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The End of the Road An odd but beloved attracted a cult following. Where did Saab go wrong?

BY GLENN RIFKIN

HEN THE LAST and deemed among the safest on the road. rolled of the assembly line in Trollhättan, First sold in 1949, Saabs were admittedly funny , in April 2011, it marked the last looking, and as their styling and design evolved over gasp of an iconic Swedish brand beloved by the decades, their devoted buyers formed a strong many—but in the long run not enough. bond with the brand. In 2000, the company sold a Known for their unique engineering, safety, record high 133,000 vehicles worldwide, but ulti- quirky looks, and dependable performance in winter mately, Saab just couldn’t attract a big enough audi- climates, Saab cars had a cult following mostly in ence to survive. Sales nosedived to 98,000 by 2008 Sweden, the United States, and the United King- and just 21,000 in 2009. The company, which tried dom. Saab owners had a unique emotional attach- desperately for three years to fnd a buyer to save the ment to their cars, falling in love with the many brand, declared bankruptcy on December 19, 2011. innovative touches such as front-wheel drive, turbo- For Saab lovers, it was a painful ending. Sanford powered engines, heated seats, deft handling in bad Bogage, a middle-school math teacher in Wellesley, weather, and fuel efciency. They were fun to drive Massachusetts, is president of the Saab Club of

1949 1960 The carmaker’s 1968 The frst production becomes introduces the vehicle, the the frst wraparound , is model widely windscreen. launched. exported out of Sweden.

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North America, an enthu- siast group that’s been around for four decades and still has around 800 die-hard members. An uncle was an early Saab devotee and impressed young Bogage with tales of the car’s prowess on the road. An elderly woman design. But over the years, it would sufer from an in Bogage’s hometown drove a bright-yellow 1973 inability to adjust to changing consumer desires. Saab 96, which she gifted to Bogage in 1992 when The brand ofered just two sedans, the 9-3 and the she could no longer drive. “I used to see it around 9-5, while buyers were looking for SUVs and smaller, town and I just loved it,” Bogage recalls. “I was so more fuel-efcient vehicles. The company did not impressed when I owned it, not just because it was sufciently update the models it had and eventually cool to look at, but it was very solid on the high- was forced to rely on a shrinking customer base that way.” Today he owns six Saabs. “They are like my had grown disillusioned. children,” he says. For two decades during its history, General Ultimately, Saab painted itself into a corner Motors owned Saab and tried to revive the brand, without an exit strategy. The automobile division but the giant motor company itself faced bank- of the company, spawned from Saab’s aviation ruptcy woes during the 2008 recession and sold it. business in the late 1940s, was created as a revenue The end of Saab was assured as the division ran stream for the company, whose sales were soft after out of cash and couldn’t pay its employees or sup- World War II ended. Marketed as a technologically pliers. The car “collapsed under the weight of its innovative and safe vehicle with a unique turbo own contradictions,” according to a 2012 study of engine, the car’s appeal grew in fts and starts. It Saab’s demise, by Matthias Holweg and Nick Oliver was immensely popular in New England, for exam- from the University of Cambridge’s Judge School ple, but failed to gain traction over much of the rest of Business. of the US. It also achieved signifcant popularity in Saab’s assets are now owned by a Chinese England and its home country of Sweden, but its entrepreneur who is said to be preparing to launch value proposition was ill-defned. an based on Saab’s design. But even if Promoted as a cost-efcient luxury vehicle, Saab they are built, they will be sold only in China, minus was sandwiched between Mercedes-Benz, BMW, the Saab name. “Saab graphically demonstrates and Audi at the high end, and Honda Accords and that a strong brand alone is no guarantee of suc- Toyota Camrys at the low end. Tough, dependable, cess,” wrote Holweg and Oliver. “Limited numbers with front-wheel drive, leather interiors, and that of enthusiastic customers cannot keep a company turbo engine, the , introduced in 1978, alive in industries that rely on scale economies— attracted buyers who were smitten by its unusual no matter how iconic the brand.”

1978 1988 2000s 2011 The iconic Saab Several models Saab, which 900 is launched. pays $625 geared for GM had sold Nearly 1 million million for a American off in 2010, will be produced 50% ownership consumers are fles for in the coming stake. Buys the commercial bankruptcy. decades. rest in 2000. failures.

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