Saab & Subaru

[subba]

What kind of ties do these two companies have?

[blackgtbeauty]

As of right now, both names start with 'S'. That's it.

GM had stake in Subie, but sold to Toyota.

[Plays_with_Toys]

Back in 2002(?) when GM was struggling after 9/11 and was offering money back and 0% financing on all their models, they had recently bought out part of subaru. They then released several chevy models cloned off subarus including the chevy forester (in britain) and the Saab 92-X (Saabaru WRX wagon). But within 2 years subaru purchased back those stakes in the company and broke all ties (naturally).

Now toyota owns part of subaru, hence the new design direction.

[Airgne]

Now toyota owns part of subaru, hence the new design direction.

yes booty.

[deadlydave]

Also, the deal with GM gave Subaru access to a pile of cheap components, namely catalytic converters. Allowing subaru to slightly lower their production costs.

The Saab SUV (9-7?)is also on the Tribeca Platform. An N/A version of the 9-2 wagon is also around, derived from the 2.5ts.

[jey]

The Saab SUV (9-7?)is also on the Tribeca Platform.

Incorrect. That was the original plan, but instead the 9-7 is based on the Chevy Trailblazer.

[J.McDonald Knives]

I was told that GM mainly bought the small percentage to get the specs for the AWD trans. Since Subaru has such a great design on the AWD trans its only natural that another company wanted a piece of it.

[Reason]

These companies can't backwards engineer?? It be cheaper to get a hold of a few trannies and do it that way.

[Huffer]

They'd have been better off stealing Nissan's ATTESA system or Acura's SH-AWD than Subaru's system. :lol:

As much as I love a Subaru, they make so many mistakes it's hard not to poke fun.

[deadlydave]

Incorrect. That was the original plan, but instead the 9-7 is based on the Chevy Trailblazer.

Sweet, I learned something today.

I had some douchenozzle in Advance Auto tell me that the Baja had a Saab Platform. He refused to listen to reason, so I laughed and said he could tell his manager that it was my last visit to their store for parts.

[J-Rock!]

have you guys seen what I call the saabaru WRX lol every thing is subaru ecept the front end and hood and the saab logo

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot ... _road_test (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/entry_luxury/2005_saab_9_2x_aero_road_test)

[Huffer]

have you guys seen what I call the saabaru WRX lol every thing is subaru ecept the front end and hood and the saab logo

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot ... _road_test (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/entry_luxury/2005_saab_9_2x_aero_road_test)

Old news unfortunately, and Saab dropped the model after GM sold the rights to FHI to Toyota.

[J-Rock!]

have you guys seen what I call the saabaru WRX lol every thing is subaru ecept the front end and hood and the saab logo

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot ... _road_test (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/entry_luxury/2005_saab_9_2x_aero_road_test)

Old news unfortunately, and Saab dropped the model after GM sold the rights to FHI to Toyota.


Yeah was it only 05 they did that ride or did it continue till 06

[GTDrifter]

they should now cut ties with toyota and go back to making cars how they used to look...not this new "sleak" designs everyones going for...im guna have used cars for a while if everyone keeps doing that lol

[BE-Fresh]

Toyotas are for bitches

[decke48]

yeah i think the tie with toyota will disappear in time with the fall in sales with the new designs.. its funny every time they got a new sti pre 08 it was sold in a couple days. now they just sit on the lot.

[2.5GT]

Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068

[J.McDonald Knives]

[quote="BE-Fresh":1frwrdua]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068[/quote:1frwrdua]Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.

[Sarra]

[quote="2.5GT":1blo03qs][quote="BE-Fresh":1blo03qs]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068[/quote:1blo03qs]Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.[/quote:1blo03qs]

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.

[J.McDonald Knives]

[quote="2.5GT":9kyyja0u][quote="BE-Fresh":9kyyja0u]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.[/quote:9kyyja0u]

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.[/quote:9kyyja0u]Not to mention that some of the vehicles they came out with look like shit. I'm sorry to say but the Toyota FJ just looks like a piece of junk. You can't put any mods on it to make it look good. :smt078

[2.5GT]

[quote="2.5GT":3gkr4qsc][quote="BE-Fresh":3gkr4qsc]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.[/quote:3gkr4qsc]

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.[/quote:3gkr4qsc]

so the yaris is stopping you from buying a toyota eh?

[GTDrifter]

[quote="J.McDonald Knives":3r6mpfuv][quote="2.5GT":3r6mpfuv][quote="BE-Fresh":3r6mpfuv]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.[/quote:3r6mpfuv]

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.[/quote:3r6mpfuv]Not to mention that some of the vehicles they came out with look like shit. I'm sorry to say but the Toyota FJ just looks like a piece of junk. You can't put any mods on it to make it look good. :smt078[/quote:3r6mpfuv]

false...you can mod it

put it in a crash car derby with a bunch of tractor trailers and monster trucks...then drive it off the grand canyon-itll look better

[Airgne]

[quote="J.McDonald Knives":35viepap][quote="2.5GT":35viepap][quote="BE-Fresh":35viepap]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.[/quote:35viepap]Not to mention that some of the vehicles they came out with look like shit. I'm sorry to say but the Toyota FJ just looks like a piece of junk. You can't put any mods on it to make it look good. :smt078[/quote:35viepap]

false...you can mod it

put it in a crash car derby with a bunch of tractor trailers and monster trucks...then drive it off the grand canyon-itll look better[/quote:35viepap]

go to japan and you will change your mind about toyota's.

