killed Saab Automobile? - Business School - University of Edinburgh

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Saab was refusing to bow to GM's interference. The result was a company that failed to grow out of its niche, a niche that was itself under attack from strong competitors, particularly Audi. Following the demerger from GM, Saab was no longer viable as an independent firm, and in our view the frequently called-for government intervention would not have prevented the failure, but may have delayed it at best. We remain very sceptical about any significant complementarity there could have been with the Chinese partners that were proposed by SWAN. Clearly the Chinese partners would have brought cash in the short-term, and possibly could have provided a sales channel into China. Beyond that, the tie-up with Youngman (which produces its own passenger cars for the entry-level segment, co-developed with Lotus Engineering in the UK) offered no technological benefit or scale economies. Furthermore, if Saabs were eventually to be manufactured in China, what interest any Chinese firm would have in keeping a car factory in Sweden? From the point of view of the Chinese firms, the tie-up would have made more sense: new to the automotive industry, there is a great hunger for technology and brand. Saab could have offered both, at a discount price, had GM allowed it to. 35
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS lxxxv This report is partly based on a research collaboration between Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Cambridge. In particular we would like to thank Patrik Jonsson, Mats Johansson, and Dan Andersson for their support. A special thanks goes to Christian Finnsgård for his comments and kind support with tracking the Swedish court proceedings and media. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bayley, S. (1986) 'Marketing Vorsprung durch Technik'. In S. Bayley, Sex, Drink and Fast Cars: The Creation and Consumption of Images, Chapter 7, pp. 87-112. Chatterton, M. (1980) SAAB: The Innovator. Newton Abbot: David and Charles Fisher, A.B. (1985) 'Courting the well-heeled car shopper', Fortune Magazine, 5 August. Holweg, M. and Pil, F. (2004), ‘The Second Century: Moving beyond Mass and Lean Production in the Auto Industry’, Cambridge, MA and London, UK: MIT Press Holweg, M., Davis, P., and Podpolny, D. (2009) ‘The Competitive Status of the UK Automotive Industry’, a report to the New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team, Department of Business Innovation and Skills. Published by PICSIE Books, Buckingham. Holweg, M. and Pil, F.K. (2009) 'A break from the past: Volvo and its malcontents.' In: Freyssenet, M. (ed.) The second automobile revolution: trajectories of the world carmakers in the XXI century. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.353‐365 Nuttall, W.J., Holweg, M. and Leybovich, M. (2011) 'Too big to fail — Lessons for today and the future from British industrial policy, 1960–1990', Technological Forecasting and Social Change, In Press. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2010.11.003 Ingrassia, P. (2011) Crash Course. New York: Random House. Muniz Jr., A.M.; O'Guinn, T.C. (2001) 'Brand community', Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp.412-432 Oliver, N., Schab, L. and Holweg, M. (2007) ‘Lean principles and premium brands: conflict or complement?’ International Journal of Production Research. Vol. 45, No. 16, pp. 3723-3739. Oliver, N., Holweg, M. and Carver, M. (2008) ’A systems perspective on the death of a car company’. International Journal of Production and Operations Management, Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 662-583. Holweg, M., Luo, J., and Oliver, N. (2009) ‘The Past, Present and Future of China’s Automotive Industry: A Value Chain Perspective’, International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Vol. 2, No1., pp. 76-118 Olson, B. (1987) The Saab-Scania Story. Stockholm: Streiffert and Co. Pil, F. and Holweg, M. (2004), ‘Linking Product Variety to Order‐Fulfilment Strategies’, Interfaces, Vol. 34, No.5, pp. 394‐403 Štrach, P. and Everett, A.M. (2006) 'Brand corrosion: mass-marketing's threat to luxury automobile brands after merger and acquisition', Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp.106 – 120 Williamson, P.J. and Raman, A.P. (2011) 'How China reset its global acquisition agenda.' Harvard Business Review, 89(4): 109-113 36
Page 1 and 2: WHO KILLED SAAB AUTOMOBILE? AAAUTOM
Page 3 and 4: Audi, whose parent, the Volkswagen
Page 5 and 6: I/ THE DEATH OF AN AUTOMOTIVE ICON
Page 7 and 8: Merger with Scania In 1968 Saab ann
Page 9 and 10: million for 50% ownership of Saab,
Page 11 and 12: duplicate models, dumping unneeded
Page 13 and 14: Saab Spyker Automobiles. Saab’s s
Page 15 and 16: Within three months, Muller was cla
Page 17 and 18: increasing number of suppliers had
Page 19 and 20: During October, negotiations with Y
Page 21 and 22: III/ ANALYSIS: WHAT WENT WRONG? The
Page 23 and 24: The automotive industry typically s
Page 25 and 26: Was GM the right partner? GM was Sa
Page 27 and 28: this revival plan and did not propo
Page 29 and 30: Under this revised policy, attentio
Page 31 and 32: conveying messages of craftsmanship
Page 33 and 34: to be too much, and the company was
Page 35: product development programmes. Onl
Page 39 and 40: ENDNOTES i Olson (1987) ii Olson (1
Page 41: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxeb

killed Saab Automobile? - Business School - University of Edinburgh

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?