Saab Can Go Home Again

A funny thing happened along the way to globalization of industry. Rather than become too big to fail, some prominent companies became too big to survive. GM's meltdown is a function of numerous causes, not the least of which is poor product design and manufacturing that arose from decades of management by accountants rather than engineers. GM also got greedy when it was flush with cash, buying up other businesses and even entire automobile manufacturers. Neither move helped improve GM's core products, and damaged the businesses it bought.

Saab is Exhibit "A." Always quirky, but innovative in its unique Swedish way, Saab could not survive into this decade without significant financial assistance. GM swallowed up the smaller carmaker, and as expected, much of the Saab-ness of the cars faded away. Although Saab had engaged in joint ventures with other manufacturers before (the Saab 9000 and Alfa Romeo Milano were built on the same platform), Saab under GM's ownership ceased to push the envelopes of innovative design and style as it had in the past.

I had hoped that our family would buy one back in Saab's heyday of the late 80's, but they were just a little too unconventional and expensive for our tastes. That did not stop me from spending about half an hour sitting in the back of a 9000 at the San Francisco Auto Show in 1987 or so, dreaming of the spacious, luxurious accommodations that could have been mine. The fact that I picked up the flu that evening and spent the night having vaguely disturbing fever dreams about that back seat only tempered my enthusiasm slightly. I still like Saabs to this day, but more for the memory of what they used to be than for any innovations they sell today.

Now comes word that GM will sell off Saab to Koenigsegg, a Swedish designer and manufacturer of lunatic-fringe supercars. This is the best possible outcome, in my view. Ownership of Saab is returned to its country of origin, and the new owners are nothing if not innovative and quirky. They do not have experience with high volume mass production, but the way Saabs have sold lately, that may not be much of a problem. Here's hoping that Saab again finds its place as an interesting alternative to the largely homogenous family sedan segment of the auto industry.