Saab History

The Status of The General Motors Renaissance Center

Posted on 08. Oct, 2008 by Ryan.

Photo Credits: Saab History (Jan 2008)

As you may or may not know, the General Motors Renaissance Center is the headquarters for Saab Automobile USA and not North America as Saab Automobile Canada is located Oshawa, Ontario Canada and Saab Automobile Mexico is Mexico City, Mexico.

In the last few days, there have been a few blogs, one being autoblog and another that I will refrain from indicating, apparently misinforming people about the status of the General Motors Ren Center.

With this misinformation, I have decided to take the initiative and flat out ask the folks at GM what the status is of the Renaissance Center in Detroit (Saab Automobile USA’s Headquarters).

From rapid response I received, I am glad to hear that Saab Automobile USA’s office won’t be relocating because they’ve moved a lot over the years in their leased facilities from New York City (1956), to New Haven (1961) & Orange, Connecticut (1971) to Norcross, Georgia (1992) and finally to the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan (2004).

I leave you with the official statement about the Renn Cenn from Tom Wilkinson Director, GM News Relations

GM’s Worldwide Real Estate operations has been exploring options for monetizing the Ren Cen, a fancy word for borrowing money against the value of the building. This is a common practice for companies that don’t want to tie up large amounts of capital in real estate. The company can invest the capital in the business, and pay back the investors with income from the property.

The previous financing package on the building, initiated in 2003, expired in May 2008. At that time, GM said it would pursue a new financing opportunity when the credit and real estate markets allowed.

Because one type of financing alternative is structured as a lease-buyback, the media reported that GM was considering selling the Ren Cen.

GM has no intention of moving its corporate headquarters from its present location in Detroit. We will continue to explore financing options for the property, although the current credit and real estate markets make the timing for such a deal uncertain.

Tom Wilkinson
Director, GM News Relations

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Saab USA President Steve Shannon To Speak at 2008 SOC

Posted on 14. Aug, 2008 by Ryan.

Photo Credit:Saab Automobile USA

Saab Automobile USA’s president, Steve Shannon, who I interviewed most recently at the New York Auto Show in March, will be speaking at the 2008 Saab Owners Convention.

Shannon, a native of Pembroke, Massacusetts, who I met with again this past May during the Saab 9-3 Turbo-X test drive event in North Andover, Massachusetts, said some great words about Saab’s Turbo-X, so here’s to his “State of Saab” presentation on Saturday night, at 8pm.

If you have not yet registered for the 2008 Saab Owners Convention, please do so before Sunday, August 17th, otherwise you will be unable to attend this particular segment of the convention.

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College Students March For Environment in Detroit

Posted on 12. May, 2008 by Ryan.

I recently picked up another copy of Solar Today, a publication produced by the American Solar Energy society that has been peaking my alternative energy interests as of late. I was immediately drawn to an interesting article that referenced an event I was part of, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. I attended this event that took place in January this year, to provide coverage of Saab Automobile as a guest. While I was attending the event, apparently there was an organized march that took place outside of the event at both the COBO center as well as the GM Renaissance center.

I am bringing this article to light because I think it is important to share with us news that some strong undercurrents moving these days are forcing industries to change their old ways of thinking when it comes to how they think, create and otherwise affect the air, water and land in which we all live with.

Here is a snippet from the article that discusses the march a number of students initiated towards the auto industry alongside GM’s global headquarters in the renaissance center in Detroit:

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency refused in late 2007 to grant California the waiver it needs to require automakers to slash emissions, young people and college students responded. Fifty Michigan students rallied at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, demanding a clean energy economy with sustainable transportation as the centerpiece. The students marched throguh downtown Detroit dressed in green hard hats and blue coveralls – a dynamic symbol of the reinvigorating potential of green jobs and energy-efficient auto manufacturing for Michigan’s economy.

Source & Photo Credits: Solar Today May/June 2008

So here’s a question for you, what kind of responsibilities do you believe that the automotive industry has in society, with the understanding that many infrastructures today (especially in the U.S.), are dependent upon private transportation?

Secondly, what do you think that GM & Saab Automobile need to do or do more of?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Detroit Airport GM Collection Store Shows Saab Spirit

Posted on 10. May, 2008 by Ryan.

Photo Credits: Saab History

The Detroit International Airport’s GM Collection Store finally shows some Saab spirit!

As my significant other was in Detroit recently, even staying a number of nights at the GM Renaissance Center, she got the chance to snap some photographs of the GM Collection store that resides in the Detroit International Airport.

I am happy to see not only the Saab 9-3 Convertible displayed in the store as well as some of the Saab Expressions items, especially since my first experience personally back in the summer of 2007. At that time I was passing through the airport to attend the Saab Owners Convention. During my walk by the GM Collection I noticed that there was no Saab representation at the store then. When I walked into the store and asked the people at the store, why I did not see any Saab items there, the people at the store said and I quote: “What’s Saab?”.

