Saab History

The Shipyard Brewing – Cold Brook Saab Partnership

Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

Film Credit: Saab History

Saab History has been listening and learning about the significant impact that was made to Saab dealerships here in the United States over the past week. That impact involves 37% of 218 Saab dealerships in the United States or 81 individual retailers that are expected to terminate their agreements by the time the sale is completed, targeted for November 30th, 2009.

Here in the state of Maine, all but a few of these dealerships have received termination letters and as a result, there has been a huge impact to the local economy with customers and local businesses alike.

An example of this is Cold Brook Saab located in Skowhegan, Maine. Cold Brook Saab has been an exclusive Saab dealer for over 46 years and enjoys a strong customer following and has thrived despite tough times in the auto industry. Cold Brook Saab owner Joey Joseph credits innovative marketing through cross marketing opportunities that have evolved over the last 15 years. “We started establishing our cross marketing campaign with a sponsorship at Sugarloaf Ski Resort and have since forged alliances with Sunday River Ski and Golf Resort and Shipyard Brewery in Portland.”

An example of how this action by GM/SAAB to close the Maine Saab dealer network down can be seen by the dissolution of the long term partnerships. I had the pleasure of meeting the folks over at Shipyard Brewery and discussed what the demise of Cold Brooks Saab franchise might mean to their corporate fleet car of choice.

The current fleet that the company uses includes Saab 9-3 SportCombi’s, 9-5 SportCombi’s as well as 9-7xs. These vehicles initially began as transportation vehicles for upper management serving as premium transportation for executives that promote a premium product as a corporate benefit, much like what has been done at nearby Sunday River ski and golf resort who has many top executives driving Saabs from Cold Brook Saab also.

Today, the Saab vehicles have been handed down within the company to all levels and now support marketing and other critical functions to the company. For over a decade Cold Brook Saab has provided over 20 Saab vehicles to Shipyard Brewery and as a result, they have enjoyed every minute
of it.

If this particular dealership ends up being terminated at the end of the month or when the sale of Saab is completed, the direct result will inevitably be that Shipyard Brewery will no longer be using Saabs as their fleet vehicles in the future.

The message here is that the dealerships and and their customers are inextricably linked through relationships. If a Saab dealer cannot offer Saabs any longer, their customers have no real incentive to go out of their way to find another Saab dealer to continue their ownership because that relationship began with the dealer, not the Saab product.

A special thanks to those at both Shipyard Brewery as well as Cold Brook Saab for the opportunity to realize the local impact in Maine to the immediate situation with Saab dealerships in the United States.

Shipyard Brewery
86 Newbury Street
Portland, ME 04101
www.shipyard.com

Cold Brook Saab
337 Madison Ave
Skowhegan, ME 04976
www.coldbrooksaab.com

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Saab Cars North America Speaks On Saab Dealer Closings

Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mike Colleran, COO and President of the new Saab Cars North America speaks about the 37% of the Saab dealership closures in the United States that is taking place at this time.

“It’s not like we’re really eliminating them,” said Mike Colleran, chief operating officer of Saab Cars North America. “We’re just selecting ones that make sense for the new business plan for Saab.”

Colleran said that while the decision was difficult, dealership longevity and stand-alone allegiance to the brand did not enter into the equation. In addition to sales, parts and service performance, the smaller network reflects a marketing strategy aimed at recapturing Saab’s unconventional cachet, something that dissipated during the GM years.

“It is our intent to focus more on premium positioning in the luxury segment, and to focus less on discounts and volume,” Colleran said.

“

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New Salem Saab of Albany NY executes amoving forward agreement with Saab Cars North America

Posted on 20. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

New Salem Saab, a longtime site sponsor of Saab History has recently produced a press release about their excitement in moving forward with the new Saab Cars North America.

Press Release:

***

New Salem Saab of Albany NY executes “moving forward” agreement with Saab Cars North America.

Thank you all for the positive opinions regarding our Dealership on the public forums as well as all the calls we have received in congratulating us. New Salem Saab has struggled over the last few years due to the automotive environment. We once had two huge state of the art buildings, but as the Saab market and auto industry changed so did we. From an outside glance it would appear as though things were not going so well, however the opposite was in effect. My goal was to be able to jump ahead of the ball which in turn meant serious alterations to our business model including locations. We are ever so excited and grateful that we have been chosen to continue on with the new Saab.

