The Saab story.

[Ferrer]

Being limited to front wheel drive may turn out to be a problem though...

[pimento]

FWD is kind of a Saabey thing though.. not sure you can change that.

[Ferrer]

I wouldn't want to change it. A rear wheel drive Saab would just be wrong.

I'd go back to hatchbacks and add more turbos. And torque steer.

Or something.

[pimento]

You're going to have to have a lot of torque steer to compete with the new Astra OPC.

[Commodore GS/E]

400+ hp turbo fwd Saab incoming. Who needs rwd or a differential rofl.

Seriously, I would approve of anything ballsy Saab can come up with. They just need something outstanding right now. There are already enough pseudo-Golfs on the market.

[Dino Scuderia]

Crumbling.

"The Great Saab Sob Story of 2011 continues unabated as Saab Great Britain has officially filed for bankruptcy protection. Saab GB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swedish Automobile N.V., the parent company of Saab, and has the exclusive rights to distribute Saab automobiles in the UK.

There are 58 Saab dealerships in the UK, 20 of which are standalone operations. According to Saab, court-backed protection is its best course of action in the UK, as it has yet to receive any sort of funding from its supposed Chinese partners."

Autoblog

[kingofthering]

So the plot turns. What a twist!

Saab files for bankruptcy protection.

[Ferrer]

The end has arrived.

Bye Bye Saab.

On related news:

Saab suspends all warranty coverage, cars to be sold as-is

[crisis]

Wow. You would have to be a happy SAAB owner with that news. What even happens with parts etc?
I have read/skimmed this thread from the start. I am trying to reconcile it with what is a similar situation in Australia with Holden and Ford to an extent. Although Holden has effectively been American owned since its beginning it and Ford Australia have produced uniquely domestic cars with little in the way of exports to support them. Currently Holden probably export as much if not more than they ever did which is still modest but produce what have become internationally quite unique vehicles. There has been constant talk over the years of production coming to an end as there is again but still they are profitable and endure.
I suppose my question is how did SAAB, despite the comments made, manage to get into this predicament when they have the European market at their doorstep, a market Holden never had, and makes cars which are these days the norm for the mass market? FWD, 4 cyl medium sized vs Holdens large rear wheel drive V6 and V8s.

[Matra et Alpine]

You pretty much summed it up crisis.
Saab were making mass-market cars at up market prices and had lost the innovation they were known for.
So few sales

[Ferrer]

But this only tells you half the story and arguably only the GM-era.

The Pre-GM Saab is a very different affair.

[Kitdy]

But this only tells you half the story and arguably only the GM-era.

The Pre-GM Saab is a very different affair.

Jalop had a post (maybe waving the flag a bit) about how Saab was troubled pre-GM. The Saabancia?

Story on 6th Gear here.

[Ferrer]

Jalop had a post (maybe waving the flag a bit) about how Saab was troubled pre-GM. The Saabancia?

Story on 6th Gear here.

Blaiming all of Saab's failure in a car that was sold for barely 3 years in just 3, rather sparsely populated, countries is a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion.

I'll ellaborate later on, if you want.

[Ferrer]

Back from the dead, apparently.

Saab Lives! Sold to Chinese-Japanese consortium NEVS

I guess a TV series could be made out of this.

I have the title.

The Driving Dead.

Or something.

[pimento]

I'll believe it when I see some actual product rolling about.