Today, I am happy to see this representation and look forward to a consistent representation here as well as any other GM related outlet in the future.

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Saab History Visits GM Media Archives

Posted on 29. Jan, 2008 by Ryan.

On January 15th, shortly after my visit to the GM Heritage Center, I was afforded the opportunity to visit the GM Media Archive where the “official” Saab Film collection is stored for Saab Automobile USA.

The GM Media Archive is located in Livonia, Michigan about 30 minutes from downtown Detroit and about 45 minutes from the GM Heritage Center.

Upon my arrival I was granted the ability on a per request basis per photo to take snapshots, but digital video was not an option at this high security facility. I began my visit by getting a nice introduction and primer as to how this facility was managed, how the media material is stored and safeguarded and what their backup/contingency plans are for keeping the material in the event of a disaster.

Photo Credits: Saab History

The first part of the actual tour started out with a walk through the various film libraries ranging from media in 8mm, 16mm, 35mm films to Digital Betacam. Of course, I was focused only on the the “Saab Film Collection” as I am calling it, which is a very small percentage of what this facility maintains covering all of GM’s brands. This Saab Film Collection consists of a number of films roughly totalling around 300 as I understand it, and are mostly converted over already to Digital Betacam format and in some instances, electronic format as well at this time.

I was told that these films that are housed in this collection arrived shortly after Saab Cars USA relocated to Detroit from their former headquarters in Norcross, Georgia in 2004. This material that was shipped from Norcross, was split up so that the videos would be stored here and the photos and paper material would be stored at the GM Heritage Center, for better maintainence and cataloging as I have depicted earlier.

I was then shown their computer cataloging system which gave me a good idea of what this collection consisted of, and for all intents and purposes, appears to date back to the late eighties, which is a lot later than I would have thought it did. It is great to hear that this collection exists, but I must wonder where all of the films from the late 1950′s, 1960′s, 1970′s and early to mid eighties have gone before this move? I even asked this question to some of the friendly staffers which indicate that these situations are all too common in this industry, believing that many of these collections have typically ended up in former employees hands over the years. I certainly concur, given that we have received a number of these films as donations dating back to these years from former employees for our enjoyment here on Saab History.

During my visit, I got the chance to see everything from their duplication room to their storage archive. I was initially hoping that I could walk down an aisle of Saab videos, films, etc. and just browse like I was able to in the Saab Archive back at the GM Heritage Center. This opportunity to browse, was not the case here at all. These films are all cataloged with bar codes and there were no distinctive visuals or writing cueing you into identifying them as a “Saab Video” in a browseable manner. These films are also cataloged in terms of quality, not by brand, which made browsing certainly not a realistic option. The method in which one looks up film is actually a bit easier than I thought and it is not surprisingly done by computer. Their computer system accesses a database and within that database you can narrow your search down by brand, so we of course immediately directed our efforts to everything labeled “Saab”, and not “SAAB” since the archive did not go back to 1969 or earlier. The films that showed up included a variety of areas, all classified by what was literally written on the films, so if the labeling on the film wasn’t accurate from whomever originally produced the video, neither was the description that ended up in the database. I took the opportunity at this stage to do a few hypothetical run-throughs requesting films to literally pull off of the shelf and view. The first film I viewed was a film produced in 1993 featuring Saab Cars, USA’s PR representative test driving a 1993 9000 CS model on a track (note the labeling as depicted on the photo above as “Saab 900″ being clearly incorrect here).

I was really impressed with this process where one could request a film, then they look it up in their computer database, then simply walk to where it would be located on the shelf and pull it from the bar code identification, then pop it in one of their expensive “VCRs” and play it in broadcast quality.

The ability to easily access this material in an intuitive format is great and it is nice that Saab Automobile USA has a tool like this available, but it certainly brings up again an incredibly important issue. Currently, this information is not available to the public to enjoy like I have on my website here in the Saab Video Archive. I believe, that we all need to enjoy every film in this collection in the same way we have already been enjoying the existing collection on Saab History. I owe it the myself and the Saab Community at large to see to it that we can enjoy this collection as well in a similiar method that so far, people really enjoy here on the this website. Please wish me well in this pursuit in the spirit of furthering our education on all things Saab moving ahead.

All in all, I was delighted that the schedules worked out so that I was able to get a tour of this facility shortly after visiting the GM Heritage Center earlier. This last day in the greater Detroit, Michigan area following the 2008 North American International Auto Show where the Saab 9-4x BioPower premiered was certainly a great way to end such an eventful and exciting trip.

A sincere and appreciative thank you goes to the staff at the GM Heritage Center, the staff at the GM Media Archive and Saab Automobile USA for making this happen in order to share this experience with the Saab Community.

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Saab History Visits GM Heritage Center

Posted on 25. Jan, 2008 by Ryan.

As part of my final day in Detroit, Michigan during the 2008 North American International Auto Show, I had the fortunate opportunity and privilege to visit the GM Heritage Center where I previously visited for a dinner banquet in a group for the 2007 Saab Owners Convention back in August.