My grandfather started this company in 1947 and we were granted our franchise with Saab on March 23rd of 1961. I have been working in the dealership now since the age of 13 and have not strayed far from what my forefathers taught me. In doing so, I remain the Service Manager here in my store as well as the Dealer Principle. I continue to work in the shop aside our technicians and with our customers to this day. Although limited in time, my heart is truly in to maintaining the Saab on the road today as a technician. We currently have four technicians and now looking to add another as all of the surrounding dealers, North Country Imports, Brownell Motors, Pioneer Valley and Rutland Saab did not receive the same letter from SCNA that we did. I understand the distance some of the customers have to drive for warranty work and have already submitted a request for the opening of warranty service centers in the Utica, Kingston and Glens Falls areas. However, there will be some time before SCNA finalizes the K-Saab deal leaving a severe gap in warranty needs for customers. There is no real time line for when and if these shops can come online so it is up to our store in Albany NY to maintain your trust and convenience to the best our ability based on the circumstances. We cut a deal with Enterprise rent a car for a low daily rental fee and have already started to increase our parts department’s breadth and scope to help shorten repairs times. I am unique and intend to stay that way. We tell it like it is and sometimes it’s hard to hear the truth, but we will happily take you out in the shop with our technicians and show you exactly what we are seeing and why. We currently have three master Saab technicians, two of which are also GM master techs. The fourth is a UTI grad and all have ASE’s.

I feel bad for those that did not make the cut and our hearts go out to all of them on a personal level however, it is now up to New Salem Saab to do everything we can to make sure we cater to our old and newest customers the best we can during this transition. Lou Roberti formally from Roberti Saab in Kingston is still here with us and going strong. He is the sales guy and I’m the service guy. The two of us make up a pretty strong team regarding Saab. Our experience including the total dealership personnel is well over 100 years with Saab. We are 100% Saab. Completely focused and ready to reinforce our customers new and old why Saab is the brand they should stay with now and in the up and coming years. In fact this is a great time to look into Saab, its future and bring your family, your friends and your Saab back to the dealership for a reintroduction to our staff and Saab’s future!

If you’re in need of a New Saab, a Certified Pre Owned Saab, warranty service, regular service or genuine Saab parts please contact us at 518-862-2795 and ask for me, Darryl, Harold (my right hand man, with us for 14 years now) Lou Roberti in Sales, Eric in Parts or our #1 Saab advisor, Matt. We will be happy to help any way we can.

Darryl F. Carl
New Salem Saab
Saab since 1961
“The oldest originally owned exclusive Saab dealer in the US today!”
–

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Cherry Hill Saab Of New Jersey Proud To Be Selected As Part Of New Saab Cars North America Organization

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

Cherry Hill Saab of New Jersey, a proud Saab History site sponsor is excited to emphasize that they have been selected as one of the Saab dealerships as part of the new Saab Cars North America organization.

As you may remember, Todd of Cherry Hill Saab worked with me this past spring interviewing the former President of Saab, Steve Shannon during the North American debut of the 2010 Saab 9-3x at the New York Auto Show.

A pleasure to see Cherry Hill Saab selected as one of the 137 Saab dealerships and wish them a bright future just around the corner.

Here is their piece below:

Todd Agostini announces that Cherry Hill Classic Cars and Cherry Hill’s Classic Saab will retain their Saab Franchise and look forward to a great future with the new 9-3x, an all-new 9-5 and the new Luxury Crossover the 9-4x. Special thanks to our customers for their patronage and we look forward to serving you with excellent service for years to come! For details, contact Cherry Hill Classic Cars at 856-424-5300 – ask for Todd Agostini!

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JMK Saab Proudly Announces New Addition To The Family

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

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Photo Credits: JMK Saab

JMK Saab of Springfield, New Jersey, site sponsor of Saab History has recently announced a new addition to their family.

Immediately following a favorable decision to become part of the new Saab Cars North America organization, a 1973 Saab Sonett III was acquired.

Apparently one of their customers came in and asked them if they were interested in acquiring this Sonett III. The rest as you can see, was Saab History!

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New Salem Saab Acquires Saab History Model Collection

Posted on 16. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

New Salem Saab, which has recently been selected as one of the 137 Saab dealerships in the United States to continue with the new Saab Cars North America, has acquired Saab History’s scale model collection.

You may recall that Saab History traveled with New Salem Saab to visit a Koenigsegg dealer in New York recently. This collection of Saab scale cars not only includes just about every model in the lineage, but it also has Koenigsegg CCX to appropriately round out the collection.

Here’s a quote by New Salem Saab’s President, Darryl Carl.

“New Salem Saab finds a parallel in being the second oldest continual exclusive Saab dealer in the States and having a complete collection of Saab models encompassing the same time period.”

