Saab on kappa?

[99camaroSS]

General Motors is planning to build a small sports car based on the design previewed by the Saab Aero-X Concept, according to a report in the latest issue of AutoExpress magazine. According to the report, coupe and roadster versions will be offered, each aimed squarely at the 2007 Audi TT. Shown right is a scan of the magazine’s cover, showing an artist’s rendering of how such a car might look (we’re looking for a better image). The report describes the new car — due as a 2009 model — as the Aero-X distilled “distilled into a smaller, Audi TT-rivalling sports coupe.” The production coupe will even get a wraparound windscreen, the report says. We suspect, however, that this will involved painted black A-pillars, rather than a true wrap-around window. Of course, the production car will trade its canopy roof for standard side-opening doors.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/19/saa...udi-tt-fighter/

[Northstar]

And this will sell what, 2000-3000 units a year?

And GM can't decide whether it wants to produce another GTO because it "only" sells about 15k per year

GM should sell Saab and make some more money.

[Bimmer325]

That rendering looks DAMN sexy, I just worry about Kappa becoming the next GMT-360 with so many rumoured variants in the pipeline.

[CaddyXLR-V]

And this will sell what, 2000-3000 units a year?

And GM can't decide whether it wants to produce another GTO because it "only" sells about 15k per year

GM should sell Saab and make some more money.

And the GTO sells almost half the volume of the entire Saab brand.

Doesn't the Monaro only sell about 3000 per year, and the GTO about 5 times that?

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

SAAB Sonnett anyone?? If it should come to pass.....

[Northstar]

And the GTO sells almost half the volume of the entire Saab brand.

Doesn't the Monaro only sell about 3000 per year, and the GTO about 5 times that?

Yes, the Monaro is very low volume. The GTO actually made the Monaro project profitable for Holden I believe.

[z28luvr01]

If there really is a Kappa Chevy Stingray in the works, I'd say halt all work on that and instead get this Saab to market ASAP.

[blair1118]

So is this supposed to be kind of to some small extint a 9-2x replacement?? cause if it is, get it here asap and kill that crappy subby

[91z4me]

The GTO actually made the Monaro project profitable for Holden I believe.

No Monaro was profitable at 5K total volume. GTO made lots of money even if they didn't hit sales projections.

[Clownzilla]

SAAB Sonnett anyone??  If it should come to pass.....

Sonett! Sonett! Sonett!! Bring this to market!!!!!

[radioactivesob]

GM needs to figure out how to bring kappa to market in a four seat varient. There are only so many 2 seat cars one company can produce.

Corvette, XLR, Solstice, Sky, GT, Speedster, SSR... I am leaving any out.

[jbartley]

excellent halo car for the SAAB brand.

it can do for SAAB what the solstice, sky, corvette do for their respective brands.

and after what Audi has done to the TT, stealing sales should be easy for the "sonnet/Areo-x/9-1x" etc

Edited April 20, 2006 by jbartley

[Croc]

GM should sell Saab and make some more money.

Northie, I know you're smarter than to actually mean that. I mean c'mon now...

[FunkyPig]

Yes, the Monaro is very low volume. The GTO actually made the Monaro project profitable for Holden I believe.

The GTO made it 'more' profitable, but Monaro was designed from the outset to be low volume and make a profit from the low Australian sales numbers, The unexpected exports were merely additional, and infact the profit margin for Holden was very low with all GTOs it built due to shipping costs etc and the need to price it competitively in the US.

[TKR]

The GTO made it 'more' profitable, but Monaro was designed from the outset to be low volume and make a profit from the low Australian sales numbers, The unexpected exports were merely additional, and infact the profit margin for Holden was very low with all GTOs it built due to shipping costs etc and the need to price it competitively in the US.

Actually, from what I understand, the beancounters at Holden slipped up and initially the Monaro lost money but I would say this was recouped once the US volume was included. On the flip side it gave Holden huge exposure that no marketing campain could ever have achieved.

