Sweden
Saab's sales in Sweden in May took a beating. According til Bil Sweden, only 290 new Saab cars were registeret in May, 259 Saab 9-3 and 31 Saab 9-5. Last year the number was 701. That's a 59 per cent decrease! So far this year 2,916 new Saabs have been registreed in Sweden, compared to 2,349 last year.
The bad sales figure for May is expected. With a lead time from order to delivery of 6-8 weeks, and the factory not producing cars since the beginning of April, the sales had to suffer. Add the recent uncertainy about Saab's future, and you get bad sales. It will be very interesting to see how this will affect also the sales in June.
According to Reuters, Saab Sweden chief Magnus Hansson has said the following in a statement: "We reckon that we hit the bottom in May in terms of sales and that we now, together with our distributors, can begin to work our way up again."
USA
Saab sold 385 new cars in the USA in May according to Automotive News. This was 211 units more than in May 2010 when Saab sold 174 cars. But compared to the four first months of this year, the May sales figure is not impressive. The first five months of this year 3,150 new Saabs have been sold in the USA. Let's hope the new Saab 9-4X can do wonders for Saab in the USA!
Also worth noting is that according to Auto Remarketing, Saab spent most on incentives in the USA in May with $5,137 per vehicle sold.
UK
There were 377 new Saab registered in the UK in May according to SMMT, compared to 200 in May of last year. So far this year 3,244 new Saabs have found new homes in the UK. And the UK is thus still Saab's biggest market so far this year.
Ireland
In Ireland 11 new Saabs were registered in May. This was 7 more than May 2010. So far this year 118 Saabs have been registered, compared to 32 last year.
Norway
According to Opplysningsrådet for Veitrafikken AS there were 24 new Saabs registered in Norway in May. Compareable figure for 2010 is 10 new Saabs. So far this year 246 new Saabs (194 Saab 9-3 and 52 Saab 9-5) have been registered. This is an increase of 158 cars or 179 percent.
Finland
According to TraFi there were 18 new Saabs registered in Finland in May.
A blog fueled by enthusiasm about Saab, the greatest car company between the North and the South Pole. And their cars, which probably is the only cars that would start on a cold and crispy South Pole morning.
