Impreza Plus with a Saab badge?

Oh dear, oh dear, another bad case of badge engineering - or badge pollution, if I may say so.

This new "9-2" that will be built and sold in the US from 2004 on, will be a "sporty four-wheel drive with a two-litre turbo engine". I bet that should read "two-litre turbo BOXER engine"! The entry version will have "a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine". Now there's only one manufacturer in the world that doesn't do a six-pot with 2.5 litres...

So GM have really done it! Stick a Saab grille onto an Impreza van with windows! Then they go on and ask the world for it! And then they have the nerve to build it in the US where build quality will suffer compared to Japanese standards, so that the Saab will actually be worse than the Scoob!

Really... :confused:

But who am I trying to convince here? You reverse badge snobs will undoubtedly agree...

The reason it'll be built in the USA is to aviod import restrictions, this will give a huge price advantage in the USA market place. One of the best examples of this the mercedes Benz 'M' class. It's built in the USA, it is cheap (ish) over there and sells like the proverbial hot cake. Just rember that the only thing on the mind of the manufacturer is making money.......then it all makes sense!

I know ALL about inverted snobbery....I used to drive a 2CV:D (and I enjoyed every minute of it!)

Paul

Originally posted by spc in this post

The reason it'll be built in the USA is to aviod import restrictions, this will give a huge price advantage in the USA market place. One of the best examples of this the mercedes Benz 'M' class. It's built in the USA, it is cheap (ish) over there and sells like the proverbial hot cake.

Oh, I can see their reasoning. But what's there to like about it as a customer?

The M-class Mercedes is actually a very good example of a US-built car that will go a long way to destroy a top-class manufacturer's reputation for detail and reliability - here in Europe at least. It's just so terribly built.

However, the M-class will always sell well because:

a) It's an off-roader, and

It's a Merc.

And to the typical person who would want either of

these things, having the other is also considered a Good

Thing too!

Rob.

It is all down to the quality of the individual dealer and how he treats the customer. If the dealer is able to offer good service, loan cars etc....then the customers will be OK. In fact if the dealer gives good service that will be more of a talking point than the problems with the original car, that's how it works over there, believe me I lived there 3 years.

That's why Jaguar do SO well............ :D

Paul

I have to admit to travelling a good few miles in an American 'M' class. I have to say they are nice cars. A work friend of mine in the USA was given an 'M' class for her 40th birthday, it was a year old with 9000 miles on the clock and cost $25,000 (about

A mate of mine has an uncle in Canada with an M-Class, who commented on how

cheap they were. He also said it was pants to drive, and not really that swift

for something with a 4 litre engine!

But 17k is pretty cheap for a "luxury" SUV...

Rob.