry if people are angry that the kinds of luxury buyers who will buy it would not be people that they would like to drive behind or invite over to dinner, but in the end, the purpose is to sell more vehicles, so there will still be a Saab. I hope you can live with that. After all, if you went to a party and saw a jerk wearing your same brand of shirt, would you blame the shirt manufacturer?
OK, now let's address the 9-2x. If you can imagine for a second that you had never heard of a Subaru Impreza, this is a pretty cool car on its own merits. And that's how I assess each car I drive - because it is, in the end, an entertaining transportation device with a large amount of industrial design applied to it. The global engineering in the auto industry is incredible - right or wrong - there is very little purity out there anymore - it's just better or worse disguised. As for the 9-2X, I think the front end with the Saab-designed fascia looks great. And I love how it drives compared to other well-regarded small cars that I have driven. Now let's go with the assumptions (correct) that Saab wouldn't have a 9-2x unless it could substantially share its engineering with another vehicle and that it badly needs more sales. Here is my personal perspective. My car in black reminds me a lot of the look of older generation Saab hatchbacks - just visually. I am just learning about Saab model history, so I'm not going to make a fool of myself by telling you which model it most reminds me of. But visually, snobbery about badge engineering aside, I think it fits in with the family just fine. Second of all, I really like Subarus as well, so it's not like it's on some embarrassing platform. Subaru is a great little company in its own right. If you read the posts on this site and others from more open-minded long-term Saab owners, they like to point out how many different platform borrowings and technology sharing exercises Saab has gone through over the years with many different OEMs. The Subaru connection seems to fit here as well. Third, it seems to me like this is a very durable and fun car that someone could love to death and keep around for decades which also fits the Saab brand equity very well. I personally don't care if the ignition is in the wrong place and my dashboard looks Japanese. The car is basically what I need + more, including the Saab brand, and if I like it and the Saab service, next time I buy a car, I'll probably need a mid-size sedan, so I'll buy a 9-3 Sport Sedan.
The way I look at it is, the company tried to get a few feelers into a few different market segments (1st luxury car and SUV) to see if there is any hope for more investment in these segments. Just jumping in with 100s of millions of dollars and hoping the water is warm, doesn't always work out and the company just doesn't have that kind of money right now. YMMV, but I do think that the people who buy these two vehicles are going to be very happy with them.
I respect the right of the Saab purists and people who don't like GM to complain about the company's decisions. However, I do detect tons of groupthink and just general disgruntled *****ing among people of this type. Make sure you're not one of them - doing your own analysis of the facts is the truly independent way to live your life! Isn't that supposed to be a hallmark of a Saab owner? So, the last thing I want to tell you is that uninformed criticism does hurt both Saab and GM. GM is stuck in a cycle where perception = reality rather than reality = reality and it will take GM years to dig out of this hole if it even can. So, what I'd like to ask is that at a minimum, you don't bash products you haven't driven, you do speak positively and often to others about those Saab products that you do enjoy driving yourself, and you try to keep an open mind. Please know that I do appreciate your business, since most of you are already Saab customers, and I didn't come to this board to pick fights. I only want people to rethink things when they say things like "GM, who cares" because I honestly believe that is the wrong approach for helping to save the Saab brand. Not to mention, very bad for the American economy, in case you care at all about that.