[AJM]

Or the failing camshafts in the 3.5 and 5.7...or failing reliablity in genral.

[jey]

[quote="J-Rock!":26de8cfs]have you guys seen what I call the saabaru WRX lol every thing is subaru ecept the front end and hood and the saab logo

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot ... _road_test (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/entry_luxury/2005_saab_9_2x_aero_road_test)

Old news unfortunately, and Saab dropped the model after GM sold the rights to FHI to Toyota.


Yeah was it only 05 they did that ride or did it continue till 06[/quote:26de8cfs]

They did it for 2006 too but that was it - 2005 and 2006.

[Sarra]

[quote="J.McDonald Knives":3kdi1ts7][quote="2.5GT":3kdi1ts7][quote="BE-Fresh":3kdi1ts7]Toyotas are for bitches

hush you! :smt068Sorry but I have to agree with BE-Fresh.[/quote:3kdi1ts7]

I agree as well. Their Yaris commercials were so bad, I'd never buy a Toyota product. furthermore, the bullshit they pulled with warrenty work doubled that up, so if I changed my mind on the Yaris commercials, I'd still not want to buy a Toyota product.[/quote:3kdi1ts7]

so the yaris is stopping you from buying a toyota eh?[/quote:3kdi1ts7]

The awful marketing of it did, yes.

[Jonathan]

What kind of ties do these two companies have?Both SAAB and Subaru were at one time owned by General Motors.

SAAB's rather unfortunate story goes back to the early 1990ies when GM only owned 50% of SAAB. The Swedish investors who owned the other half of SAAB got tired of loosing money and sold their half to GM, leaving SAAB 100 % owned by GM. At first, GM had a rather hands off attitude towards SAAB. SAAB was allowed to design their own products, as long as they kept to their budget, and they were also allowed access to GM's massive parts catalog. The '93+ SAAB 900 was based largely on the GM Opel.

GM would name a new junior executive president of SAAB every couple of years who would ask SAAB to make minor changes to their SAAB products: the Drooped front end of the restyled 92-98 SAAB 9000 while ugly was similar to the look of similar year Chevy S-10 pickup trucks and Blazers. GM also "pushed" SAAB into installing real wood-grain trim around the instrument clusters. While SAAB's engineering philosophy was to allow as few distractions as possible for the driver, the wood grain trim looked nice and helped to sell cars in America.

At some point on their 3rd or 4th GM installed presidents, GM determined that a large percentage of repeat SAAB sales were being "lost" because the would be buyers wanted to get a SUV, and SAAB at the time only sold sedans. So in order to fill this gap, SAAB was requested to design and develop a Sport Utility Vehicle, and their budget was increased to allow them to do so. SAAB's prototype SUV was thought to be so good that it was shown to various GM divisions in the United States. Cadillac on being shown SAAB's new SUV objected immediately on the grounds that it was so much better than their own "Yukon" based designs that they would have a difficult time selling their truck based SUV if SAAB were to introduce their new SUV. Because of this SAAB was forced to shelve their SUV designs and write-off the development costs of the vehicle. This meant that SAAB had to absorb an enormous "paper loss". As a result of SAAB sudden massive financial losses, GM then fired the vast majority of SAAB's engineering staff, leaving SAAB with out the resources to develop their own products. For the last 6-8 years SAAB has gotten by largely on "restyling" products designed and developed by other GM divisions.

The SAAB 9-7, while a very nice looking SUV, is a shared GM platform based on the Chevy "Trailblazer" / GMC "Envoy", and is built in Ohio. They all use the same clunky P/T 4WD setup and the same I-5 and V-8 cast-iron push-rod motors.

The SAAB 9-2 was a Subaru Impreza / WRX station wagon built by Subaru in Japan with only fairly minor "improvements" in body styling, and interior trim. GM at the time owned 20% of Subaru and basically demanded that Subaru produce these "Saabarus", in order to provide SAAB with a low-end entry vehicle.

Fortunately for Subaru, GM has been running out of money over the last 3-4 years and needed to sell off their shares in Subaru. Subaru was "allowed" to buy back some of their own shares of their company, and Toyota currently owns approximately ~9% of Subaru.

Because GM's burn rate of cash resources is so massive, and the market for SAAB cars is so limited, there have been many rumors that SAAB will soon either be sold to a new buyer (unlikely) or simply "dropped" outright from GM's line-up.

[AJM]

Actually it's an I6 not an I5. I5's are used in the colorado ,etc.

[Jonathan]

Actually it's an I6 not an I5. I5's are used in the colorado ,etc.Yes, I checked out the SAAB web site and the base engine is indeed the I-6 with an optional 5.3 and 6.0 liter V-8. Additionally the 9-7 Aero option specifically mentions having a TORSEN AWD centre differential so my "clunky P/T 4WD" comment is also incorrect.

My memory is that when the 9-7 first became available in 2006 the base motor was the I-5. That was a while ago, so I could be wrong about that as well.

[xXGTBspecXx]

all i got was 91% is ours. and new subarus are ugly(duh) and all your base are belong to GM sometimes

[blackgtbeauty]

all i got was 91% is ours. and new subarus are ugly(duh) and all your base are belong to GM sometimes

Hahaha wtf...