Saaburu - Subaru, Saab and GM

New Saab 9-2x incorporates Subaru AWD and the boxer engine..... just for everyone's info....

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Reply to
LC Brian
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On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 04:41:37 GMT, LC Brian wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I took a close look at one last week. It is of course a WRX with a SAAB facelift.

Reply to
Dave Null Sr.

Old news. Incorporates? That's like saying that the Opel Kadett 'incorporates' the gearbox and floorpan of the Vauxhall Chevette...

It's a Subaru with a silly grille.

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

What's funny is that Saab seems to be taking a lot of credit for what is a Subaru WRX with Saab styling cues. Even some Saab enthusiast sites describe it as being "based on the WRX chassis and engine" which doesn't really describe it accurately. The 9-2x is simply a Subaru WRX wagon with new skin. I do like how it looks though.

CW

Reply to
CW

Saab doesn't have any kind of AWD, nor a low cost entry vehicle so they had to do something. Or should I say, GM saw to leverage their assets. I don't think it will fool any real Saab enthusiasts but it's interesting. Somthing to ruminate on anyway. I was actually browsing around for alternates to Subarus when I came across this.

Reply to
LC Brian

Typical example of GM screwing up the companies it controls. SAAB has a long history of selling front wheel drive cars with a Scandanavian twist--the old two stroke cars, the fiberglass sports car, the V4 engine, a bunch of newer turbo cars, not to mention their socialistic "team building" factories, their rally successes, and their generally "oddball" image.

Now what GM will do is stick a SAAB badge on a Subaru and try to sell it as a SAAB. Just like they do with Chevy and Pontiac and Buick. It won't work, and it's this kind of short-sighted thinking that makes GM the way it is...

Reply to
DH

They will most certanly sell like pancakes. Just like WRX did in 2001 and still does. There is a ton of snotty yappies in the US who would not consider a non European car. And WRX is a steal no matter how you slice and dice it. Even if you add leather to fry their asses in summer and freeze them in winter.

Reply to
John Opezdol

as a Saab fanatic for many years, and current WRX wagon owner, I'm just wondering what the heck is the point of this car? To get an extra $5k to $7k from a consumer for the "privelege" of having a Saab in the driveway vs a Subaru? Are they trying to put a hatchback back in the lineup, and give Saab fans long desired AWD by rebadging a Subaru? GM is about the most clueless auto company there is, and seem to not have a clue what to do with Saab since they bought them.

Reply to
Sam Hain

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Sam Hain) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

yeah i guess you could equate it to the volvo v40 or land rover freelander. I don't see Saab enthusiasts trading in their 9-3 and 9-5's for it, nor do i see Scoobie enthusiasts giving it a try...

i'd take my 89 Saab 900S over any of the new models anyday, if it still ran and hadn't been parted in a junkyard in FL for the past 5 years. :-)

Reply to
Jeremiah

Don't blame GM. Saab have done this before. The 9000 is a rebadged and mildly reworked (in later models) Lancia Thema/Fiat Croma. There was a Europe-only model, the 600, which was a Lancia Delta of all things. And lets not forget that the present and previous 9-3, and the 9-5, are based on Vauxhall's dynamically challenged Vectra platform (and in the case of the present 9-3, look suspiciously like a mid 1990s European Vectra/Cavalier)...

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

Well, if GM can't churn out a winner on their own --at least for a price they can afford--they can't lose by using a WRX to rebadge. I think the $5-7k costlier tag estimates are way off. I think the 9-2x will start at $26-27k which will be very popular with a lot of yuppies. In fact, when I told some of my work colleagues that I just bought a subaru WRX, many of their faces were instantly grimacing or puzzled--very funny, actually. I think the new 9-2x could very well run away as Saab's best commercial success in their current lineup.

Reply to
CW

Did you ever figure out why they were making those faces? Maybe they don't know what a WRX is. Most of the general public never figured out what a SVX was and to them, WRX might be "just another one of those 'X' cars". In fact, many might not know an Impreza or that it is a Subaru.

Reply to
Walt Kienzle

Reply to
LC Brian

Reply to
LC Brian

From what I have heard the 9.2X Linear (2.5 liter non turbo version) will start at $22k and the 9.2X Aero (2.0 liter turbo - WRX version) will top out at $30k. The interior will be nicer and a higher quality in both models. and should go on sale July 1. I'm not sure how many Subaru people will be interested in it but current Saab owners should be, as a second car or a car for their kids etc. It should also bring in new younger people to Saab who don't have Subaru or Saab now and have always wanted a Saab. If the price is close which would MOST people want to own a Saab or a Subaru?

Reply to
Kevin Brewer

LC Brian wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Umm...the SVX was a Subaru produced for a relatively short amount of time (92-97). It was an attempt to get into the luxury performance class. But its a VERY heavy vehicle(3600 lbs) and Subaru gave it weak rotors which warped rather quickly. There are still a good number on the roads though. Its a cult car these days.

Reply to
Jeremiah

I don't think official prices are out yet but if the prices that you list are true, I think saab is making a big mistake pricing it too high. The overlap with the 9-3 sports sedan ($26-32k) will be particularly problematic. Moreover, I think prospective buyers will need to have a hard look at whether the 9-2 is worth some $4-5k more than the WRX (which will be no secret). From what I've read, the dash will get some "aluminized accents" but the quality of the rest of the vehicle will be the same. Not sure if leather and sunroof are optional or standard but those are two things not currently offered on the WRX Wagon so that also may be a draw (exterior differences aside). I for one would not be paying $5k more unless the sunroof and leather were thrown into the mix.

CW

Reply to
CW

You are correct about the announcement of official pricing. A dealer told me that will be announced on March 15. I was checking with him because I can get a GM employee discount on a Saab (hopefully on this model too), but not on a Subaru.

Reply to
Walt Kienzle

Good point. It's not just SAAB. Lots of companies have done this - especially the smaller ones. When they've wanted to get into a new line of vehicles but didn't have the resources to design and build an entirely new model, they just rebadged someone else's product. For me, this is an ideal solution. I've been driving Subarus longer than many of the people in this NG have been alive, but my wife, for reasons of her own, refuses to drive anything Japanese, and there's nothing from the American companies that comes even close to meeting our needs. She still talks wistfully of how much she loved her 1986 SAAB 900, but she knows that AWD is essential, so we ended up settling on an Audi A4. When it's time for her next car (probably in a year or two), the 9-2 will be an easy sell for her. I would rather get her a WRX, but she'll never go for it. But given that that is not an option, the 9-2 will be the next best thing. If I'm lucky, I might even be able to bring it to my Subaru dealer for service. It always seems like with the European dealers, you need to make your appointment three months ahead of time and then they keep the car for two days. With the Subaru dealer, I can call up and tell them the date and time I want to drop the car off (even if it's tomorrow), and then I go to the bookstore next door and browse for a couple hours and the car is ready.

Reply to
Nick Danger

Well - there's a lot of cobranding going on, especially among marques with ties. Think VW Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne. The Ford Escape, Land Rover Freelander, and Mazda Tribute are more or less the same vehicle. Honda rebadged a couple of Isuzus as the Passport and the Acura SLX. GM has sold any number of Japanese designed vehicles because they didn't want to devote their own resources.

A lot of European luxury car buyers want to think they're getting something that's specially "European". How do you think BMW 3-series owners with automatic transmissions will react when they find out that "BMW" transmission is made by GM? I remember reading a BMW owner complaining that he had to use an ordinary Dexron III ATF in his "fine piece of German engineering". He seemed to think that his car deserved something really special because it was a BMW.

Reply to
y_p_w

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