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By Dorothee Ostle
Automotive News Europe / March 10, 2003

GENEVA - General Motors is considering assembling Saab vehicles in the United States as part of a plan to bolster the ailing Swedish automaker.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner said in an interview here that he also is considering a closer relationship between Saab and Subaru, a GM affiliate. Saab dealers in the United States could get a version of the Subaru WRX wagon.
In other words, Wagoner is looking at a dramatic new business model for Saab, in which the brand would break away from its parochial Swedish roots. GM might have focused too much on preserving Saab's brand character and not enough on saving the company, Wagoner said.
Producing Saabs outside Sweden and giving Saab dealers products that have been developed by other GM divisions or affiliates would build on the restructuring program known as Viggen, which is Swedish for "thunderbolt."
Saab Automobile AB CEO Peter Augustsson said employees will be presented with a restructuring plan this month that will cut 800 jobs and eliminate one shift at the 9-5 assembly plant in Trollhattan, Sweden.
Saab executives started Viggen six months ago. "They have got to pick up the pace on it, but it's moving quite good," Wagoner said.
Saab's product development cost as a percentage of revenue is twice as high as other GM divisions. Viggen aims to fold Saab's independent product development and manufacturing operations into Opel. In total, Saab will slash about 1,400 jobs - some 14 percent of its work force. Saab plans to move its annual break-even point to 130,000 vehicles, from 140,000 units.
Augustsson said Saab plans to sell about 135,000 vehicles worldwide this year and eventually get to 200,000. Last year, Saab sold 120,800 vehicles globally.
But it is Wagoner's long-term thinking about Saab that would have the most impact on the struggling brand's future.
Saab sold just 37,805 vehicles in the United States in 2002, below Land Rover and ahead of Mini in the brand rankings. Saab's best year in the U.S. market was 1986 when it sold 48,181 vehicles.
Punished by exchange
Saab is being punished by currency exchanges, Wagoner said.
He said it's not a good long-term business model to build cars in one currency and sell them in another currency.
"That needs to be worked on, and we have some pretty clear ideas on how to do that," Wagoner said.
For instance, Saab could change its product philosophy. It may no longer develop products suitable for all its markets, Wagoner said. In other words, GM could assemble Saabs in the United States for sale only in U.S. showrooms.
"There is this idea of maybe having specific Saab products that are sold only in North America, others that are sold only in Europe," Wagoner said.
If there are specific Saab products for the U.S. market, local production of these cars becomes a consideration, he said.
"I wouldn't rule it out at all. If you look at the evolution of what is acceptable within the industry, it is no longer required that all BMWs be produced in Germany, for example."
Wagoner wouldn't say where Saabs might be built. "We're not that far into it yet, but there are a lot of options," he said. "Good options."
Saab, meet Subaru
GM also is considering closer cooperation between Saab and Subaru, a GM affiliate.
Subaru dealers in the United States were up in arms last month at the annual convention of the National Automobile Dealers Association over discussions between Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (Subaru) and GM about whether to give Saab a version of Subaru's Impreza WRX wagon. A Subaru spokesman in the United States said a feasibility study is under way.
Said Wagoner: "I don't think we made any announcement on it yet, but clearly (a Saab-Subaru relationship) appeals to us as an opportunity that perhaps helps both partners. The product characteristics, while in some ways different, in some ways there are a lot of similarities to the philosophy of product. This is an area we want to explore."
Staff Reporter Diana T. Kurylko contributed to this report

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Ja niille joiden kielitaito ei aivan riittänyt niin valuuttakurssien takia Saabin tuotanto aloitetaan myös lätäkön takana. Ja Subaru suunnitelmat elävät yhä.

Ja jottei mieli mene matalaksi niin tässä vähän astetta kovempi varkaudenesto(K18)

http://www.hirvonen.info/files/varkaudenesto.jpg

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