GM Death Watch

Well I agree there weren’t many user centric innovations on that list, not to mention revolutionary ones. But engineering can be creative too, no? I won’t bother looking up what was industry-first - I don’t care enough. I’ll trust there was something unique about all those things since they are officially claimed as SAAB innovations.

Still, every car manufacturer has a list like that and most will probably be way way longer and more impressive, so I actually agree with you.

Just to brighten the mood around here:

To bring it back down, they just announced they will be shutting down SAAB.

Saab was always taking a different design road. Like their waffle A/C vents, their night mode speedometer, the key in the centre console, the locking gear shift. It was such a breath of fresh air compared to the cookie cutter stuff from the big makes (I include Merc, BMW, Audi here). I`ll miss them.

Im happy to say that SAAB seems to live another day!

GM Just confirmed that Dutch Spyker will take over with the swedish government as guarantor(not sure if thats the correct word for it).

WOOO HOOO!!!

Complete details of the transaction have yet to be fully disclosed, but it’s understood to include Spyker giving GM $74 million up front, along with allowing The General to pocket a further $326 million in preferred shares from the new Spyker-owned entity. The deal requires that the Swedish government agree to guarantee a 400 million-euro loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), a step that is expected to be consummated in February.

As part of the agreement, Spyker chairman Vladimir Antonov has agreed to step down, a move reportedly key to GM’s interests in keeping its intellectual property sequestered from Russian hands.

With Saab’s operations already partially “wound down” from GM’s liquidation moves following the collapse of the earlier Koenigsegg deal, it will be interesting to see how quickly Spyker can get the Swedish marque’s operations back up to speed, including delivery of the 2011 9-5 sedan, a promising vehicle range that was likely the linchpin holding the whole deal together.

Also of note: Saab never really closed. Production of the 2011 9-5 started, supposedly to “fill existing orders”. Last week, a 2012 Saab 9-5 wagon was seen winter testing. Also, the factory has produced 40-50 pre-production 9-4x within the last few months.

More info:

Saab never really closed.

Less than a week after a 2.3 million vehicle recall, the announcement yesterday to it’s 1,200 US dealers of a stop-sale on eight of it’s current models (new and used) it may be Toyota that shuts down. Those models represented about 57% of total US sales.

RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Highlander, Tundra, and Sequoia. Plus certain 2007-2010 Camry sedans.

Katana anyone … … ?

RE: Maybe its time for a Toyota Death Watch?

A Toyota Death Watch exists on Facebook:

Those that don’t learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. Contained within are articles and opinions that further expose the issues around Toyota.

Description:
A consolidated news source for Toyota Motor Corporation. This is a professional communications site to educate the public on the many issues associated with Toyota. Comments should remain professional.

Here is the URL to join:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243072246568&ref=search&sid=661566492.2711465360..1

Well folks, is it time to spool up this thread again?

so much winning…

All of our BMW critiques will be in vain when everything becomes an SUV. The sedan is a dying breed.

Bump this again when we’re onto the tailgate design of the 2021 X7 M60i

I can only imagine that they are popping the champagne at Hyundai, Toyota and Honda headquarters. In the course of 2 years, all their American competition stopped. Easy sales!

It is too sad that cars are dying. I’ve complained for 20 years that no one is making a BMW 2002 anymore. Soon, I’ll be complaining no one makes a Chevy Cavalier anymore…

It is not cars that are dying, it is traditional car makers that are dying.

The customers of the old fashioned behemoth GM want to buy old fashioned behemoths. so be it.

GM used to be a good place for designers coming out of school. The good ones moved on to other companies away from Detroit.

Cars are dying. It’s interesting to note that Ford has made another big improvement in the Focus and Fiesta, but only for the ROTW, not Americaland. However, it’s also of note that the Qashqai and the Tiguan are now in Europe’s top 10 and every company with a Euro focus is working like made to get small crossovers out. It’s only a question of time…

Moreover, who isn’t a “traditional car maker”? Tesla, maybe? 99% of cars sold are from traditional makes as far as I can tell.

bringing it back!

Interesting article on Jalaopnik:

The analysis revealed that instead of jumping on the SUV bandwagon, 42% of Cruze and Focus owners are choosing to stay in the passenger car segment. So far this year, 23% of Cruze owners and 31% of Focus owners who traded in their car for another car bought from a competitor.


Buyers are instead going for the Asian brands, which have kept up or even increased their small car lineups to pick up the slack. Ford and GM customers went for cars like the Hyundai Kona, Jeep Compass, Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, or Kia Forte, all sensible options, so perhaps this is for the better for people actually buying the cars.

Of course the Hyundai Kona, Jeep Compass, Subaru Crosstrek are all cross over type things, kind of. More like tall hatchbacks, like a Toyota Matrix.

I thought this was interesting too:

The brand loyalty of former Cruze and Focus owners has been steadily declining in the last three years. The percentage of Focus owners trading in their vehicle and buying another Ford has declined from 40% in 2016 to 33% through September of this year. The drop in brand loyalty is more pronounced among former Cruze owners: 45% elected to trade in their Cruze for another Chevrolet vehicle so far this year, compared to 57% in 2016.

If I had to trade my Focus for a brand new car, I would try the Elantra GT N-line and a GTI. Maybe an Accord / Mazda 6 with a stick shift. But, I don’t buy new cars, so it’s a mote point.

It will be interesting to see in 2029 when GM and Ford try to relaunch their cars if people will come back or if these customers have written them off permanently. As Audi showed us, it takes 20 years to turn a brand around…

http://www.autozine.org/0_News/Archive/2020_02/News_frame.html

The news that GM is killing the Holden brand and withdrawing from Australia/New Zealand comes as a shock this morning. GM already closed its Holden factories in October 2017.

I wonder if this means the Ute is dead? I thought they were rather cool when I visited Perth. Sad to see the great marque perish so silently.

Tangentially related, I think I will stop comparing GM to Tesla now. Tesla is the only one of the two that seems to want to build cars anymore. Let’s hope that Lyft and autonomous cars are the future GM, because it looks like your dead if that doesn’t work out!

I know a few people who have switched from VW GTIs to Elantra GT Ns and Veloster Ns

Yes, when they closed the factory in 2017, they killed off the Ute. It has all been imported pick-ups since then. It’s a sad day to lose Holden as they are also closing the design studio here, which will mean a lot of auto designers have to look overseas for work now.