“We intent on rallying through this inclimate weather into the new beginning and resurgence with the ownership of Koenigsegg Group AB”

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Saab Cars North America Picks 137 Saab Dealers For Future, While GM Terminates 81 Saab Dealers In The U.S.

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by Ryan.

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile USA

Saab History has confirmed reports from Reuters, and Automotive News this morning about the selection process of Saab Dealerships in the U.S.

According Mike Colleran of the SCNA, the new Saab organization in the U.S. has chosen 137 Saab Dealers that were best positioned for the future, to continue as sales, service and parts retailers in the United States.

In parallel, GM Terminates 81 Saab Dealers that did not meet the criteria for potential throughput, profitability and other criteria that the new new owners of Saab Automobile set.

The results of this process boils down to approximately 37% out of the existing 218 Saab dealerships in the United States that will not be able to continue with the new era of Saab, moving ahead, while 63% will.

Once the Saab sale has been completed which is targeted for November 30th, the 81 Saab dealers will need to cease Saab operations, while the remaining 137 Saab dealerships will be operating under a new sales, service and parts agreement.

Below is a double quoted reference by both GM & Automotive news outlining the details on both sides of the spectrum.

As part of the continuing progress in the proposed sale of Saab, letters have been sent (Nov. 9) to selected Saab dealers in the U.S.

One set of letters is from Saab Cars North America (SCNA) to the Saab dealers it has selected to move forward with SCNA as a dealer and/or service center upon completion of the Saab AB sale transaction. There are approximately 137 dealers in this group.

The other set of letters comes from General Motors and indicates that the remaining approximately 81 dealers will now be expected to terminate their dealership under the terms of the Dealer Termination Agreement (DTA) that all Saab dealers signed in June. Those terminations are expected to happen when the sale closes between GM and the buyer of Saab.

If no sale closing occurs, the provisions of the DTA will stay in place for all 218 Saab dealers based on a ?no buyer scenario.?

Saab buyer rejects 81 U.S. stores

Jamie LaReau
Automotive News
November 12, 2009 – 5:08 pm ET

DETROIT — Saab’s new owner will reject 81 of Saab’s 218 U.S. dealerships, General Motors Co. said today.

GM said in a letter received by dealers today that Saab’s buyer, Swedish exclusive sportscar maker Koenigsegg, selected the surviving stores. Koenigsegg will operate the brand here through a new entity, Saab Cars North America Inc.

The target date to close the sale of Saab is Nov. 30, but it could take until year end, says Mike Colleran, COO of Saab Cars North America in Detroit.

“SCNA did make its selection of (go-forward) dealers based on our business plan and the needs of that plan,” Colleran says. “Essentially, we’re looking for strong dealers who have good profitability and good throughput.”

Location also factored into the decision, he said.

GM sent letters out through Federal Express on Wednesday to rejected dealers, GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said. Saab will have 137 U.S. dealers after the sale.

All Saab dealers signed a termination agreement in June when GM entered federal bankruptcy protection, Carney says. The terms of those termination agreements will go into effect for rejected dealerships.

If the deal to sell Saab falls through — as GM’s deal to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive Group did — GM would close Saab and all the dealerships would be terminated, Carney says.

The surviving dealerships will remain under their current dealer contract with GM until it expires in October 2010, Colleran says. Then they will get new franchise agreements with Saab Cars North America.

You can reach Jamie LaReau at jlareau@crain.com.

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Saab Automobile Plans To Double Dealerships In China

Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by Ryan.

Photo Credit: Saab China

According to the Trading Markets website, Saab Automobile is evidently planning on doubling their dealerships in China/

This news comes after learning that the old Saab 9-5 production will be continued in China, for China, after the BAIC announcement made earlier.

At this time, there are 16 Saab dealerships in China, so I guess that would bring it to 32?

BEIJING, Sep 23, 2009

Beijing Automotive Industry
Holding Co., Ltd. (BAIC) is considering the local production of Saab brand in China, according to an insider of the leading Chinese automaker, saying that the final result depends on bilateral negotiations.

A consortium headed by Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg is buying Saab from General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), while BAIC has inked an agreement with Koenigsegg on the purchase of the latter’s minority stake.

Saab Managing Director Jan-Ake Jonsson has also disclosed the intention to have local production in China, saying that the company plans to double its dealer number in the country.

Currently, Saab cars are imported into China and sold through the sales network of Shanghai General Motors Co. Ltd. (Shanghai GM), the joint venture between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) (SAIC) and GM.

As the agreement with SAIC will gradually expire, Saab is looking for new partners in China. BAIC General Manager Wang Dazong reveals that his company hopes to form an alliance with Saab just like Renault-Nissan.

Source: www.nbd.com.cn (September 23, 2009

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