[CaddyXLR-V]

Why would Saab get a car to compete with the Audi TT, when Cadillac needs one?

[99camaroSS]

Why would Saab get a car to compete with the Audi TT, when Cadillac needs one?

I usually think of caddy being far above Audi, when i think of Audi's competition the first to brands that come to mind are saab and volvo. I think Caddy has much bigger fish to fry than the TT

[jbartley]

Why would Saab get a car to compete with the Audi TT, when Cadillac needs one?

the TT is just a glorified FWD coupe on the Golf/Rabbit platform. Cadillac needs to aim higher.

[heintz]

GM needs to figure out how to bring kappa to market in a four seat varient. There are only so many 2 seat cars one company can produce.

I'm sure they know how. Look at all the engineering they put into the Nomad and the Saturn concept, both 4 seaters. I am waiting to buy a Nomad. (Yes, may be an infinate wait).

[Intrepidation]

It would be cool if it became a real car, the Aero X was an awesome concept. It'll be wierd to see it srunk down though. If it is built, they should at least mae that cool instrument cluster real, and I'd say ffind a way to make the canopy work too

[titan]

the TT is just a glorified FWD coupe on the Golf/Rabbit platform.  Cadillac needs to aim higher.

Very true. Caddy needs to work on a true flagship to battle the S/LS/7/Q. Also, I'd love to see a coupe version of the CTS (for the 3 Coupe), or even a STS derived coupe (for the 6-Series). That's just me...

[titan]

excellent halo car for the SAAB brand.

it can do for SAAB what the solstice, sky, corvette do for their respective brands.

and after what Audi has done to the TT, stealing sales should be easy for the "sonnet/Areo-x/9-1x" etc

I agree 100%. Saab needs this. It'd help to elevate the whole Saab line. The interest in Saab that the Aero X generated demostrates that with the right product and the right focus, Saab can be a real winner.

[jrockb4]

Kappa being the next GMT360 platform is fine with me, as long as GM does as good a job with differentiation as they have done with the SKY/Solstice and the Lambdas. A great platform can be used in many places, especially when it is a much a niche platform as this is. Completely different exterior panels, interiors and engine choices and Viola something new lol. All Saab's should be turbo'ed, start with the ecotec from the Cobalt SS, Use the one from the redline and do a 300 hp Aero :-> The Saab Sonnett Aero

[Imaj]

Wasn't it supposed to be built on Esilon II with FWD/AWD? That would be more fitting the SAAB image.

[VenSeattle]

The transaction price for this SAAB would be far greater than anything Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Saturn could command. Looks like a good idea to me.

[jbartley]

Very true.  Caddy needs to work on a true flagship to battle the S/LS/7/Q.  Also, I'd love to see a coupe version of the CTS (for the 3 Coupe), or even a STS derived coupe (for the 6-Series).  That's just me...

Yeh I want a CTS coupe, although it should be styled more aggressivly b/c that's what coupe people want.

Instead of being CTS-coupe, it should just bt ETC

[jbartley]

The transaction price for this SAAB would be far greater than anything Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Saturn could command. Looks like a good idea to me.

And it would drive circles around the competition.

GM could control the large suv, large crossoever, and small coupe/conv market.

then maybe they'll focus on cars, haha.

[91z4me]

Wasn't it supposed to be built on Esilon II with FWD/AWD? That would be more fitting the SAAB image.

I agree.

[CaddyXLR-V]

the TT is just a glorified FWD coupe on the Golf/Rabbit platform.  Cadillac needs to aim higher.

While that may be true, Cadillac wouldn't be aiming at all. Cadillac needs an SLK and Z4 competitor, but Saab is getting it instead.

Give Caddy a mini XLR with a 3.6 and TT 3.6 for the V, and it will get even higher prices than the Saab.

