ANA is SAAB
The SAAB brand is an emotional one for many. Several studies from around the world show time after time that SAAB owners are amongst the most loyal ones, even during these times of uncertainty. Tom and I have been overwhelmed with the recent flow of great user stories and had been speaking about giving visibility to passionate SAAB dealers earlier. Today’s whirl storm of comments around one of Sweden’s largest but probably most famous dealership ANA allegedly dropping support for SAAB, accelerated our plans… First of all, “ANA will keep the SAAB flag high for as long as there is a single SAAB left on the face of this planet. ANA is SAAB.”
ANA’s CEO Joachim Lind is quite used to be quoted in the press and this week was no different. Yesterday’s announcements of ANA to streamline their organization, including a staff reduction and closure & merger of some of their facilities generated quite some interest in the local media (see coverage from P4, Ttela and Hallandsposten)- understandable given the impact this likely will have on the Trollhättan region. However, things got kind of out of control when Saabsunited reported today on the fact that ANA would now stop supporting SAAB.
Joachim replied within minutes after I had sent him an email asking for his views on the situation. Not only did the speed of the response positively surprise me but also the fact that he had altered the subject line of the email to “ANA is NOT dropping support for SAAB”. The tone was set and when I had him on the phone shortly after he was extremely clear that today’s announcements were related to his company adjusting to new market conditions only and had absolutely nothing to do with a change in ANA’s support for SAAB. He also added that the statements on SU around the lack of spare parts are simply untrue (see also our previous interview with Orio’s CEO Jonas Tegström) and that he currently is speaking with NEVS to discuss possibilities to resell the to-be-built MY14 9-3’s.
“ANA will keep the SAAB flag high for as long as there is a single SAAB left on the face of this planet. ANA is SAAB” concluded Joachim firmly.
I look forward to following up with him on an in-depth coverage of ANA.
Check out what swade blogged about it:
http://www.swadeology.com/2015/02/saab-snippets-100-cars-saab-ana/
I really don’t know what’s wrong with those people. Changing the headline but leaving the rest of the text unchanged.Come on??
This statement makes my day….Thanks Michel.
Interestingly enough the headline of the article on SU is now changed and somewhat more neutral, yet in the added edit comments there is -again- a Munich reference and a statement that “they were only quoting otherwise reliable sources P4 and Ttela”. That latter part is again untrue. There is NOTHING in these articles (see links to the Swedish-language originals higher up in this post) that is stating that ANA would be dropping support for SAAB, let alone state anything about availability of spare parts. In addition, apart from servicing SAAB in all cities ANA is active, Joachim Lind confirmed to me earlier that they are also continuing with sales of SAAB cars, parts and accessories.
I don’t know why there is such a negative attitude on SU. This recent developement I witness does make me kind of sad. I don’t know what these guys are trying to work out.
ANA would be stupid to cut the Saab ropes since there are so many cars out there on the road. The loyalty among Saab customers towards their dealers is remarkable. I bet ANA is expiriencing the same thing. Working for this loyal bunch of people is amazing. I would rather add another Saab Flag than pulling it down.
Hi Johann- there doesn’t seem to be a logical explanation to the incredibly negative bias that can be witnessed consistently on SU for quite some time. When I wrote http://saabblog.net/2014/10/26/united-stood/ a few months ago it was mainly about SU covering the car brand from Munich rather than SAAB but most recently things seem to be derailing further with their coverage of the ANA news not only being factually incorrect, but KNOWINGLY factually incorrect. I am not a lawyer, but this sounds like slander. Then, slander coming from the site that still pretends to be the primary source for SAAB-related news worldwide, is not only unexplainable (possibly with the only reason to generate hits on the site, read: income from online ads), it is simply destructive to the brand and the entire SAAB ecosystem. I honestly don’t know what apparently needs to happen more before someone pulls the plug and changes course.
As to the loyalty towards the dealers: I can only agree, which is why we are aiming to cover a number of them on here on Saabblog in the coming period. ANA will definitely be one and -as mentioned- nominations for other dealers (in any part of the world) are welcome!
Not silly at all… I can only agree. ANA in my own mind has always been the “Mecca” of SAAB dealers in Sweden and with Joachim’s statements today I have all reason to believe that will remain the case for a very long time to come. The great thing is that there quite a few more “die-hard” dealers out there and with the upcoming article series we’re hoping to put the spotlights on them big time. To that point… suggestions from our readers on which dealership we should be covering are welcome!
That’s what I call a statement. This may sound silly, but this gave me goosebumps:
“ANA will keep the SAAB flag high for as long as there is a single SAAB left on the face of this planet. ANA is SAAB”