The GM Heritage Center, not open to the direct public, houses a rather large collection of vintage and rare vehicles spanning all brands which include the Saab USA Heritage Collection. This facility also has an archive where all of the current Saab Press Releases, Photographs and other material (excluding videos) are held. The purpose of my visit was to explore, identify, reconcile and best understand what this archive consisted of.

If we look back at Saab Automobile USA’s moves over the years, we now see a definitive timeline. This timeline that I depict below should help us realize that in all of the relocations that took place, the remaining material from all of these moves can and should be referred to as being now located at the GM Heritage Center in paper, photograph, slide, cd, magazine & book form.

From New York City to New Haven to Orange, Connecticut to Norcross, Georgia and finally up to Detroit, Michigan, the historical material is again in safe and in secure hands with the staff at the GM Heritage Center.

The material that I got to see, as you will you experience in a short video clip I taped as I entered the collection, indicates that there is material ranging from 1956, when SAAB Motors, Inc. had that headquarters in New York City as well as their depot facility and training school in Hingham, Massachusetts all the way to the present time.

As I began to browse through each year of the collection that is comprised off the single side of the stack, I was impressed by how much was there, but I also surprised by a lot of material that I have in my collection here that “should” be there. I’m willing to bet that there are others with material that would also significantly help compliment both of our collections, Saab History’s as well as the Saab Archives at the GM Heritage Center.

Photo Credit: Saab History

After this experience going through the Saab archives at the GM Heritage Center, one thing became abundantly clear to me. The material that I have amassed over the years is without question, extremely beneficial to us because of it’s immediate “availability” online here on Saab History, and for the most part “free”. It is important that we keep this material available to the public and “free” for public consumption and over time, obtain and showcase the material that is in Saab archive at the GM Heritage Center and elsewhere, and make it also available for the public’s consumption here on Saab History. It’s great that I had the opportunity to visit this facility, but it will be even better that we all get to enjoy all of it online in the near future as well.

Immediately following my visit to the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan (approximately 45 minutes from downtown Detroit), I was also given the great opportunity to visit what is known as the “GM Media Archive”. The GM Media Archive holds the “video” portion of the Saab Archive and are also not available to the public. This facility is located in Livonia, Michigan which is equidistant from both the GM Heritage Center as well as downtown Detroit. Please expect to hear about this visit, in my next installment.

In the meantime, please check out the brand new GM Heritage Center website that they just launched to learn more about this incredible resource.

A sincere and appreciative thank you goes to the staff at the GM Heritage Center, Saab Automobile USA and of course my site sponsor, Saab Colorado, Inc. for making this happen in order to share this experience with the Saab Community.

This was certainly a historic day for Saab History!

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The Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept Global Launch

Posted on 22. Jan, 2008 by Ryan.

Photo & Film Credits: Saab History

As a guest invited by Saab Automobile USA & General Motors, it was a privilege and an honor to be present for this world premiere of the first introduction of this crossover product segment for the Saab brand. I also realized that much like I did previously with the Turbo-X launch, it was important to once again provide good video coverage in addition to photography. With that in mind, I took the initiative to solicit contributions and in that process, Donald Koziol of Saab Colorado, Inc. came in at the nick of time to sign up as a site sponsor. This support ultimately faciliated the ability to cover costs to rent a professional camcorder to film the event.

I began this event by flying out early from National Airport in Washington, D.C. en-route to a blistery cold, yet clear and sunny Detroit, Michigan. This was the first time I visited this city, but the second time I visited region which took place in August during the 25th Anniversary of the annual Saab Owners Convention that was held in Troy, Michigan. On that day, I took advantage of getting acclimated to the region by seeing some of the sights through a few nice tours.
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Saab History Interviews Roger McCormack

Posted on 19. Jan, 2008 by Ryan.

Film Credit: Saab History

I had the great opportunity to get a taste of Saab Automobile’s new advertising direction thanks to an interview with Roger McCormack, Saab Automobile USA’s new Marketing Director.

Roger McCormack has been working as Saab Automobile USA’s product manager for the past year and a half and now has the new opportunity as Marketing Director as of the first of this year.

From this interview, it seems abundantly clear that the Born From Jets campaign will be continued, and consistency is a plus, but it will be more understated. What will be heavily communicated now, are the brand pillars in concert with the Scandinavian and Aircraft inspirations in the new advertising campaign with the new advertising agency that is working with Saab USA, McCann-Erickson.

As Roger McCormack stated, Saab Automobile USA is now starting fresh with new eyes both internally at Saab and externally with McCann-Erickson on a new campaign, so this new beginning should have the most flexibility to get these advertising campaigns right. With the right products coming out such as the the 9-3 Turbo-X and Aero models with cross-wheel drive, and the BioPower vehicles also in due time, this new advertising campaign is now the most critical component of Saab Automobile’s future in the United States today.

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