By Kevin Miller

09.17.2009

In Frankfurt this week, Saab’s Managing Director Jan Åke Jonsson said the global sales target for the sedan and station wagon versions of the company’s new 9-5 is 40,000 to 50,000 per year, according to Automotive News. While the car looks great and should be very competitive in the market, the Swedish automaker may have a difficult time moving quite that many units.

As we reported last month, Saab’s new owner is inheriting a fractured dealer network in many parts of the world. GM has announced that the Saab dealer network in Canada is being shut down at the end of this year. Dealer numbers in the US and in several European markets have decreased in the last 18 months. With fewer retailers, thereby located farther from some potential customers, it may be difficult to grow sales of the large 9-5 to the point of being able to sell 50,000 annually. Saab’s Jonsson did state that the company plans to develop a new sales network in the US after the separation from GM is complete, which means that initiative will begin sometime in 2010.

Fortunately, the potential for growth into new markets does exist.  Following last week’s announcement that China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. (BIAC) has invested in Koenigsegg Group’s purchase of Saab from GM, it is possible that BIAC could serve as an importer or set up a retail network for the Swedish cars in China. GM introduced Saab to the Chinese market five years ago; fewer than 900 Saab vehicles were sold there in 2008. Continue Reading →