What The Next Saab 9-3 Could Have Been

Sad, Lots of potential, but the Unions and Mgmt are to blame for the death of SAAB. They were starved of quality products, to many lemmings just sitting around taking a pay check without really trying to make a difference and grow the company.

Then you have the stupid unionized plants that just sucked up money. All they could see what instant gratification rather than survival and eventually growing jobs.

Nice history notes, nice concept cars which I am sure someone will poach some ideas from for their own auto's.

I am surprised we have not see China Car companies poach more ideas from dead car lines.

Imagine if you had GTO's inspired auto's from China. Hummer inspired 4x4's from China or some other country.

Disagree. Saab's issue was trying to basically start a car company during a time when credit was really tight. Their issues were entirely of a cash flow nature. Double the size of their credit line and they might have been able to make it.

and... I like this new design at least in concept form. I'm thinking some of the rough edges would have been smoothed over by production time.

Cash was one problem during that time for any company to deal with, but the others based on my own reading was dealing with the Government that wanted guarentees for the workers. The unions who wanted senior based promises for work, etc. There were many reasons for the failure.

Concept or no, that design is a mutt, ugly, and most of all, in no way forward thinking enough.

011 9-5 was sweet outside. I still think I might lookin into one......

Disagree. Saab's issue was trying to basically start a car company during a time when credit was really tight. Their issues were entirely of a cash flow nature. Double the size of their credit line and they might have been able to make it.

This. Also that because their models were based on GM designs, it was impossible to get GM approval for alliances with other automakers, because GM had to protect its intellectual property.

GM IP issues (understandable) plus Mr Muller liking to do business hanging from a very thin rope doomed SAAB in the end... Too bad... Kudos to all SAAB employees who had to work at a grossly underfunded company; they did achieve much, it was just the business model funding that was all wrong!

I don't particularly like Castriatoa's design that much, btw...

I still think it's too bad that GM sold SAAB because it was really starting to come into its own with the 9-5 and 9-4x, but it is what it is, and this unfortunately does not look as good as the grainy "phoenix" photos that were leaking out at the time...

I think that picking up a late 90's early 00's 9-3 Viggen 3 door hatch would be much more my liking...a little piece of Saab history...

Saab should have been killed off by 2000. There were plenty of places to clean house and get rid of old wood that had gone spongy. SAAB was one area they could have saved money on that could have gone into other brands much sooner.