All Entries Tagged With: "Steven Wade"
NYIAS 2011: To Survive, Saab Must Change The Narrative
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Kevin Kusina for ADLX ::: NYIAS Saab
PRESS coverage of the Svenska carmaker is abysmal. Read any of the three articles in the Times that covers Saab events at NYIAS and you’ll wade through an uncomfortable amount of coverage that focuses on an “imperiled brand” inside a liquidity crisis that’s halted production. On a stage designed to showcase success, Saab’s tenuous fate is again the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
(Tardy) Congratulations To Saab’s Steven Wade
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: Steven Wade of Saab AB
NO longer hot news, but still deserving of comment, I want to openly congratulate a good friend of ours, Mr. Steven Wade.
Swade + Swedish Car Day
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: Steven Wade about to enjoy a Saab Sonett II
ONE of the great pleasures of writing automotive drivel content for the net is connecting with other automotive aficionados from far and wide. They don’t come further than fellow scribe and Tazmanian denizen Steven Wade a.k.a. “Swade” from SaabsUnited.com.
Steven and his Tennessean cohort Mike a.k.a. “Eggs ‘n Grits” have been good friends and their writings for the Saab community are now the stuff of web legend. And it was fun chewing the fat with them over sausages and hamburgers Saturday night.
Swade and Eggs were both present in the Boston metro area for Swedish Car Day, an annual gathering of the Volvo and Saab Party Faithful at the Larz Andersson Auto Museum hosted by the nation’s oldest Saab dealer – Charles River Saab.
At Sunday’s Svenska service, Swade gave an address to the congregation on the state of Saab – which in the marque’s current state of independence from GM is in a critical moment of do or die.
Trollhattan Stirs! Saab Lives To See Another Week
A happening at the Saab factory…
- Did GM’s CEO shuffle help buy time for Saab?
- Saab sales frozen with lack of confidence
- SaabsUnited proves to be best source for the blow by blow
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via SaabsUnited.com
SAAB still lives!
Bless their Svenska souls, it seems like GM’s become too distracted with the immediate departure of former CEO Fritz Henderson and his reportedly outspoken daughter (if true, good on her for defending dad) to drop the axe on Saab.
Considering how the General so cavalierly doused that phoenix which was Pontiac last year, it may surprise you that with the collapse of the Koenigsegg deal, Saab’s lived to see another week.
But make no mistake, tidings are still grim.
Sales have drawn down to drip-drops from last year’s trickle. Monthly sales figures in markets like Canada and Germany are down to low double digit accounting errors. It’s a fearsome freeze in confidence that Saab’s facing.
Lucky for Saab, it has a plucky and loyal community of faithful Saabists led by the ever firey Steven Wade.
Mr. Wade is SaabsUnited‘s flame spouting griffin; a blogger who has in the past been coddled by GM largesse (in one instance, GM flew Mr. Wade from Tasmania to Detroit a couple to cover the Detroit Auto Show) only to be exiled when he continued to hold the Detroit giant to account.
Throughout this tumultous period for Saab, Mr. Wade or “Swade” as he’s known has provided a thorough, daily account of every little event – right down to writing a small post about some appreciative Saab staff handing a grimacing smiling CEO Jan Ake Jonsson a bouquet of roses in a show of support as he headed off to lobby the suits in Motown.
In such a dark hour, the Saab community (of which yours counts himself a member) can count Mr. Wade as a boon to a busted car maker.
Trollhattan Saab
By Gunnar Heinrich
“SWADE” as he’s affectionately known by the Saab Party Faithful and followers of the site Trollhattan Saab, has (for the moment) taken the decision to step aside from his role in the blogosphere.
Autoblog’s post seemed to capture all our sentiments in how he will be missed.
However, it would seem that an overwhelming tide of public support may yet convince Swade to keep going.
We can only hope that this is so.
Swade is a good friend to Automobiles De Luxe.
The few occasions I’ve spoken with Swade by phone and by email have assured me that not only is he a genuinely good guy, he’s also very passionate about Saab and the coverage GM’s Svenksa division receives.
There are other good Saab sites out there – Saab History X being one of them – but Trollhattan Saab is the best of the “brand” specific blogs. His site is an asset that we should not wish to lose.
[Linked:TrollhattanSaab]
