It's sad reporting such a news, both highly reputable brands, both bought by GM and Ford respectively years back; however the buying of these brands were rather used to boost brand portfolios of these American giants, rather than trying to cash in on Volvo or Saab's market share (small, very small market share in fact)
Under the umbrella of the American Big Two, Volvo had received better care for that matter, still churning out wonderful cars, the XC60, XC90, S40 etc. However as competition stiffens, both brands had suffered a loss of momentum; Saab specifically, the 9-3, developed in the early 2000s was still here after various face lifts, the 9-5 currently with chromed Spiderman eye shadows was the same car from 1998's 9-5! (Albeit receiving plenty of recognition and awards back then). In fact, its so out of its era, whereby the current 9-3 seems almost in the same league as the 9-5 in terms of size, dynamics etc. There's hardly any differentiation given the growth in size of the 9-3 and the segment it belongs to.
Whereas for the 9-5, where once its pitched against the 5-Series, E-Class and Audi A6, parking a 9-5 next to the current Audi A4, one might actually thought the 9-5 being one segment lower. Yes, its a sad state of affair as Saab is one of the brands with plenty of loyalists, a true performance oriented brand, unique from the slab of German executive sedans.
Now why would I suggest both to be merge? Remember rumors earlier on whereby BMW might takeover Volvo from Ford? Sound nice but there's virtually no advantage in that manner, can one imagine a RWD Volvo? Or a FWD BMW? Guessed that explains everything. Platform sharing and engine sharing are main concerns in saving costs of amortization when it comes to vehicle manufacturing.
Having two brands that are similiar in proposition, Saab and Volvo; both having same FWD platforms, a slew of wonderful turbo charged engines, Saab and Volvo could merge up, streamlining processes and production facilities, in fact its much easier as both are based in Sweden. Thus lets look into unique, premium brands that remains manufactured in Sweden, rather than a slew of Malaysia manufactured BMWs or Eastern Europe manufactured Audis; Made in Sweden, can be a unique proposition for both low volume brands.
A unique Swedish marque with a line focusing on performance (Saab) and the other on pleasing the family man (Volvo), there's great opportunity here, in fact with Toyota and Honda going more and more upmarket in both selling prices and positioning, Volvo could be a great brand for current slew of Toyota buyers wanting to upgrade, but drawned off by the usual perception of BMW or Mercedes car buyers - In short, a safe, steady image, rather than one that boasts on being successful. Same goes with Saab, there's no need for worrying over how are they going to compete with BMWs that comes with 330hp or 500hp; a slew of high performance, understated (Audi blanko-ed the word Understated from their dictionary a while ago) cars, there's a valid proposition for them to re-emerge again.
With that, Saab could revived the 9-2, a previously American only badgineered Subaru Impreza; focused on the 9-3, and subsequently the 9-4x crossover. Yes, forget the 9-5. Premium mid size executive buyer's market is huge, but largely polarize with E-Class, A6 and 5-Series. No point in creating one for that market, let that job be passed on to Volvo with the S80 (Yes, S60 no longer could compete with the E or 5) with a different approach to premium mid size executive car buyers - Not everyone wanted performance oriented executive sedans where they sit behind (Whilst enjoying their drivers heel toe? No way).
This move would also make everything easy for the Swedish governments. Downsize both, focus on using Scandinavian countries as a base market, and small polarized markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong, where premium car buyers could be tired of all the BMWs and Mercedes around them. Go small and grow again.
