What to do About a Defunct Saab?

The demise of the quirky Swedish automaker, Saab, is all but etched in stone. As an enthusiast, I never thought much of the offerings. I felt the cost was inflated for the quality of the goods. I never faulted GM for it, because the brand was in decline far before they acquired them. GM just kept the life support on. Soon, Saab will join its cousins Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn at the big car dealership in the sky. I however have a few notions as to what major manufactures could benefit from picking up the company or if nothing the nameplate.

Bavarian Motor Works (BMW)

There had been rumors swirling that BMW was in talks with Saab to provide them with some diesel engines. I believe picking up Saab could really enhance the bottom line of the existing BMW portfolio; they would gain an established brand with a cult following that could slot below their existing BMW models and alongside the MINI brand. I could even see some utility in packaging MINI with the Saab dealers, increasing the points of sale and maintenance for MINI without having to dilute the BMW dealer’s exclusive status with a bunch of punks running around buying MINIs and sipping on their soy lattes in the customer lounge with the 7 series owners.

There have been rumors that BMW is interested in creating more front wheel drive offerings for existing markets, and this might be the way to do so without taking away from the brands sterling rear wheel drive stable. They could offer the brand the right amount of technology and get access to a customer base that previously viewed BMW owners as bunch of pretentious Ari Gold types. The existing MINI architecture could be further utilized without MINI overkill and smaller displacement gas and diesel turbo motors could be dropped right in. To me, this makes good sense to buyers and I believe there is a good business case here.

Hyundai

It is no secret; Hyundai is coming up in the world. Once a brand not even worthy of rental car duty, it has skyrocketed to the forefront creating reliable stylish cars with a long warranty that people actually want to buy. In fact, a few years ago I could never recommend one to anyone, but in the last six months I advised my mother to buy the new Kia Optima. The brand is going places with their near luxury Buick competitor, The Azera and the GS rival Genesis; the sporty rear wheel drive Genesis Coupe and the luxo barge we know as the Equus. The brand faces a serious dilemma, however: Can they create a luxury car with a spendy price tag and attract buyers from the established marquees such as Lexus, Infiniti and Acura? Hyundai is doing its best to separate the customer base for the finer autos; certain vehicles are brought to a potential customer homes rather than them coming down to the lot to cavort with Accent buyers, but it stands to reason that if they are serious about attracting the higher echelons of society, they will have to form a luxury brand much like Toyota, Nissan and Honda all did. Mazda considered such a venture, and turned it down thinking they could attract customers with the Millennia, but that was clearly a failure in terms of being a long term luxury best seller.

This may seem like crazy talk, but acquiring just the Saab nameplate could serve Hyundai because it would get a name people recognize that they don’t associate with the once value only brand, whose name still resides on the side of heavy machinery and shipping containers . While I always viewed Saab as a sucker car or near luxury brand simply because they lacked a rear drive offering, it would be easy slap that name on the Genesis (9-7) and the Equus (9-9) and have a premium name on a classy rear drive sedan. The signature Saab grill may finally give a face to the brand without one. I believe a Saab branded Equus at its existing price tag would be much more palatable to the luxury car buying public. Hyundai would still need to take Saab up market, but it is a much easier sell than a $70,000 flying H if you ask me.

In either case, the Saab name would soldier on and a major automaker would pocket some cash. If either one of these comes true I want a free car of my choice!