[sciguy_0504]

Kappa being the next GMT360 platform is fine with me, as long as GM does as good a job with differentiation as they have done with the SKY/Solstice and the Lambdas.  A great platform can be used in many places, especially when it is a much a niche platform as this is.  Completely different exterior panels, interiors and engine choices and Viola something new lol.  All Saab's should be turbo'ed, start with the ecotec from the Cobalt SS, Use the one from the redline and do a 300 hp Aero :->  The Saab Sonnett Aero

I honestly do not think the SKY and Solstice are that different. It is obvious where both came from.

On one hand, Saab needs this but Saab also needs a much more competitive lineup more than it needs just one halo car. A halo vehicle should be the cherry on top, IMO, when everything else is great.

[guionM]

The GTO made it 'more' profitable, but Monaro was designed from the outset to be low volume and make a profit from the low Australian sales numbers, The unexpected exports were merely additional, and infact the profit margin for Holden was very low with all GTOs it built due to shipping costs etc and the need to price it competitively in the US.

Actually, from what I understand, the beancounters at Holden slipped up and initially the Monaro lost money but I would say this was recouped once the US volume was included. On the flip side it gave Holden huge exposure that no marketing campain could ever have achieved.

Both of you are mostly right.

Monaro was designed to be profitable st 4-5,000 cars per year over a 36 month lifespan from 2001-2003 model years. Monaro was done on a budget of about $65 million (by comparason, the redesigned nose on the '98 Camaro cost about $200 million).

GTO was set up to sell a maximum of 18,000 tops per year over 3 years from 2004-2006 model years. This also extended Monaro's production an extra 2 years. The money GM-NA gave Holden to create the GTO was pretty much used for the fuel tank move, the Pontiac grille, the exhaust tuning, US certification, and doing it all in just 17 months. The rest of the car was essentially a middle-east spec (left hand drive) Holden Monaro/Chevrolet Lumina.

So, instead of the Monaro being profitable selling 15,000 cars, it wound up set to sell 82,000 cars. Even with GTO falling short of projections (15K instead of 18) the car still sold over 75,000 copies, 15 times what it was slated to.

The only thing that shot GM's profit projections on the car was the falling US dollar and the stronger Aussie dollar. Shipping costs have nothing to do with expensives, since it's simply added in (roughly $6-800 per car).

GM didn't quite make as much as they had hoped on the GTO, but don't shed a tear. They still made a tidy profit, and are very comfortable selling the 15K GTOs annually they did for 2005 and will likely do for 2006.

BTW, FWIW, GM would extend GTO's production till the next one is ready if it wasn't for the new airbag and interior passenger impact standards that take place in September. GM (rightfully) doesn't want to spend the money redoing airbags and the dash for a car that's only going to be around 1 to 1 1/2 years.

Edited April 21, 2006 by guionM

[Camino LS6]

Thanks for posting that, Guy. It is the most concise relation of the Monaro/GTO story I have read to date.

[ToniCipriani]

Only if it's FWD or AWD. If it's RWD, no. Just no.

Saabs should never be RWD. I've talked to some Saab guys and they think a RWD Saab is just nuts.

[drew770]

Using the Kappa platform for Saab is fine as long as GM really differentiate and I mean really differentiate the versions.

Saab should be a Saab and not some American version with a ignition key near the gear box!

As far as Caddy getting a version, I say let's wait to see what GM does with the CTS and it's off springs such as a coupe and convertible.

[Petra]

As much as I'd like to see this come to fruition, what SAAB really needs right now is a competitive, midsized sedan or wagon, not a low volume halo car.

[ZL-1]

Wasn't it supposed to be built on Esilon II with FWD/AWD? That would be more fitting the SAAB image.

That's what's been rumoured.

[jrockb4]

Was the Sonnett FWD or RWD? Just curious.

[91z4me]

Was the Sonnett FWD or RWD?  Just curious.

FWD.

[99camaroSS]

here is an update on the topic http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/27/saa...duction-aero-x/