"Swedish car maker Saab has applied for legal restructuring to prevent bankruptcy after it was jettisoned by its owner General Motors, a Saab spokesman confirms."

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As soon as Saab was a more expensive & less reliable vectra the writing was on the wall!!

I really liked Saab up until about 1995 but not any more. My Dad has had a couple Saab Vectra tractor things and I really don't like them. I have honestly not seen as much grey dull plastic in one interior before - however the night panel mode would always get me excited

 

What a shame, but it was always on the cards

 

It's rather sad.

OK, GM couldn't run a tin bath and the too-obvious Rectum connection has made the cars into as big a joke as the X-Type.

Truth is though, the branding wonkers were too thick to understand that part of SAAB's cachet was associated with its links to the Swedish Aeroplane AB and to Scania-Vabis, from whence the turbocharging knowhow was derived. Once divorced from that, the image was bound to decline.

The same is also true of Volvo, although its design is much stronger and it is only the US Fords that blatantly copy the cars. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Volvo doesn't go the same way as SAAB.

It's a shame to see these anti-giants fail, and a pity for Swedish industry.

 

Had a Saab back in the days when they were built like tanks! Great long distance cars.
Parisian taxis used to crumple on the back bumper

 

Bad news.

 

I bought an L-reg 9000 as a beater a couple of years ago. I was on a stag weekend, mentioned I wanted something cheap and cheerful and handed over

 

Very sad news. Despite the GM neglect Saab have always been genuinely interesting cars. If I was in the market for a mid-size car Saab would always have been one of my considerations.

Recently drove a 9-3 XWD 2.0 Turbo Estate and I could not find anything to fault it. I was so genuinely impressed I would consider buying one.

Even doing 50-60 mph on a frozen lake I felt genuinely safe and in control. With the ESP turned off things got "entertaining" but you could genuinely feel what the car was doing and control it. Even so though I was the only one out of 6 cars that didn't need towing out of a snowdrift by a tractor.

And if you'd asked me what my first real experience of drifting would be, a 4wd estate would probably not been my first answer.

Things like the stealth mode, sorry "night panel" are a genuine point of difference and a worthwhile feature even now.

And Saab cup holders are a joy to behold.

 

How thoroughly decent of GM too.

Buy a company, royally feck it up financially and then pull the plug.
All because they fecked up their own business to a much greater degree.

How long before they stop making cars all together and concentrate on pensions, investments and credit cards?

 

Next time you pull on your seat belt, spare a thought for SAAB, they were the first to fit them into a producton car IIRC.

Drove a 93 Aero the other week and really enjoyed it, didn't handle that well, but it was quick enough and very comfortable on a run.