More than 500 Dutch Saab lovers toured on Sunday to support the Swedish car brand, which a fan described as the “Apple of the car industry,” while owner General Motors (GM) was preparing the company’s wind-down.
Saab owners in several parts of the world have staged events for the loss-making car maker, and fans in the Netherlands, Sweden and about 30 other countries drove in convoys to voice their support, Dutch organizer Sidney Polak said.
“It was a big success, there were many people. Some 585 cars joined the tour,” said Polak, who started organizing the Dutch event about three weeks ago.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The future of Saab still hangs in the balance as US owner GM nominated two wind-down supervisors last Tuesday, but at the same said it was considering several bids for Saab.
Drivers of the car, which is hailed for its design and turbo engine, would not shed a tear if Saab would become independent from GM, which gained full control of the brand in 2000.
“Saab was a brand of its own, it made no concessions. But since GM, that has changed and it made concessions. I hope the old situation will return when it is taken over,” Polak said.
Fons Bitter, a 64-year-old consultant and owner of a Saab 9-6, also disliked GM’s involvement with the company and said people wanted something distinct.
“We have to go back to the roots. Isn’t it bizarre that so many people are concerned about this brand?” Bitter asked.
His son Sander, a 24-year-old marketing and communication student, said Saab’s design and image made it different.
“Saab is the Apple of the car industry,” Sander said, referring to US computer and phone maker Apple Inc, which has been successful with its iPhone and iPod music player.
Saab owners, however, acknowledged the car brand, which has not made a profit since 2001, has failed to be a success.
“GM has tried to make it a mass product but you shouldn’t do that. You should cherish its distinct character,” said Dutch Rene Lensink, 40, who owns a Saab Cabriolet and is a web designer.
Belgian technical designer Mark Waegeman, 57 and owner of a bright yellow Saab race car model Sonic 3 from 1973, would like to see Swedish parties take over Saab to safeguard the brand’s reliability and technology.
“Saab has developed this car, which is at the same time a sports car, a family car and freight transporter,” said Waegeman, who owns four other Saabs and drove with about 50 other Belgian Saab cars to the event in the Netherlands.
Many families took part in the Dutch convoy, which drove about 75km from Soesterberg in the center of the Netherlands to Muiden located near Amsterdam.
“I like the sound of the turbo. I miss it in our street, this turbo feeling,” said 42-year-old Jacqueline Veldhuizen, who joined the convoy with her partner and eight and six-year old son and daughter.
Her 25-year-old friend Romy Lensink, who made a spinning sound when talking about the turbo, also liked Saabs for their safety.
“It’s deer-proof, so to say,” she said with a smile.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary