Saab Celebrates 25 years of Convertibles with Special Edition

[!!!TED!!!]

Saab Celebrates 25 years of Convertibles with Special Edition

The first ever Saab Convertible made its world debut at the Frankfurt auto show in the fall of 1983. Now, 25 years later, a Special Edition makes its American debut at the Los Angeles International auto show which opens to the public on November 22. This new version of the Saab 9-3 Convertible will be showcased in a unique bright champagne metallic color.

Saab surprised the automotive world when it pioneered the concept of a ‘four season, four-seat’ soft top Convertible. Designed to be practical and stylish, the Scandinavian-styled convertible changed the perception of open top vehicles to be used all the year round.

“Saab has sold more than a quarter of a million convertibles worldwide and this latest edition highlights the timeless design and responsible performance that Saab convertibles have always represented,” said Steve Shannon, executive director, marketing and product, Saab Automobile USA.

The special edition Saab Convertible will be available in three metallic colors to include Jet Black, Carbon Grey and the new Bright Champagne. It will feature Saab’s signature 2.0-liter, 210 hp four cylinder engine and can be matched to six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmissions.

Special content includes influences from the Turbo X performance model, such as the design of the front bumper and steering wheel plus carbon fiber interior finishes and black floor mats with grey binding. Like the Aero version, the rear shows dual exhaust pipes and an anthracite grey bumper insert. Five-spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels will be standard.

Expected to arrive in dealer showrooms in January 2009, the Saab 9-3 2.0T Special Edition Convertible will be priced starting at $ 46,725 including destination charges.

Saab is a division of General Motors Corp. Saab Automobile USA is the importer and/or distributor of the Saab 9-3, 9-5 and 9-7X for Saab Automobile AB, Sweden. For the 2009 model year, Saab offers 7 different models that deliver 27 mpg or better according to EPA Highway fuel economy standards. In addition to 4 years/50,000 miles bumper-to-bumper warranty, including roadside assistance and courtesy transportation, every new Saab comes with 3 years/36,000 miles no-charge scheduled maintenance plus standard Onstar and XM Satellite radio. Visit www.saabusa.com for more information.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

*yawn*

Yay! Another Saab "special edition" that isn't discern-able from the regular Saabs.

[Bimmer325]

*yawn*

Yay! Another Saab "special edition" that isn't discern-able from the regular Saabs.

Please. Go look at the pathetic G6 update and tell me Saab doesn't deserve to stick around.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Please. Go look at the pathetic G6 update and tell me Saab doesn't deserve to stick around.

*FOG clicks on the Pontiac forum, looks at the moderately attractive G6 update*

*FOG clicks on the Saab forum and replies*

"Absolutley not!

In fact, Saab should be killed and the money should be invested into A CERTAIN VOLUME DIVISION TO CREATE VOLUME PRODUCTS THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICE AND THEN MIGHT WANT TO BUY.

Saab is a waste of time, GM will never get back what they've invested in them. (especially now)

They will never sell large amounts of cars.

[Bimmer325]

Saab is a waste of time, GM will never get back what they've invested in them. (especially now)

Invested? GM has consistently done the bare minimum to keep Saab alive. You blame Saab because nobody wanted a rebadged Trailblazer, when in reality, it's GM's mismanagement that's failed the brand.

[turbo200]

just will chime in here to defend what i think is right. obama administration has leaked about a pre-packaged bankruptcy being talked about, could be a very good situation for GM, if it doesn't get posted here, i'll look for it later. i mention this because saab would be one of the brands under discussion among people here to close, under that possible restructuring scenario. that would be a mistake. saab has tons of equity and is one of the least invested properties in the GM stigma. they've been incredibly consistent with design, so they're instantly recognizable and have plenty of plenty of automatic value thanks to that immediate recognition.

the biggest problem they have has to do with engineering and the percieved value of it when compared to competition. they will either have to slightly adjust pricing downscale in the future, or seriously make up ground in roadgoing abilities, i.e. suspension refinement, driving experience. of course use of premium materials will need to be kept up and reliability will need to also be kept up and perhaps improved on [don't know really how reliable Saab is, heard plenty of conjecture already].

in design, they are clearly going in the right upscale direction. saab really is what VW wants to be, only obviously at a lower volume.

Edited November 21, 2008 by turbo200

[ZL-1]

You blame Saab because nobody wanted a rebadged Trailblazer, when in reality, it's GM's mismanagement that's failed the brand.

I wonder wtf GM was thinking when they had the idea of a brand built around safe but sporty and fun-to-drive FWD cars marketing a dressed-up Trailblazer...

Edited November 21, 2008 by ZL-1

[BatmanGTO]

Invested? GM has consistently done the bare minimum to keep Saab alive. You blame Saab because nobody wanted a rebadged Trailblazer, when in reality, it's GM's mismanagement that's failed the brand.

Cars are doomed in general.... i'm investing in a rocketship...

[yougojay]

JUNK - SAABs are JUNK - 50,000 grand for an ugly piece of JUNK.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I wonder wtf GM was thinking when they had the idea of a brand built around safe but sporty and fun-to-drive FWD cars marketing a dressed-up Trailblazer...

GM was thinking about what GM needs

V-O-L-U-M-E

GM needs divisions and models that sell in volume to redefine the corporation. Saab is too much of a niche and WILL NOT be expanded fast enough to benefit the corporation.

Saab will never have the brand recognition or volume to benefit GM or even compete with the major luxury players.

