Saab: Done.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/saab-to-be-wound-down-as-deal-talks-end-2009-12-18

The headline.
General Motors on Friday threw in the towel on its Saab brand, saying it was unable to reach a pact to sell the Swedish automaker and will now wind down operations.

Honestly, will anyone miss them?

 

RIP. I know they had a following.

 

I will not miss Saab of today, they are just crappy cars (the models were just other GM cars with new exteriors).
The Saab from 80's-90's were solid and intelligently engineered vehicles and minor icons in some communities, especially in Scandinavia. I never thought they were good looking and the convertibles were horrid to drive, but in the end their cars had some charm and therefore I will miss the brand...

"I will not miss it, but I will miss it" Go figure...

 

Agree.
There was nothing special or appealing about these cars lately.
A once great company,with great successes in rallying,excellent cars like 9000 (one of the top choices in it's segment) slowly reduced to bland,another "has been".

 

I will miss the "idea" of Saab. Back in the 80's and 90's my parents drove a couple of them ... my dad had different versions of the 9000 and my mom always had different versions of the 900. Back then they were great cars.

A while back I drove the 9-3 Aero and was surprised (positively) by the build quality and even the handling. Would have been my weapon of choice if I hadn't moved to the US.

 

I had a 9-3 aero and liked it. Nice size, good features and it pulled like crazy at altitude. 30MPG on the road and it would pull an honest 135MPH. Not bad. Just didn't fit anywhere.

 

+1

Prime example of GM's horrible bean-counter management. Just slap different badges on the same cars and hope the customers won't notice...except they did. Worst thing was when they bought Daewoo and suddenly all the new Daewoos had Chevrolet badges on them and they tried to convince the public that the cars were as American as it gets...

 

The problem with Saab was that the brand became tacky... remember those awful chrome headlight surrounds they put on their cars in recent years?

All the best,
Andrew.
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900 Turbo was one of the coolest car of all time! Kanye agrees

GM drove this brand into the ground. Thank God they sold Lotus when they did...
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Agreed: Although I don't drive a Saab, they were great things to have 'out there' in the automotive universe. And, once upon a time in the '80s and even into the '90s, they built some interesting cars (though it was a Saab that taught me what the phrases 'turbo lag' 'torque steer' really mean).

This is the downside of automotive mega companies: sure, they keep 'badges' alive, but at the price of simply making different versions of the same car.


I'll miss cars with the ignition between the seats.

 

Yes, I will... Had a 9-3 (1998 model) which turned out be a great family car, doing everything from tackling Norwegian winters to Spanish heat (we spend one year in Valencia) more than reasonably well.

The new 9-5 seemed to promise a new start, but alas. Sad day indeed...

Gabriel

 

The 900 SPG was a cool car in the 80's.

Plus they were some of the first to really mass market turbo charging with the late 70's Saab 99 (if you consider the 930 Porsche a niche vehicle.)

 

Same here as I own one. I love cars and I ended up with a Saab because I didn't want the usual suspects you see everywhere. I love the interior of my 9-3, it shifts great and it is the ideal size for me. They aren't cutting edge nor are they fashionable, but the ones I've owned handled well, were always reliable if a tad idiosyncratic and seemed to be ideal in winter (super quick seat heaters, windows/doors/locks that never freeze up, narrow section rims). I love that they never developed an image (no one ever prys off emblems), and us Saabophiles exist peacefully in our own anonymity.
So, for me at least, it is a shame they seem to be gone now, especially when there is so much tacky garbage on the road these days. With the inevitable price drop, I'll buy another few. I kind of like the idea of 280 hp, 6 spd and AWD in something you didn't even notice

 

The image they have her is cars driven by smart people. Basically architects and doctors.

 

Saab has been dead for a long time now.

Those Malibu cars with saab badges on them can finally stop wasting resources for other car builders.

Once a solid eccentric and class automobile but not any longer.

 

What a bummer! Had an 87 900s and remember pining for a Thompson Grey SPG.

 

Aren't the doctors who drive tend to drive a Saab usually dentists?

 

I won't miss Saab, but it would have been interesting to see what The Koenigsegg Group would have done with the brand and the dealer network...

 

I could never understand why GM wanted them although I know Saab were keen to sell at the time as they were losing money on every 900 built (great cars but man hours!!!!). I always thought a better partner would have been Fiat due to their previous experience with the 9000/164/Thema platform sharing agreement. Fiat could also have acquired access to Saab's cold weather, turbo and safety expertise, not exactly known as Fiat's long suit.

 

NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD

 

I'll definitely miss Saab. Back in high school in the mid 80s, a buddy of mine drove a 900S. It was solidly built, huge inside and frugal with gas. Fun to drive too. He actually got distracted driving on the highway and rolled it 4 times (a friend was following and saw the whole thing). When they put the car's wheels back on the ground, only the roof had been pushed in on the corner a couple of inches + a cracked windshield. Car was still drivable. They fixed it up and when he went away to college his dad kept driving it. Drove it for well over 300K miles before selling it. And replacing it with another Saab.

 

Another example of American Automotive Management.
They are making British Leyland look good.
GM is the worst, with products good only for rental fodder, if that.

 

SAAB died the day GM bought them, they destroyed that company. I had a couple of 900 Turbo SPG's and they were the best cars I've ever had. I loved those things!!!

 

I wouldn't say GM is the worst. Id leave that for chrysler. I would definetely say the Unions are what make them the worst but lets not get into that. (you could argue that the management made those agreements too...)


GM has excellent product in recent years.

The tahoes, escalades, and large trucks are hard to beat.
The C6 vette is great. The Z06 is one of the greatest cars they ever built
The CTS is a very good car and competitior... then there is the V-series!!! Also, the STS is good and has a great interior.
The new camaro is very good.
The sky/solstice cars WERE good LOL

Had a rental impala the other day and was fairly impressed. A pretty decent people mover.

Id say there more recent product is pretty damn good

 

I think the 4000 automakers in Trollhattan will miss SAAB. Not a nice X-mas present....

I think that SAAB once made great cars. They had very inventive engines and was once in the frontline of safety. Then they tried to sell family cars as premium cars for the idividualistics... They continued to buy Beemers and Mercs, the traditional buyers were scared away by the jet plane genes and weird adds...