Saab in de VS

[FuTuReMaN]

DETROIT -- Saab Cars USA Inc. says it may boost incentives to break out of a sales slump.

Saab sales fell 22 percent in the first eight months of 2004 over the year-ago period.

"We're doing everything we can to get Saab on track," says President Debra Kelly-Ennis.

After selling 25,813 units in the United States through August, Saab is barely halfway to its goal of 50,000 sales this year.

Eight-month sales numbers for the bread-and-butter 9-3 are 18,989 - down 20 percent from 23,731 in the year-ago period. The redesigned mid-sized sedan debuted last year, when it sold 34,075 units in the United States, pushing Saab to 47,914 overall sales for 2003.

The upscale convertible 9-3 was introduced this year. A 9-3 hatchback will arrive in showrooms next year.

Jesse Toprak, director of pricing and market analysis for Edmunds.com, says Saab dramatically lowered incentives, which hurt sales.

"Last year this time (August), Saab was spending over $4,000 a car," Toprak says. "This year, it's under $1,000."

Kelly-Ennis says Saab is weighing higher incentives but has currency differentials to consider. As the dollar has weakened against the euro, European automakers have had to accept lower margins or raise prices in the United States.

Saab's long-term fix is to broaden its lineup. Kelly-Ennis says the 9-2X compact launched in June and the 9-7 mid-sized SUV, due next spring, will strengthen the portfolio.

"Our product line is much more narrow than others'," she says. "Customers have been looking at segments that we don't compete in."

Dave Towell of Dave Towell Saab in Akron, Ohio, says his dealership's sales are down by about the same percentage as Saab's. He agrees that lineup gaps have hurt.

"We need a sport-utility very badly," Towell says. "Everyone else has one. We're getting one, but we're losing sales in the meantime."

Other European premium brands' cars are down this year. The BMW 3 series is down 7.6 percent for eight months this year, the Audi A4 is down 11.1 percent and the Volvo S60 is down 16.2 percent. But Volvo's SUV, the XC-90, is up 10 percent this year.

Saab introduced the 9-2X in June, but only 410 units of the premium compact were sold as of Aug. 31.