(Well, maybe they will after years of investment, but it's years of investment that GM 'aint' got)

P.S. And by extension, Saturn is in the same boat. GM could funnel Opels into Pontiac and sell 2 times the volume that Saturn pushes all the while enjoying 2 times the Positive PR and media 'goodwill'

And if GM does decide to exploit Saab, it will be at the expense of Cadillac (mark my words)

Edited November 23, 2008 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Croc]

Please. Go look at the pathetic G6 update and tell me Saab doesn't deserve to stick around.

They both deserve to stick around. The updated G6 interior isn't as $h!eous as it was before. I was pleasantly surprised.

[ZL-1]

GM was thinking about what GM needs

V-O-L-U-M-E

GM needs divisions and models that sell in volume to redefine the corporation. Saab is too much of a niche and WILL NOT be expanded fast enough to benefit the corporation.

Saab will never have the brand recognition or volume to benefit GM or even compete with the major luxury players.

(Well, maybe they will after years of investment, but it's years of investment that GM 'aint' got)

P.S. And by extension, Saturn is in the same boat. GM could funnel Opels into Pontiac and sell 2 times the volume that Saturn pushes all the while enjoying 2 times the Positive PR and media 'goodwill'

And if GM does decide to exploit Saab, it will be at the expense of Cadillac (mark my words)

I disagree. GM needs focus and if they had focused on letting SAAB be the brand it is supposed to be while sharing GM's engineering resources, SAAB would be profitable and would be in a much better position. But GM had to run it through the standard-GM-corporate-business-model... just because, unfortunately, GM doesn't know how to do any better and (I suspect) many people were afraid an alternative approach would be successful...

Re Saturn, maybe you're right and Pontiac could have been a better outlet for Opels in the US. However, Saturn was such an expensive project, and it was the object of so much advertising/hype (I hope I'm dead wrong, but in many ways the talk reminds me of the talk surrounding the Volt) that GM has to go with it even if, in the end, it turns out to be a failure. Corporate politics do suck sometimes...

Re Cadillac, I don't know if pushing SAAB would happen at Cadillac's expense, at least globally, since Cadillac's amazing track record of 3K sales/year in Europe tells me GM is already screwing up the expansion of Cadillac overseas.

FOG, as much as it saddens me as a GM fan, I think it all boils down to lack of focus by GM. The sad part is that the lack of focus has gone on for so long that now there's no money to invest to get that focus back... As a SAAB fan I sometimes wish GM would sell the brand to a financially stable OEM...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I disagree. GM needs focus and if they had focused on letting SAAB be the brand it is supposed to be while sharing GM's engineering resources, SAAB would be profitable and would be in a much better position. But GM had to run it through the standard-GM-corporate-business-model... just because, unfortunately, GM doesn't know how to do any better and (I suspect) many people were afraid an alternative approach would be successful...

Volume has nothing to do with focus... I agree that GM needs a lot of focus, but volume divisions have focus as well. From a business standpoint, I'm willing to bet that Saab will never have a positive ROI

Re Cadillac, I don't know if pushing SAAB would happen at Cadillac's expense, at least globally, since Cadillac's amazing track record of 3K sales/year in Europe tells me GM is already screwing up the expansion of Cadillac overseas.

Of course it would... they're competing in the same market for the same buyer. Talk about redundant divisions (from a business standpoint) Buick, Cadillac AND Saab are all just as redundant as Chevrolet and GMC or Chevrolet and Pontiac.

And sadly, I feel that Saab would win because of the stupid green craze. The GME could have the empire it wants. Saab slays Cadillac and Opel slays Pontiac and Buick.

FOG, as much as it saddens me as a GM fan, I think it all boils down to lack of focus by GM. The sad part is that the lack of focus has gone on for so long that now there's no money to invest to get that focus back... As a SAAB fan I sometimes wish GM would sell the brand to a financially stable OEM...

I agree... I like Saab, (Just like I like Hummer) despite what this thread reflects. But when it comes to eliminating divisions, (Which I hope doesn't happen past Olds and Hummer) it's crazy for GM to forsake a core division for a european make that is virtually nonexistant in the market. But, since it's a crazy idea and doomed to fail, I'm sure GM will do just that.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I disagree. GM needs focus and if they had focused on letting SAAB be the brand it is supposed to be while sharing GM's engineering resources, SAAB would be profitable and would be in a much better position. But GM had to run it through the standard-GM-corporate-business-model... just because, unfortunately, GM doesn't know how to do any better and (I suspect) many people were afraid an alternative approach would be successful...

Re Saturn, maybe you're right and Pontiac could have been a better outlet for Opels in the US. However, Saturn was such an expensive project, and it was the object of so much advertising/hype (I hope I'm dead wrong, but in many ways the talk reminds me of the talk surrounding the Volt) that GM has to go with it even if, in the end, it turns out to be a failure. Corporate politics do suck sometimes...

Re Cadillac, I don't know if pushing SAAB would happen at Cadillac's expense, at least globally, since Cadillac's amazing track record of 3K sales/year in Europe tells me GM is already screwing up the expansion of Cadillac overseas.

FOG, as much as it saddens me as a GM fan, I think it all boils down to lack of focus by GM. The sad part is that the lack of focus has gone on for so long that now there's no money to invest to get that focus back... As a SAAB fan I sometimes wish GM would sell the brand to a financially stable OEM...

If GM ever does sell Saab, I hope it's to BMW, as I have my own personal reasons for this.

Edited November 24, 2008 by Pontiac Custom-S