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Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
Obama Goes "Boom-Boom Pow" On South Korean-U.S. Auto Trade Agreements
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Aptera Co-Founders Step Aside, All-Electric 2e Delayed Until 2010
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Hummer Plans H4, H5 Amid Uncertain Future
"New" GM Drops Totally Useless Financial Results
GM To Begin Paying $6.7 Billion In Loans Ahead Of Schedule
Daily Show: Cash For Clunkers Killing "$14 Billion" Demolition Derby Industry

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Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est
01:25 AM

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
If you want to sell foreign cars in Japan, you need cachet. Jaguar usually outsells all French brands on its own.

Selling competent but boring stuff with a nameplate from a perceived second-rate nation is essentially impossible, especially since any price advantage most likely evaporated in Japan. I find it hard to believe they managed to sell any at all.
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
11/30/09

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
The Japanese have never been very fond of foreign cars. Perhaps Hyundai should have taken a cue from Chevrolet:
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Edited by If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face at 11/30/09 6:29 PM

If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
11/30/09

@If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face:
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Pessimippopotamus
11/30/09

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
Incidentally, this Optimus Prime transforms into a Dodge Ram SRT-10
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Pessimippopotamus was starred

FTGDWolverineEdition'09
11/30/09

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
Ford Japan FTW!
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kernzie
11/30/09

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
Non-Japanese car makers face an dojo of hurt in Japan not only from ninja approved government regulations but the buying public is very 'ethnocentric' we'll say. Japanese like to cherry pick certain hot American & European models but no rising sun homies are gonna roll in the 'hood with Korean & Chinese iron, it just ain't right.
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FTGDWolverineEdition'09 promoted this comment kernzie was starred kernzie was unstarred

HurtsSoGood
11/30/09

@kernzie: Particularly when it comes to Koreans. There has been bad blood between Japan and Korea owing to the atrocities of the Japanese occupation of that country. While they share a good bit of culture that I bet Koreans are loath to admit, you won't see very many Japanese cars in Korea either. I think I saw one with non-8th Army plates on it the whole year I was there.
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Jes St.Lawrence
11/30/09

In reply to Hyundai Not Big In Japan, Pulling Out Of Country
Aren't Toyotas still made by Hyundai-made robots?
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Blix
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
A former 9-5 owner, I've been intrigued by the 2010 9-5, which has definitely been a long time coming. Such a pity that the company has come so close to releasing a car that it desperately needs - a car that could turn Saab around reputation-wise and financially - and to have this deal fall apart. On my birthday the Koenigsegg deal was announced and I couldn't have heard anything nicer to brighten that day. But it was a huge gamble for Koenigsegg so I'm not all that surprised it was just wishful thinking in the end. But I'm still disappointed. I truly support Saab and I hope the company can find someone less fickle to save it and the innumerable jobs in Sweden and the US that are rooted in the company.
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DoctorNine promoted this comment Blix was starred Blix was unstarred

DoctorNine
11/25/09

@Blix: Yeah, the AWD and six speed manual were quite attractive in that package. I'll bet GM did this on purpose, so that it wouldn't compete with the similar Buick package that they are looking to bring to North America from Opel. That, or tech licensing for production was far too steep, and the engineers at Koenigsegg nixed it.

Really a shame. I might buy one of the 9-5's if they ever come out...
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sos10
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
To think that KEgg only now realized Saab is a worthless brand is naif.
I continue to think that the deal wasn't really going to happen, I also think that KEgg will close doors really soon.
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fhull001
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
The heart of SAAB died when they switched over to Ford sourced V4's. Soon after that they killed the 96 and the Sonnet and it was all over. GM bought a corpse and kept it on life support too long.
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Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est promoted this comment fhull001 was starred fhull001 was unstarred

Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est
11/25/09

@fhull001: Word. Four-stroke=death

It's not a coincidence that the word for "four" is close to that for "death" in Chinese.
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brandegee
11/25/09

@fhull001: This heart-of-SAAB of which you speak was a warmed-over DKW particulate generator more appropriate for GDR politics than smooth Swedish socialism. Awesome, but only in retrospect.

