Comments on: Saab Turns Back The Wrong Clock http://independentsources.com/2005/10/21/saab-turns-back-the-wrong-clock/ Independent thinking about California Politics, Hot Bikini Clad Teachers (Erica Chevillar), Topless Teachers (Tamara Hoover), Hot French Newscaster Melissa Theuriau, Katie Rees & the LA Times Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:05:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Ron http://independentsources.com/2005/10/21/saab-turns-back-the-wrong-clock/#comment-4977 Ron Fri, 11 Nov 2005 07:44:05 +0000 http://independentsources.com/2005/10/21/saab-turns-back-the-wrong-clock/#comment-4977 Its sad to see what GM has done to Saab. The commoditization of what were once decent brands to sameness is pretty poor product management imho. Sure, it saves them money to make everything on identical platforms, but rather than doing it from the top down, they could look at bottom up changes. Having 4 different fuel pumps on the same engine and chassis is quite ludicrous, especially when such changes cause minor differences in mounting configuration, and other minutia. As a friend said, when one GM guy goes on vacation, someone else steps in, and picks the first part they could find in their mrp system, rather than striving to minimize BOM variation. By reducing peice part variation, they could still save a ton of money, without ruining the cosmetic and performance appeal which is all too common when you are trying to reach the lowest possible price across a wide range of brands. As an FYI to Keith in mtn view, the Ford V4 used in most of the Sonnet's was not an overhead cam engine, but was popular and robust enough to be manufactured as late as 1995 for Ford's industrial division. Its sad to see what GM has done to Saab. The commoditization of what were once decent brands to sameness is pretty poor product management imho. Sure, it saves them money to make everything on identical platforms, but rather than doing it from the top down, they could look at bottom up changes. Having 4 different fuel pumps on the same engine and chassis is quite ludicrous, especially when such changes cause minor differences in mounting configuration, and other minutia. As a friend said, when one GM guy goes on vacation, someone else steps in, and picks the first part they could find in their mrp system, rather than striving to minimize BOM variation. By reducing peice part variation, they could still save a ton of money, without ruining the cosmetic and performance appeal which is all too common when you are trying to reach the lowest possible price across a wide range of brands.

As an FYI to Keith in mtn view, the Ford V4 used in most of the Sonnet’s was not an overhead cam engine, but was popular and robust enough to be manufactured as late as 1995 for Ford’s industrial division.

]]> By: -keith in mtn. view http://independentsources.com/2005/10/21/saab-turns-back-the-wrong-clock/#comment-4239 -keith in mtn. view Fri, 21 Oct 2005 23:50:22 +0000 http://independentsources.com/2005/10/21/saab-turns-back-the-wrong-clock/#comment-4239 Remember the <a href="http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/class/050920266bbakk.jpg" rel="nofollow">Saab Sonnet?</a> So it didn't sell a lot here but it was light-weight low CoF and had overhead cams and fiberglass body unibody cast aluminum wheels rack-and-pinion steering and front disc brakes. What the hell was GM doing back then - still solid-axle pushrod Detroit Iron pigs, massive cars that beat the asphalt down and the world quaked in fear (Jimmy Carter anyhow): the ugly-nose GrandAm, the behemoth Toronado, the humongous battle-carriers Olds Ninety Eight and Delta 88. Even the 'Vette was a bloated pig, and Ford gave us the barf-o-rama MustangII... Sheesh. Remember the Saab Sonnet? So it didn’t sell a lot here but it was light-weight low CoF and had overhead cams and fiberglass body unibody cast aluminum wheels rack-and-pinion steering and front disc brakes.
What the hell was GM doing back then - still solid-axle pushrod Detroit Iron pigs, massive cars that beat the asphalt down and the world quaked in fear (Jimmy Carter anyhow): the ugly-nose GrandAm, the behemoth Toronado, the humongous battle-carriers Olds Ninety Eight and Delta 88. Even the ‘Vette was a bloated pig, and Ford gave us the barf-o-rama MustangII… Sheesh.

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