The SAAB that will be missed was powered by a Triumph turd that was miraculously transformed into something durable and turbocharged.
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tonyola
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
Before everyone gets too sloshed from crying into their beer, let's keep one thing in mind - Saab was a dead brand walking when GM took it over in 1990. At that time, the 900 was based on a 22-year old platform and body. The 9000 was a failed experiment in moving upmarket. Sales had fallen through the floor and red ink was flowing everywhere. Maybe GM could have done better during their ownership, but the new 900 for 1994 and the 9-5 seemed like reasonable efforts. Not enough buyers cared by then. It's been panic actions ever since. Saab is a brand whose time has run out, and it looks like Volvo is headed for the same fate.
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Edited by tonyola at 11/24/09 2:23 PM tonyola was starred tonyola was unstarred

stephdumas
11/24/09

@tonyola: I checked here and there some old rumors from 2005 who mentionned than Renault eyed Volvo or Saab [jalopnik.com]
[jalopnik.com]
[jalopnik.com]
Doubtful then Renault is still interested to get Saab but who knows?
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tonyola promoted this comment stephdumas was starred stephdumas was unstarred

tonyola
11/24/09

@stephdumas: There had been rumors of a Renault-Volvo merger in the late 1970s, and a Saab-Volvo merger had actually been officially proposed in 1979. Apparently Saab shareholders killed that idea.
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longdx
11/24/09

@tonyola: This is perhaps the best truism about Saab. I had a 1992 9000CS. I loved it. It was bulletproof, comfortable, and an enjoyable car. However,I bought it used at a ridiculously low price. That was and is the main problem with new Saab sales. These cars could never justify their inflated MSRP and their residual values reflect it. Why but a new Saab , when you can buy a slighlty used one for a fraction of the cost. It is not the same with BMW/Mercedes/Lexus?Infinity buyers as their respective vehicles still command decent trade values. Factor the meddling by GM into the design of Saabs from the mid-90's forward ,Saab could really never compete directly with other luxury brands on their merit alone.
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tonyola promoted this comment longdx was starred longdx was unstarred

tonyola
11/24/09

@longdx: You make a good point in that despite all of Saab's efforts, it was never able to convince many people that it was a true luxury brand that could compete with the Germans, Lexus, and Infiniti. Saab was not satisfied with making fun, quirky, and moderately priced cars like in the '60s and '70s. Beginning with the '79 900, they kept trying to move upmarket into more profitable territory. It worked for a little while, but as the 99/900 platform aged and the 9000 sat in showrooms unbought, it was clear that people weren't going along with the game. By 1990, things had become hopeless and Saab was desperately looking for a savior - GM, in this case.
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TriShield
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
There would have been nothing awesome about KoenigSaab, had this deal gone through Saab would have completely destroyed Koeniggsegg.

Saab has been a total zombie brand for 15 years or more now. Before GM ever purchased it, why they did or thought they could resurrect it was beyond me.

Saab drained GM of billions of dollars and with all that investment it remains a zombie. A brand that people only care about online but not in the real world. Nobody the world over buys Saabs in any meaningful quantity, which is why it's bankrupt. It has zero volume and very little if any appeal.

There's nothing Koenigsegg could have done to fix that and they had no resources at all to even attempt it. Like Penske they did the smart thing and backed out while they could. This brand is dead, let it die peacefully already.
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Tanshanomi promoted this comment TriShield was starred TriShield was unstarred

Tanshanomi
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
Saab for sale
Appetizing Swedish Saab for sale
Saab thats fresh and still unspoiled
Saab thats only slightly soiled
Saab for sale

Who will buy
Who would like to sample their supply
Who's prepared to pay the fee
For a center console key?
Saab for sale

Let the Hoons all rally Saabs
In their Hoonish ways
I know every type of Saab
Better far than they
If you want the thrill of Saab
I've been through the mill of Saab
Old Saab
New Saab
Every Saab but true Saab
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wkiernan
11/24/09

@Tanshanomi: so good, APPLAUSE
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DoctorNine promoted this comment wkiernan was starred wkiernan was unstarred

LuciferV8
11/25/09

@Tanshanomi: Another piece of quality work.
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Deckard
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
I think that we could sit here and wax poetic over how poorly GM has manged this whole affair, or how fantastic a Koenigsaab would have been (and how we would totally have bought one. No, two, one sedan, one wagon...) but I think the biggest problem here is that the use of the Swedish Chef wasn't accompanied by a clever headline. I would have settled for "Saab Sale to Koenigsegg Bork Bork Borked"...
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zacarious promoted this comment Edited by Deckard at 11/24/09 12:48 PM Deckard was starred Deckard was unstarred

bmoreDLJ
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
Aw, shucks. Here's the scorecard:

Pontiac: dead
Saturn Deal: off
Opel Deal: off
Saab Deal: off
HUMMER Deal: 不知道.
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TurboBrick [LIGIER]
11/24/09

In reply to BREAKING: Saab, Koenigsegg Deal Off
So what, are they going to keep it now? Was all of this hullabaloo about selling and killing divisions just to get the feds to float them over the bankruptcy?

When is Pontiac coming back?
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Edited by TurboBrick [LIGIER] at 11/24/09 11:56 AM

KeyserSoze
11/24/09

@TurboBrick [LIGIER]: Saab is buying Pontiac... Oh, wait...
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet promoted this comment KeyserSoze was starred KeyserSoze was unstarred

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